Chapter 23: Heading to Goa Kingdom
"What the fuck just happened?" Bolt was shocked at this strange event.
"I don't know. If I have to take a guess then this should be the result of some kind of devil fruit ability, it stopped him from revealing the information," Leo said with a concerned expression.
He had never seen this kind of ability in the One Piece manga, but from how that tattoo turned into a drop of blood, he speculated that this ability might be from some blood-type devil fruit.
"What a weird but terrifying ability," Bolt said in amazement. It was his first time seeing the devil fruit ability of someone else. He looked forward to meeting the person possessing this ability to see how his ability would fare against it.
The horrifying death of their captain terrified the pirates. "Enough is enough. I don't want to be a pirate anymore. I want to go home." That's what they were thinking. Many of them wet their pants seeing their captain's death.
Leo was a little disappointed for not getting the information. He looked at the frightened pirates, and expressionlessly asked, "Does any of you have any information that might want me to spare you?"
"No. We don't know anything. We only helped the captain in abducting people, and after that, he alone would transfer them to someone secretly, he never allowed us to accompany him. The next place of transfer would only be known to the captain, and each time it was on a different island," a pirate whose pants were still dry told Leo.
"I thought so." Leo nodded to himself. He didn't expect to gain any information from them.
"You are all useless to me then," Leo spoke with hard eyes. "Kill them," he said to Bolt in a flat tone.
"No. No. Please spare us. We will never do any bad things from now on." They begged with a crying face.
Rifles hovering in front of them moved and pointed themselves at their heads.
"Please stop. I know something," a pirate with two front teeth missing said in desperation.
"What is it?" Leo asked.
"Captain sometimes called us the starless members. Is this useful?" Pirate asked nervously.
"Hmmm. Starless members?" He thought aloud. "Does starless mean unofficial members, while star tattoo represents official members?" He couldn't think of anything else with this little information.
"Anything else?" Leo asked.
"No, only this. Was this useful?" He asked again.
"Kill everyone," Leo said expressionlessly.
"Nooooo. Spare me."
"Spare us." They begged frantically.
But begging was useless.
For the first time, he was going to kill humans, he hesitated for a moment, but when he thought of the people killed in his town his heart became firm. "No. They aren't humans, they are pirates."
"BANG!" All rifles shot bullets at the same time, they passed through their brains, leaving a trail of blood at their exit. All of them fell with a regret flashing through their eyes. After short twitching, their bodies lay motionless on the deck. They were dead. A moment of silence lingered on the ship.
After this, they moved all the bodies to the cabin and closed the metal door.
Bolt remembered something, then he searched the whole ship, but in the end, only disappointment was left on his face. "Damn, where is the treasure? How could a pirate crew led by the captain with ten million bounty doesn't have a single belly with them." Bolt was on the verge of crying. "Is earning money so difficult?"
Leo comforted him while patting his back. "It's okay we might find it next time."
After this short interlude, they started their work.
Leo broke the mast in a single punch and then threw it in the sea. It floated on the water.
Bolt made large holes on the part of the hull below the water surface. Water started flooding the ship.
Leo and Bolt stood on the floating mast and watched the ship sinking, after some time it vanished into the deep dark water, never to be seen again.
The sky had already turned dark, few early stars showing themselves. The cold breeze made them shiver.
"Let's head to the Redwood town, our boat is still there, and I also have a dinner reservation, I can't miss it," Leo said.
"Dinner reservation?" Bolt was puzzled. He thought who could be so foolish to invite this beast for dinner.
Leo told him about his encounter with the mayor's wife.
"Initially I thought of coming with you, but now I think I should wait for you on the boat," Bolt said after hearing how unique her food tasted.
"But you should restrain your beastly eating habit, or she might pass on while preparing food for you," Bolt warned him seriously. