Chapter 4
[ROLLING!]
[Stack of Gold Bars, Common Item, A stack of ordinary gold bars weighing a total of 33 kilograms.]
Renard looked over the reward for his bronze item roll and shrugged. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't complete trash either. Money was money, and hey! Nami would like it a lot!
He dismissed the roll and focused on their destination. They were pulling up to the docks of Cocoyashi, and they could hear the sound of partying going on. As soon as they docked, the whole village erupted in cheers. Locals quickly dragged the whole crew into their celebrations. Even Rachnera was dragged along without hesitation by the villagers.
Renard immediately got into things. He broke out his guitar and started singing songs he could remember from his last life. Granted, they were all in English, and no one there spoke the language, but the beat of the music and the tone of his voice were enough to thrill the whole village.
The sheer amount of joy in the air was almost a physical thing that buoyed the entire village. He looked around, checking on his people. Libra was trying, and failing, to find somewhere quiet to read, but people kept forcing her to have fun. Rachnera was having the time of her life entertaining a group of children with tricks using her silk. The looks of sheer joy and awe on their little faces were almost blinding.
Mimikyu was having the time of her life as people constantly gave her attention and fruit treats. He couldn't see Mimikyu's real expression, but the way she was performing with her puppet showed just how overjoyed the little girl was.
His gaze moved over the crowd, looking for Nami's distinct orange hair, but he couldn't find it anywhere. He was tempted to go looking for her, but he was surrounded by people demanding more music from him, and he was more than happy to oblige. He'd always wanted to learn how to play the guitar in his last life; he'd even owned one and learned a few chords on it. Unfortunately, his life ended before he got much further. Now, here he was, singing fun pop songs with the same skill as their original singers could.
The party went into overdrive as he broke out the rock and roll music!
-----Line Break-----
The party lasted for a full week before it finally began to wind down. Renard found himself at Nami's house in the middle of the tangerine grove. He gently knocked on the door in case of hangovers. Nami opened the door with a bright smile and a rucksack over her shoulder, “Good morning, Captain!”
He laughed, “Just call me Renard.”
“Whatever you say, Captain.”
He rolled his eyes at her playful tone, “You ready to go?”
Nami's smile dropped just a little, but came back full force, “I am!” She turned to look at the interior of her house, “Nojiko... Mom, I'm going!”
She turned back to Renard and held her rucksack out toward him, “Would you mind taking this to the ship for me? There's one last thing I need to do.”
He took her sack and shrugged, “Sure.”
He had a fair idea of what she wanted to do, and he was all for it. He walked through town and collected the rest of the crew. After they were all aboard, he called out, “Prep the ship for departure. We're heading to Loguetown... after a brief stop at Baratie for one final meal!”
That got a thumbs up from Libra, a polite smile from Rachnera, and an excited, “Mimikyu!”
Shortly after getting the ship ready, Nami appeared at the opposite end of the town and shouted, “Start sailing!”
Renard chuckled, “You heard her.”
They got the sloop moving while Nami did her thing. She ran through the town, dodging people who wanted to take even longer to say goodbye to her. She ran to the end of the dock and leaped off it to land on the back of the sloop. Renard smirked as she lifted her shirt to drop all of the wallets she stole from the villagers, earning shouts from them all.
“Have fun?”
Nami turned to Renard and laughed, “Yup! So, where to, Captain?”
“Well, there's not much left to hunt here in the East Blue, so I was thinking we'd hit Baratie for one final meal, then head to Loguetown for supplies, followed by the Grand Line. Once there, we can look for some pirates to hunt down for profit. Their bounties should be pretty good there.”
Everyone nodded, and Nami swiftly got them on course for Baratie. No one had any reason to say no to heading there for a good meal. Between the money left from his previous bounties, Arlong's bounty, and the thirty-three kilograms of pure gold from the Gacha, they had plenty of money. Hell, the gold alone was worth between two hundred and three hundred million, depending on where it was sold and in what quantities. Obviously, flooding any one island with the gold would drop its value, while selling it bit by bit would maximize the value.
So one more massive meal at Baratie wasn't going to bankrupt them. Though he had to admit, he needed to save some money in order to purchase a good ship from Water 7. Again, provided he didn't get something from the Gacha before then.
Although thinking about it now, money wouldn't be an issue if they took a trip to Skypeia before Luffy and robbed Enel of all his gold.
Right, time to stop thinking ahead. The Gacha could mess up anything anytime. He checked to make sure everything was alright and made his way down to his cabin. He wanted to grab his guitar so he could play some music on deck. If there was one thing he'd underestimated about sailing, it was how goddamn BORING it could get. Thank god he got that roll for Expert Performance!
As he grabbed his guitar case and made his way to the ladder out, he paused and slowly turned to look at his bed. There, on his bed, sat a small wooden chest that most definitely had not been there before. He stared at it for a moment before muttering, “No. Fucking. Way.”
He set his guitar back down and walked over to pick up the chest. He quickly flipped the lid open and stared at the object held within, “No. Fucking. Way.”
There, staring up at him, was a Devil Fruit. Round, covered in swirls, and with a T-shaped stem, just as he'd described on the phone. However, it was colored mostly white with a red stem, which he hadn't described. He looked at the object that many people would kill to get their hands on and wondered what to do with it.
Well, first, he needed to determine what it was. However, even an unknown Devil Fruit was worth at least one hundred million. Obviously, he couldn't tell what it was just from its looks. But that's what his Divine skill was for. He set the Devil Fruit down and shifted into his Klyntar form. A quick touch and he instantly learned what he wanted to know about the fruit.
Upon shifting back to human form, he began laughing at what he'd learned. After sticking the fruit back in its box, he left his cabin while still chuckling, “The Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Chicken. That's definitely getting sold!”
He was not going to mention which Devil Fruit it was. He highly doubted anyone would pay a hundred million for the power to turn into a chicken. He dismissed it from his mind for the time being; it'd take a while until he could sell it anyway.
Once back on deck, he began playing his guitar and considering what he should use the cell phone to find next. Perhaps a good sword? Who knew.
-----Line Break-----
Renard perked up when he spotted a familiar figurehead on a ship while they were pulling up to the Baratie restaurant. His lips curled into a grin at spotting the Going Merry. He also noted the Marine ship sitting next to it and the fact that there was some damage to the roof of the Baratie. It looked like Luffy had arrived.
The whole group walked into the restaurant, getting some looks of surprise, but given there were relatively fewer guests than on their first visit, it went a lot better. No shouting at the sight of Rachnera, at least. Instead, they all heard a shocked voice shouting, “That's a HUGE spider! Sugeeee!”
Everyone's gaze turned to see Luffy, sitting on a table, pinky up his nose, and staring right at Rachnera. Sitting at the table he was sitting on were the easily recognizable forms of Zoro, with his green hair and three swords, and Usopp, with his long nose and wearing his bandanna and overalls.
Sitting with them was a third guy that Renard didn't recognize at all. He looked to be the same age as the others, somewhere in his late teens, with dark hair and eyes, as well as a rugged build and wispy beard. He didn't have much more time to examine the group before Sanji came blasting out of the kitchen like a whirlwind and spun right up to Renard's group.
“You came back! It's lovely to see you again, mademoiselles! Come! I've got a perfect table for you!”
He led them to a table not too far from where Luffy was lazily picking his nose and wiping it on the apron he was wearing. As they got closer, Sanji glared at Luffy, “Get back to work, chore boy!”
Luffy yelped and scrambled to the kitchen under Sanji's glare. Once Luffy was gone, Sanji immediately switched back to simp-mode. As everyone sat down, he looked over the whole table, scowling jealously as Renard, then addressed them all, “The whole menu for you lovely ladies and a large parfait for the cute doll, same as before?”
Nami nodded happily, “That's right! Oh, and one glass of cold water and another of hot water.”
Sanji happily took off to handle their order. It was only moments later that they heard loud shouting from the kitchen, quickly followed by Luffy flying out of it to slam into a wall face-first.
Soon enough, food was flowing onto their table. When the glasses of water arrived, Renard waited until Sanji was looking at their table before sticking his finger into the glass of cold water. Instantly, he shifted into his female form. Sanji's eyes widened in shock while he stared uncomprehending at what he was seeing.
Renard could see the conflict going on in Sanji's mind in real time. There was the urge to simp, clear as day, but also the knowledge that five seconds ago, Renard had been a man. It clearly didn't help when Renard gave Sanji the most sultry smile she could manage, one she practiced with Rachnera's help.
Blood began to drip from Sanji's left nostril at the sight of Renard as a blond goddess giving him such a smile. Renard, Nami, and Rachnera all began laughing while Libra shook her head in exasperation. Renard finished him off by dipping his finger into the hot water and shifting back into a man.
Sanji immediately scowled and stormed out of the dining room, causing even more laughter. Once Sanji was gone, Renard stuck his finger back in the cold water and shifted back to a woman. Messing with Sanji was a hell of a lot of fun.
“How're you doing that?!”
Renard look to the side and came face to face with a curious looking Luffy. She smiled playfully, “Secret.”
“Awww! C'mon! Tell me! Tell me!”
Renard laughed, “Fine. It's just a trick with my Devil Fruit's power.”
“Devil Fruit? You have one too?! That's so cool! Mine made me a rubber man!” He grabbed and stretched his cheeks much further than any normal human could have.
Nami looked curious but not nearly as shocked as she would have been, thanks to her exposure to Renard and the crew. Luffy looked at Rachnera, “You got a spider one?”
Rachnera nodded, “That's right.”
“That's soooo cooool!”
Everyone chuckled. Luffy then pointed to Mimikyu, “What's that?”
“Mimi! Kyu, kyu! Mimikyu.”
“That's Mimikyu, she's part of our crew.”
“Crew?” He suddenly looked excited, “Are you pirates?!”
Nami scowled while Renard shook her head, “No. We're bounty hunters.”
She noticed Zoro, Usopp, and the unknown man straightening up in their seats and paying closer attention. Luffy looked completely unconcerned, “Well, we are! I'm going to be the Pirate King!”
“Is that so?”
Before Renard could say more, Sanji came out with the next few dishes. He paused for a moment at the sight of Renard as a female once more, then continued his display. Renard ignored Luffy and began digging into the food that Sanji had brought. Luffy didn't have any time to care about being ignored since Sanji grabbed him by the head and threw him to the other side of the ship and shouted, “Do some work already!”
The door to the restaurant burst open, and a Marine rushed in screaming about a prisoner escaping before he was shot by said prisoner. Renard curiously looked around and spotted the Marine Captain with the weird knuckles sitting at a table with his date, undisturbed. Had her arrival with the rest of her crew drawn attention away from the guy's date, so Sanji didn't end up beating him black and blue?
Huh. Talk about butterflies. Though that was definitely a small one. Events from there unfolded much like they did in the anime. Gin demanded food, got smashed by the weird cook with Popeye arms, kicked out, and then was fed by Sanji before he left. Renard decided to eat a little slower.
Over the next hour, plate after plate of food came to their table. The others had stopped eating, but Renard was still going strong. Even just eating a bite or two of each dish left the other girls stuffed to the gills, even Rachnera. Despite her size, she didn't actually eat more than the average woman.
There was a commotion as she was stuffing a large piece of meat into her gob, followed by shouts about the Krieg pirates coming. Renard didn't even bother getting up and focused on continuing her meal. She had absolutely no desire to get involved in the upcoming fight. Rather, she would sit back, relax, and enjoy the show while stuffing her face.
Honestly, she was far more interested in the chance to see one of the seven warlords in person, Dracule 'Hawk Eyes' Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman. She had no intention of trying to fight Mihawk or anything. She knew she wouldn't be a match for the man, even with all of her current skills and abilities. She was strong for the first half of the Grand Line, but nowhere near strong enough to head into the second half just yet. She might be with a few more rolls.
Or, if she was willing to spend some time training for a year or so, she could become that strong pretty easily with Conditioning combined with Libra using gravity magic and a few other tricks she knew.
She shook her thoughts off when the door burst open, and two people came stumbling in. One was that guy Gin, the other was a huge man in a fur trimmed overcoat that was hanging on Gin's shoulder for support.
“Food, please! I'll pay!”
The whole crew watched the drama unfold. Nami had a scowl and muttered about scumbag pirates when Krieg hit Sanji with a lariat. Rachnera scowled as well. But no one interfered. Eventually, Krieg left with the giant bag of food Zeff provided for the crewmen stuck on the ship.
Renard continued to eat her meal with a bright smile. Soon, the shouting of revitalized pirates began coming from the massive galleon that Krieg had sailed in on. Those shouts of revived energy soon became screams of fear as the ship seemed to suddenly split into multiple pieces for no reason.
She climbed to her feet and looked out the window while holding a glass of wine in her hand, “Here he comes.”
She sipped the wine and marveled at how much better the wine tasted in her female form. It was one of the little differences between her forms that she'd noticed recently. She'd started viewing her gender-swapping curse as more of a fun toy. The way wine tasted so much better as a woman was one reason among many.
She was joined by the others at the window, and they all watched as Mihawk drifted out of the mist on his small one-man boat. She couldn't help wondering just how he got that little coffin-like thing to sail without it actually having a sail to catch the wind.
Things didn't deviate much. They watched Zoro get dominated by Mihawk, yet he still managed to earn the man's respect. As well as his manly promise to Luffy. During the subsequent battles, Renard only interfered once. The moment Gin pulled his pistol on Zeff to keep Sanji from fighting against the big moron Pearl. She stepped up to Gin and grabbed the pistol before crushing it in her hand. Her glare sent Gin scampering away. As a result, Sanji didn't get the shit beaten out of him by Pearl. Instead, he put Pearl down rather easily.
That led to Sanji's battle against Gin. It went in a completely different direction thanks to Sanji not being weakened beforehand.
She didn't consider the second thing she did as interfering. When Krieg, pissed at Gin getting his ass beaten, planned to kill everyone with a gas grenade, he had Rachnera snatch gas masks for themselves and Zeff from some of Krieg's fodder.
That pissed Luffy off and, in short order, ended with Krieg getting smashed into the ground. Watching Luffy fight in person was a real treat. Seeing it all go down, Renard could literally feel the charisma and determination flowing off of Luffy. She could really see how he managed to recruit so many people to his side. Hell, she almost wanted to ask to join him after seeing him in action.
But, no. Their paths needed to be different since they both had different goals in life.
With things coming to an end, Renard finished her meal, paid, splashed some hot water on her head, and they all made their way to The Seeker. Renard stood at the tiller with Nami, “Our next stop, Loguetown.”
“Aye aye, Captain!”
The crew followed Nami's orders as she got them underway. Once things were under control, he made his way back below deck to his cabin and pulled out the Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Chicken. He set it on his bed and shifted to his Klyntar form, then surrounded it to examine it more closely. Seeing what animal it was for only took a quick peek, but he wanted to understand the power of the fruit on a more fundamental level.
Principle of Life made that easier, but proved itself to be limited by his own intelligence. Sure, he potentially had the knowledge, but that didn't mean he understood how best to use that knowledge. Not to mention some of the truly amazing stuff he was learning about the Devil Fruit required abilities he simply did not have. His Klyntar form gave him an amazing ability to change his host, but he had no other means to make such changes.
Maybe it was a limit of his imagination or knowledge of the Klyntar species as a whole.
Regardless, he specifically focused on the one aspect of the Zoan fruit that mattered for what he had planned, the shape-shifting portion. By focusing on that aspect of the power the fruit would grant, he was able to better understand how it worked and, more importantly, how to replicate it. Trying to focus on much more gave him a major headache. It was simply too much information for his mortal mind to comprehend.
No wonder it was limited by his current level.
Eventually, he let go of the Devil Fruit and shifted back to his human form. He went to the galley and grabbed himself an apple. The next moment, he was in his Klyntar form once again and merged with the apple. Using what he'd learned from the Devil Fruit as well as letting Principle of Life show him the way, he modified the fruit.
When he retreated from it, the apple no longer looked like an apple. Nor did it quite look like a Devil Fruit. Rather than swirls, it was covered in strange discolored spots, and the stem, normally T-shaped, looked closer to an R-shape. It honestly looked diseased. Even so, his Divine skill said it would do what he wanted, and that was what mattered.
He collected the mutant apple and made his way back to the top deck, where the others were going about doing whatever they wished. Nami was drawing on a desk. Mimikyu was lazing around on Rachnera's abdomen. Rachnera was laying on her stomach with her top undone and sunbathing. Lastly, Libra was sitting in the shade reading a book.
He walked over to Rachnera with the 'fruit' in his hand, “Rachnera, I made something for you that you might like.”
Rachnera slowly lifted herself up to not disturb Mimikyu, then turned to face him, her top plainly left on the deck of the ship. He was caught completely off guard and found himself silently staring at Rachnera's bare breasts while they hovered right in his face. Her lips curled into a playful smirk at the sight of him blankly staring at her. She let it go for longer than an excuse of accidental exposure would allow. She couldn't resist crossing her arms under her breasts and pushing them up and together, “You wanted something, Master?”
The sultry tone she said 'master' with broke him out of his daze, though his eyes noticeably never left her breasts. He held up the mutant apple, “I made this for you. Now, I want to preface this by saying I do not require, expect, or even necessarily want you to accept this from me.”
That got her attention. Seeing as the conversation was going to be fairly serious, she shifted her arms until she had her breasts mostly covered. That seemed to break the spell and let Renard look her in her eyes. She smiled playfully while asking, “What is it?”
“It's sort of a pseudo Devil Fruit I made based on the Zoan type.”
She tilted her head, “The kind that lets people turn into animals?”
He nodded, “Right, only this one I made for you works rather differently. If you eat it, and I stress IF, then you will gain the ability to shift into a more human-like form. It won't turn you into a complete human. It will only change your body from the waist down. Essentially, it will transform your lower half into a pair of human legs.”
She studied Renard in silence for a moment before asking in a soft, vulnerable voice, “Why did you make this for me?”
He looked firmly into her eyes, trying to convey how serious he was, “I like you just as you are.” He blushed a little but tried to remain serious as he continued, “I think my staring a moment ago proves that.”
Rachnera's cheeks gained a bit of pink, but he continued, “I don't need or want you to change for me. I can also say that the further we get into the Grand Line, the less people will question the way you look because Devil Fruits will become a more well-known fact. As opposed to it being Legends in places like here in the East Blue.”
He looked at the fruit for a moment, then back to her, “I made this to give you an option. This is more about practicality. If you can shift to have a pair of human legs, you can fit into much smaller areas and through smaller doors. If you'd had it back in Cokoyashi, you could have come inside of Nami's place with the rest of us.”
He tossed the fruit from hand to hand, “Just as a side note, it will not remove your ability to swim if you do eat it. It's not a real Devil Fruit and doesn't come with the same curse.”
Rachnera held her hand out, so he offered the fruit to her. She carefully took it and then looked at him, “So, if I eat this, I'll be capable of shifting to have human legs, and that's all that would change for me?”
He nodded, “Yes. And just a single bite will work. I tried, but I couldn't remove the unpleasant taste from it.”
She rolled the apple around in one hand while the other continued to cover her breasts to keep from distracting Renard. She finally looked down at him once more, “Let me think about it.”
He nodded in acceptance, “It's all up to you. If you don't want to eat it, do me a favor and destroy it. It was made specifically for you, and I have no idea what would happen if someone else found and ate it.”
“Won't it rot?”
He shook his head, “Devil Fruits don't rot over time, so if you just tossed it into the ocean, someone could find it in the future and eat it. It could do anything from just tasing bad and doing nothing, to turning them into some unholy mutant with four legs, to killing them. That's karma I don't want.”
She eyed the fruit with some apprehension, “Are you sure it won't do anything like that to me?”
He chuckled, “Positive. I made it just for you. It will do you no harm.”
She nodded and returned to her topless sunbathing. He left her to think over her decision and made his way to the tiller, where Nami was working on her map. As he got closer, Nami spoke up without looking at him, “What was that all about?”
He paused at the tone of her voice; it wasn't quite as friendly as usual. He moved past it and answered her, “Just giving Rachnera something that she may or may not use. You'll see what it does if she chooses to use it.”
Nami gave him a side eye, “And the staring?”
Was... was she jealous? A man could dream. He shrugged his shoulders but did look a little embarrassed about it, “Yeah, she caught me completely off guard with that.”
Nami scowled, “Well, you certainly seemed to be enjoying it.”
Renard nodded agreeably, “Rachnera is a beautiful woman.”
Nami scoffed, “Oh, so you'd stare at any beautiful woman?”
He shook his head, “Nah. Only those I cared about. Right now, that list is pretty short. Rachnera.” Nami grunted, “Libra.” Nami scowled, “And you.”
Nami froze for a long moment, then returned to her map drawing, “I see.”
“So, how much longer until we get to Loguetown?”
“Nami glanced up and frowned for a bit, “A couple of hours. We should be there by mid-afternoon.”
Renard nodded, “Excellent. We've got a lot of things we need to buy there.”
Nami snorted, “You mean a lot of food.” She tapped her chin with the end of her quill, “We also really need to find a good cook for the ship. Your cooking isn't bad, but a dedicated chef would be a lot better. Especially with how much time you have to spend fishing for food.”
He sighed and looked up at the lightly cloudy sky, “Yeah, a dedicated chef would be great. We should also consider taking a larger ship from some pirates to replace this one. When I got it, it was just Libra and me. It's a bit small for all five of us, six when we get a chef.”
“I vote we steal one from some bastard pirates!”
Renard chuckled, “Somehow I'm not surprised.”
Nami's hatred of pirates was alive and well for obvious reasons. Not that Renard cared. Though he hoped it wouldn't cause issues in the future when they were labeled as pirates for whatever cheap reason the Marines made up.
They fell into a comfortable silence. He occasionally looked over to watch Nami sketching her map from notes she'd made. It was impressive as hell to him, especially since he didn't understand a damned thing. Well, not quite. It was an island, he knew that much.
Well, just watching her work was nice on its own.
-----Line Break-----
Everyone stood on the deck staring at the approaching Polestar Islands. They were only a short distance from Loguetown. Renard may have already been to the place once, but it felt different this time because this time they were heading to the Grand Line afterward. It gave off a whole new feeling of excitement, the next big step on a grand adventure.
He looked at his crew members, “Everyone got money?” At their nods, he looked back to the approaching dock, “Alright. Get whatever you want, but be aware that the Grand Line is going to be rough, so get any bad weather gear you might need.”
“You've said.”
He glanced at Rachnera and then back to the dock, “Just making sure. Nami...”
“I know, I need to buy a couple of Log Poses. You still need to explain how they work!”
He chuckled, “I will once we get to the Grand Line. You won't believe me until then!”
As soon as the ship got close to the dock, they got to work tying it up. Once they were secured, he looked at Libra, “Are you sure you want to be the one standing guard?”
Libra nodded silently and held up the book in her hands. He chuckled and nodded, “Alright. But whoever comes back first will relieve you so you can go get more books, alright?”
She nodded enthusiastically, then went to her reading spot and got right down to it. He chuckled and left with the other two. As for Mimikyu, she was somewhere on the ship doing who knew what. The Pokémon had no reason to go shopping thanks to Rachnera going a bit overboard in making outfits for her. She now had an entire array of puppets she could wear aside from Pikachu. He particularly liked her little teddy bear one.
Rachnera and Nami went off together in search of a clothing store. Renard went directly to the food markets. He had literal tons of food to order. Hell, food is what took up the vast majority of their storage space on the ship. They could fit a lot more people if he didn't have to use so much space for food.
As soon as he stepped on the right street, he was enthusiastically greeted by several vendors who recognized him from his last massive shopping spree. Their shouts to get him to buy more of their stuff made him laugh happily.
-----Line Break-----
Rachnera walked next to Nami, her eyes easily spotting the looks people were giving her. She was long used to humans looking at her with fear, disgust, and even anger. She was used to it, but being used to it didn't mean she liked it.
Then there was her Master, even if he didn't like her calling him that. Even the very first time he saw her, he didn't flinch at all. He'd never looked at her like anything other than a woman. Considering the looks she was getting from people currently, that made him extremely rare.
Then again, what could she expect from someone chosen by the Chaos Gacha?
“You want to talk about it?”
Rachnera was pulled out of her thoughts by Nami's question. She looked down at the young woman and asked, “Talk about what?”
“What Renard gave you.”
Rachnera frowned slightly, “What did he tell you about it?”
Nami shrugged, “Nothing. Do you want to tell me?”
Rachnera considered it for a bit before shrugging. There was no real reason to hide it, so she explained, “I've been the way I am for pretty much my whole life.” She looked around, prompting Nami to do the same, “I'm used to the looks of revulsion, fear, and even hatred. I take pride in not letting the opinions of petty little people bring me down.” She paused for a long moment, “What Renard gave me would allow me to have human legs, but part of me feels like doing so would be giving in and letting the petty people win by changing myself for them.”
Nami stopped, prompting Rachnera to do the same. Nami turned to face the other woman and gave her a very serious look, “You're forgetting something very important. Something I don't think you've considered.”
Rachnera studied Nami curiously, “Oh? And what's that?”
Nami stared directly into Rachnera's largest pair of eyes, “Shoes.”
“...” Rachnera froze for a moment as her brain tried to process what Nami said, then she started laughing.
Nami joined in, and they continued on their walk toward a clothing store where neither of them planned to buy anything. Rachnera's work was way better than anything a store could sell. Though she did better work with some inspiration. After which, they needed to buy a large supply of clothing dyes.
Rachnera thought about what Nami said and smiled gently. Though Nami's first reaction to her had been pretty extreme, they'd since become friends, and Nami no longer looked at her with negative emotions. She chuckled softly and whispered to herself, “Shoes, huh?”
-----Line Break-----
Renard looked at the storefront before him and smiled. There was one more thing he wanted to steal from Luffy's crew. He stepped into the shop and glanced around at all the swords on display. He needed an actual sword. As much as he loved his Lightsaber, which was a LOT, it wasn't practical if he wanted to actually get better by fighting against other people. He was fairly certain that the Lightsaber would slice through any swords short of black blades or ones covered in strong Armament Haki.
So, he was going to rescue a wonderful sword from a dark fate. He looked at the man behind the counter, an older man with a red nose and weird hairstyle, Ipponmatsu. Renard walked right up to the counter, which got the man's attention, “Welcome! Welcome! What can I sell you today?”
“I want to see your finest sword.”
Ipponmatsu looked Renard over and noticed that his clothing was rather nice, so he nodded his head, “Just a moment, dear customer.”
Ipponmatsu stepped into the back and came out with the reason Renard had come to the store, Yubashiri. Yubashiri was a long katana with a black handle, black lacquered sheath, and gold accents. It had a cross-shaped guard and a black lacquered sheath.
With Ipponmatsu's permission, he picked the sword up and slowly unsheathed it. The blade itself was normal in appearance, though its hamon pattern was irregular. It felt very light in his hands. His Adept Blade Weapon Mastery skill let him see just how high-quality the sword was.
He gently sheathed it, then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two bars of gold, each half a kilogram in weight, and set them on the counter, “This should cover it.”
Ipponmatsu's eyes glittered with greed as he picked up the two heavy bars and gently bit them. Seeing the imprints from his teeth made his smile grow even larger, “Pleasure doing business with you!”
Renard held Yubashiri in his off hand; he'd have to ask Rachnera to make something to hold the sheath on his waist. He had no idea what the word for that particular thing was. Holster maybe? Whatever, the point was he didn't have a haramaki around his waist to just casually stick the sword into.
As he opened the door, he paused and stepped back while continuing to hold it open for a young woman to step into the store. She looked up at him, and he recognized her instantly.
“Thank you.”
He nodded to Tashigi, “You're welcome.”
As he stepped out, he heard her calling out, “I'm here to pick up Shigure! Is it ready?”
Huh, so that's where he was in the timeline? It looked like Luffy was running behind thanks to him stealing Nami. Well, whatever. It was kind of a good thing because the last thing he wanted was to run into them again. Especially Zoro, he'd feel really guilty if he ran into him right then. Sure, he was saving Yubashiri from being destroyed by taking it, but he was also weakening Zoro... Unless Ipponmatsu had another sword he didn't know about? He said Yubashiri was his best, not his only.
He shook his head and made his way toward the docks. At least this time, Ipponmatsu got some money out of the deal!
He stepped onto the deck of The Seeker and looked around. He frowned slightly when he didn't spot Libra in her spot. Someone else must have relieved her. If so, she would likely be raiding the nearest bookstore. He chuckled at the thought and made his way to his cabin, where he could store Yubashiri until Rachnera could help him secure it to his waist.
As he stepped into his cabin, he froze and stared slack-jawed.
Rachnera, sitting calmly on his bed, casually crossed her very human legs, allowing the titillatingly short skirt she wore to ride up just a bit higher on her very full, very human thighs. From the waist up, she was still the same sensual spider queen she'd always been. From the waist down, her spider body had been replaced with a pair of long, pale, well-sculpted legs that ended with a pair of strappy black high heels.
She crossed her arms beneath her breasts, 'accidentally' pushing her breasts up and together to deepen the valley of her cleavage. She put on her best teasing smile while asking, “I take it you like what you see?”
Renard quickly shook his head and cleared his throat to regain his equilibrium. He swallowed thickly then finally answered, “Uh. Yeah. You look... well, you always look amazing, but this...”
He didn't know how to describe it. He'd thought Rachnera was attractive from the first moment he saw her. She was already a ten out of ten. Now... Twenty out of ten! Off the charts! She was a spider queen, now she was a spider goddess!
Rachnera's teasing look faded to a genuine smile, “I was thinking of declining, but then Nami made a point I hadn't considered.”
He blinked at that and looked curious, “What was that?”
Her honest smile once more turned teasing as she flexed her thigh and bounced her foot, causing certain other assets to noticeably jiggle, “Shoes. I've never had the opportunity to wear shoes before! I'd never even considered it!”
He suddenly got it, “And with your interest in fashion...”
She nodded enthusiastically, “It opens up a whole different field of things for me to enjoy with outfit design.”
She carefully stood up, and Renard noticed that she was still taller than him, though she didn't tower over him. She stepped up to him and traced her clawed finger along his jaw, “Thank you for this and for everything else.” She leaned in and gently kissed his cheek right next to his lips, “Thank you.”
She turned and made her way out of his cabin. Renard's eyes naturally fell down to stare at her rear. The skirt was so short that the very bottom of her swaying cheeks were visible as she strutted through his door. While she'd had a human pair of buttocks in her arachne form, he'd never really seen them since he was always in front of her and rarely above and behind her. Now he got them in full view and had to bite his lip from saying something aloud.
Rachera shut the door to the cabin and immediately grabbed the wall to steady herself. She carefully used the wall to guide herself while muttering, “How do human women walk on just two legs? Worse! How do they do that THEN wear these ridiculous heels?!”
If not for some early help from Nami and a little practice, she wouldn't have been able to pull that last stunt to get Renard to stare at her ass. It was worth it, though!
-----Line Break-----
It took another few hours for all the food that Renard had ordered to be stored on The Seeker. During that time, he had spent some time at the local bounty office gathering wanted posters for pirates expected to be in the first half of the Grand Line. Thanks to his status as a bounty hunter, he hadn't had any trouble from the local marines. He'd even heard rumors about a massive shakeup at a Marine base due to corruption of the highest order. That made him smile.
But now they had everything they needed and were on their way toward Reverse Mountain, the main entrance to the Grand Line. Nami was practically glowing with excitement as they approached the entrance marked by huge stone gates. She called out orders rapidly, and everyone worked quickly to accomplish.
The entrance was amazing, but also extremely dangerous as they caught the powerful current racing up to the top of the mountain. As soon as they hit the entrance the speed of the current increased dramatically. Thanks to Nami's expert navigation, they were relatively safe as they raced up the mountain. Soon, they passed the cloud layer and continued even higher up. As they neared the crest, Renard shouted out, “Libra! Be ready!”
The celestial spirit nodded and prepared to cast her magic. The ship hit the very top of the mountain where all four currents from the blues collided together. The sheer speed of their ascent sent their ship high into the air. Once gravity began to take hold of it, Renard shouted, “Now!”
Libra cast her spell and caught The Seeker in her grasp. She drastically reduced the speed at which their ship began to drop toward the current leading down into the Grand Line. Thanks to her, the potential rough landing became a gentle drop. Then she released her hold, and they went blasting back down the mountain.
Renard threw his hands up in the air and cheered. He was quickly joined by everyone but Libra. Though she did throw her hands up in the air like she just didn't care.
About halfway down, Renard heard it. A loud, deep whale cry that couldn't be described in words. The sound was so massive that it had to come from something truly colossal. Soon, the others began to notice the noise. Nami was the first to shout, “What is that?”
The mist and ocean spray began to clear, so Renard shouted out, “Something massive! Libra! Slow the ship down!”
Libra immediately cast her magic and grabbed the ship. Not wanting to damage it, for obvious reasons, she gradually slowed the ship down rather than instantly stopping it. Something she was fully capable of. As they slowed their descent, everyone got a good look at the massive body of a gigantic whale that towered into the sky.
“Mimikyu!!”
Renard nodded, “You said it, he IS big.”
“AAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOO”
Everyone grabbed their ears as the whale let out a loud cry right next to them. The sheer force alone pressed on their bodies, not to mention just how impossibly loud the sound was from up close. Renard grimaced and looked at Laboon, muttering to himself, “No wonder Luffy punched you.”
As they sailed around Laboon in an effort to get past him, Laboon's massive eye swiveled and focused on them. Renard blinked in confusion. Didn't Laboon ignore the Going Merry until Luffy punched him right in the eye? Why was he looking at them like... oh... fuck.
Laboon began lowering himself into the ocean with his mouth wide open to draw in huge amounts of ocean water. Laboon was like a gigantic rip tide current pulling The Seeker into its body. Libra worked to move the ship, but they were past Laboon's teeth before she had the ship moving with any speed. Laboon's mouth slammed closed, locking them inside as he dove below the surface.
“Well... that was unexpected.”
“WE JUST GOT EATEN BY A WHALE THE SIZE OF A MOUNTAIN! REACT MORE STRONGLY!”
Renard turned to give Nami a rather bland look, “Nami, I understand you're a little freaked out, but you might want to get used to strange, crazy, or outright impossible things being the norm here in the Grand Line. The Grand Line doesn't so much say 'fuck you' to physics as it drags physics into a back alley and beats it half to death.”
Nami gave him a morose stare, “I know you keep saying things like that, but...”
She trailed off as they sailed into Laboon's well-lit stomach, which appeared to take them back outside. Her eyes widened as she looked around in shock. Renard smirked, “Told you.”
She glared at him, “Shut up! We need to find a way out of here, and I don't like the direction we're sailing in. Or where it will lead.”
The water next to the ship exploded from the force of a large eel-like sea king popping out of the water. It charged toward their ship but was stopped by a big harpoon slamming into it from behind. The first was quickly followed by two more that finished the eel off. The dead eel was slowly dragged back to a small island floating on the whale's stomach acid with a little house sitting on it. A few seconds later, an old man stepped out of the house and stared at them while they stared back. The man was stocky, muscular, bald, and had something on his head that looked like flower petals. The man was Crocus, the doctor for Gold Roger's pirate crew.
Once Crocus sat down on his beach chair, Renard casually waved toward him, “Yo.”
Crocus imitated him and waved back, “Yo.”
“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!”
Crocus and Renard turned to gaze at the panting Nami. Crocus snickered, “She's a bit high-strung, huh?”
Renard nodded, “But, she can be forgiven. She's from the East Blue.”
Crocus nodded in understanding, “Ah. What the World Government has done there since Roger's death is despicable.” His gaze moved back to Renard, “You pirates?”
Renard shook his head, “Bounty Hunters. Cleaned out East Blue and we're heading to the Grand Line for more challenges.”
Crocus nodded, “Well, it'll be a little bit before...”
He stopped as the whole area suddenly shook violently. Crocus scowled, “I need to take care of this.”
He quickly ran to the edge of his little island boat and leaped into the gastric juices of Laboon's stomach. Renard grimaced at the very idea. The only saving grace at the moment was that the place didn't reek like death.
Laboon continued to slam his head into the Red Line, causing the whole place to shudder and shake violently. After another violent hit, a door high up in the 'sky' of Laboon's stomach opened, and two people came flying out. Renard caught sight of them and shouted, “Rachnera! Libra! Catch them!”
Libra reduced the gravity of the pair to slow them down while Rachnera launched two lines of webbing to snag them from midair. With their teamwork, they soon had the pair on the deck of The Seeker. Rachnera, being cautious, immediately had the pair wrapped up tightly in silk ropes.
The pair were who Renard expected them to be, Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday, aka Nefertari Vivi, the princess of the Arabasta Kingdom. Mr. 9 wore an ugly green suit with a gaudy golden crown, had orange hair, and the number nine tattooed on each of his cheeks.
Miss Wednesday, or Vivi, on the other hand, was an attractive young woman with long blue hair, brown eyes, and fair skin. She wore white shorts, a top with white and blue swirls, a golden belt, and a white jacket with a fur trimmed collar.
It took the pair a moment to gather themselves, and when they did, both of their gazes snapped to Rachnera in her Arachne form. Vivi gasped in surprise but didn't freak out or look too put off, just surprised at the sight in front of her. Mr. 9, on the other hand, began screaming like a little girl and begging not to be eaten.
Everyone gazed at him like he was an idiot, then ignored him.
Renard looked at the much calmer Vivi, “Who are you two supposed to be?”
Vivi tried to sit straighter and appear more regal and mature, “I am Miss Wednesday, and this is my partner, Mr. 9. We're here to hunt this whale for food for our starving town!”
Rachnera was the first one to speak, “Are you stupid?”
Vivi looked offended, “Our people are starving! This is the largest source of food near our island!”
Rachnera gave her a bland stare, “Maybe, but it's too big, and you're too small.”
“W-what?”
“Let's say you kill this whale and harvest its meat. Just how much meat do you think you can harvest from it before it begins to rot? A ton? Two? The moment you kill it, decay will set in. You would never be able to harvest it all before it was rancid. How long after you kill it will it take your people to get here to harvest it? Even if, by some miracle, you had an army of people and actually managed to harvest the entire whale, how long do you think you could even preserve the food for? Do you even have the storage space for something THIS massive?!”
Vivi stared, agape, as she processed what Rachnera was saying. Slowly, she lowered her head in defeat, “We'd barely get anything from it before it went bad. This was a terrible idea from the beginning.”
Vivi shook her head and looked back at them, “Who are you people anyway?”
Renard chose to answer that, “Just a group of Bounty Hunters heading into the Grand Line to make a few Belly.”
Mr. 9 perked up, having gotten over freaking out about Rachnera's appearance, “Ah! We're Bounty Hunters as well!”
“I thought you were whale hunters.”
Vivi shook her head, “We were only doing it for food to feed our town of Whiskey Peak. You should head there with us, it's a town full of Bounty Hunters.”
Part of her job as Miss Wednesday, as well as anyone else in Baroque Works, was to try to recruit more people to the cause. A ship of bounty hunters would be a good prospect.
Renard hummed in consideration. Whiskey Peak was his goal, regardless, so there was no reason not to accept the invitation.
“It's as good as any other island to begin our journey on.”
Vivi looked hopeful, “Does that mean you'll untie us?”
Renard looked to Rachnera, “Release them.”
Rachnera pouted then asked while staring at Mr. 9, “Can I at least play with him?” She licked her lips in a hungry manner that clearly freaked Mr. 9 out.
“Nah, he looks like he's all bones.”
Rachnera sighed dramatically. She swiped her clawed hands at the pair and cut them free from her silk. Vivi climbed to her feet while rubbing her arms, “Thank you for releasing us.”
Shortly after agreeing to go to Whiskey Peak, Crocus returned and led them out of Laboon after both Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday apologized for trying to hunt Laboon and promised to never try again. The group didn't really stick around after that. They collected the small boat the Baroque Works pair were using and towed it behind The Seeker while making way to their next destination.
-----Line Break-----
It was early evening by the time they reached Whiskey Peak, and Nami looked completely depleted. Her hair was frazzled, her eyes wider than normal, and her whole body shaking on occasion. She'd just experienced her first taste of sailing through the Grand Line, and she finally, FINALLY believed Renard when he said the Grand Line is where normality came to die.
The Grand Line threw everything she knew about navigation onto the ground and beat it until it was weeping. Her major saving grace was her talent for predicting the weather. It had saved them whole worlds of trouble. She could adapt and learn, and she was damned determined to do so!
When they drew closer to the center of the island via a river, they could hear loud cheering coming from the banks. Vivi grimaced, “Ignore that. It's something we do to trick and capture pirates, which you're not.”
Renard snorted, “Pirates are generally pretty stupid, so I could see a tactic like that working.”
Once the fog and mist cleared, they could see dozens of people all cheering and clapping for them. They didn't stop until The Seeker dropped anchor. Vivi and Mr. 9 were the first to disembark and speak to a large man with white hair arranged into large curls, Mr. 8 or Igaram, the Captain of the Arabasta Royal Guard.
Shortly after, he raised his hands and shouted, “Stand down, everyone! They're bounty hunters, not pirates!”
The excited atmosphere immediately faded as most of the people scowled in disappointment at wasting their time. The crowd quickly dispersed to go about their lives. Renard, Rachnera, and Nami all descended from the ship. Mimikyu sat on Rachnera's abdomen, and Libra just wanted to sit on the ship and read.
Igaram faced them, “Please, forgive me for not spending time with you, but I must debrief my agents. Feel freegh...” He cleared his throat before continuing, “Ma~Ma~Ma~, Free to explore and meet the other bounty hunters.”
They did just that and, frankly, what they found was just pathetic. The town really did have supply issues, but didn't seem to think that fishing normal fish or hunting smaller Sea Kings was worthwhile. It wasn't until later that night that things got interesting.
Renard, having expected trouble, had chosen to hang out on the roof of the tallest building in the town while drinking from a bottle of sake. It was in the middle of a sip that an explosion went off near the edge of the town. He gently sent his bottle down and rose to his feet, “Finally.”
He took off at a dead run, leaping from building to building. When he got to the edge of the town, he came upon a scene of carnage. Mr. 8 and Mr. 9 were both beaten and down. A large duck was covered in soot and lying off to the side. Meanwhile, Vivi was still conscious, covered in soot, bruises, and a few cuts.
Standing across from the beaten group was a pair of people he recognized easily. Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. Mr. 5 was a tall, dark-skinned man with short black dreadlocks wearing sunglasses at night like a douche bag. Next to him was a woman of average height with short blonde hair, bright green eyes, and wearing a sundress covered in pictures of lemon slices.
Mr. 5 was the owner of the Bomu Bomu no Mi, giving him the power to explode any part of his body. Miss Valentine was the owner of the Kilo Kilo no Mi, allowing her to adjust her body weight to anything from one to ten thousand kilograms. Both had serious potential but were in the hands of a pair of morons.
He wanted to fix that for at least one of them.
Renard didn't pause as he jumped off the roof into the open air. As he dropped, he shifted into his Klyntar form and expanded out like a blanket. Before either of the Baroque Works agents could react, he landed on Mr. 5 and wrapped around him instantly. It only took him a handful of seconds to take complete control of Mr. 5's body in the most permanent way possible. He used his knowledge from the Principle of Life to completely erase Mr. 5's conscious mind while leaving the memories intact.
[Feat Achieved! Defeated Gem (Mr. 5)! +1x Random Gold Gacha Ticket]
As soon as he had control, he spun to the side and pointed his palm directly at Miss Valentine. He detonated his palm with a precisely modulated amount of force that instantly knocked the woman unconscious.
[Feat Achieved! Defeated Mikita (Miss Valentine)! +1 Random Silver Gacha Ticket]
Vivi stared at the possessed Mr. 5 with complete confusion, “Wha...?”
Renard coated Mr. 5 in his symbiote form, “It's me, Renard. I've taken over the body of Mr. 5.”
“What? But, why?”
“You tell me. Why did I have to come save you?”
Even as he asked that, Rachnera, Mimikyu, Libra, and Nami all showed up along with a large number of the Barouqe Works agents stationed there. Vivi looked around, clearly unsure of what to do. Renard took command, “Rachnera, Libra, gather the unconscious ones and take them to the ship.”
The locals all jerked back at the sight of Renard's symbiote form, along with its deep voice. Mr. 5 was six foot five on his own. With Renard enhancing his body, he was closer to seven feet tall and covered in a thick black substance that gave the appearance of large muscles. Combined with his white teardrop-shaped eyes and large mouth full of dagger-like teeth, it made for quite the intimidating sight.
No one even thought to try to stop Rachnera or Libra after his command. The fact that he followed right behind them probably made them less interested in finding out what was going on as well. They made it to the ship and below deck, where they could have privacy without further issue.
Renard turned to Vivi and stared at her, “Explain.”
So, Vivi explained everything. She told them who she was, Nefertari Vivi of Arabasta. She told them why the leader of Baroque Works was trying to plunge her kingdom into war and had to have vile intentions. She explained how she joined Baroque Works to learn who the leader was. Then ended up accidentally telling them that it was Crocodile.
At the end of the explanation, Renard was grinning from ear to ear, “So, what you're saying is that one of the Shichibukai is attacking a country aligned with the World Government, thereby voiding the protection the position of Shichibukai offers from said government?”
Vivi looked confused by his excitement, but slowly nodded, “I suppose you could say that.”
Renard's grin grew to an unholy degree, “And this traitor Shichibukai is running an illegal group filled with people who are criminals, possibly with worthwhile bounties placed on their heads?”
“Uhm... yes?”
His gaze shifted from Vivi to his crew, “Did my birthday come early?”
That got some mild laughter, but just confused Vivi even more. So, he broke it down for her, “We're a legit bounty hunting crew. You just told us a worthy target, Crocodile, and all of his minions, Baroque Works, are worth a potentially hefty amount of money, the thing we want the most. So, here's what's going to happen. We're all going to go to Arabasta, kick Crocodile's ass, and collect one hell of a payday.”
“B-but it's Crocodile! A Shichibukai! One of the strongest pirates on the sea! How can you beat him?!”
Renard laughed, “Easily, that's how!”
Vivi looked gobsmacked and clearly didn't know how to respond to Renard's confidence. At that moment, Igaram cleared his throat, “If you'll let me disembark, I can act as a distraction to lead any pursuers away from the Princess.”
"M-me too." Mr. 9 chimed in.
Renard waved his suggestion off, “No point in doing that when I WANT them to come! Them coming to me makes it a lot easier to capture them! They will literally be delivering money to me.” He looked at Mr. 9, "Feel free to get off. I only had them bring you to protect you."
Mr. 9 quickly accepted the invitation and made himself scarce. He had no desire to tangle with someone on the level of Crocodile. He'd just have to pretend he never heard a single thing.
Nami nodded in agreement, clearly eager to gain more money if the Belly sign in her eyes was any indication. Rachnera looked interested, and Mimikyu...
“Mimikyuuuu!”
Renard chuckled, “Well, that's that then. Nami, how is the Log Pose looking?”
Nami checked her wrist, “We're all set here.”
“Excellent, let's get going!”
While they were getting underway, Renard decided to roll his two new tickets.
'Roll the Silver Ticket'
[ROLLING!]
[All-Purpose Tool, Trash Item, DnD - A screwdriver that shapes itself into any mundane tool, such as hammers, knives, chisels, etc.]
Renard stared at the Screwdriver in his hand, 'Any mundane tool? That's.... HOW is this item TRASH?!'
The screwdriver shifted into a copy of Yubashiri. After all, what was a sword but a tool for killing? The next moment, it shifted into a laptop computer, a high-tech but still very much mundane tool. The next shift turned it into an electric guitar; unfortunately, it lacked an amp, so that was pretty useless. Finally, it shifted back to a screwdriver, “This thing is AWESOME.”
'Roll the gold ticket.'
[ROLLING!]
[Byakugan, Elite Item, Naruto - A pair of byakugan plucked freshly from a Neji Hyuga who just unlocked them, stored in a special fluid that makes sure they don't degrade. If you find a skilled enough doctor, you can have them implanted.]
He looked at the jar containing two almost pure white eyes within. They'd come at just the right moment. He opened the jar and fed a tendril into it. A single touch was all he needed for Principal of Life to tell him all about them and let him copy them with ease. It was time to get to work.
He got to work by using his Klyntar abilities and knowledge from the Principle of Life to begin modifying the body of Mr. 5. His end goal? Transforming Mr. 5's body into an exact duplicate of his own. Klyntar was by far his greatest ability, but using it in full required bonding with someone on a more permanent basis. Finding someone to do that with? Unlikely, possibly impossible, and definitely not recommended.
So, he was going to do the next best thing. He was using the Principle of Life to completely modify Mr. 5's body into a copy of himself and programming its brain with a sort of Virtual Intelligence that could autopilot it if he needed to exit the body for any reason. With no real consciousness and being an exact replica of his own body, it would give Renard the best of all worlds.
The addition of the Byakugan was rather nice in letting him upgrade the eyes of his new body. He'd need some time to learn how to use it properly, but it would be an excellent tool to have in his belt. He couldn't imagine how it might enhance his Observation Haki when he actually unlocked said skill. Speaking of, he should probably look into practicing that. He knew a training method or two that might work.
That could wait, though. He had a body to fully modify to his hearts content!
-----Line Break-----
AN
10.6k words!
Not much to say. We're finished with East Blue and are now on our way to Little Garden. We've got an introduction to Nico Robin to do before that to enjoy as well! We should probably make it to Arabasta in the next chapter, though we probably won't finish it.
Anyway! Let me know what you think of what happened in this chapter!
Love you guys!
(BTW, I totally didn't have to fight the idea of doing a DxD Chaos Gacha.)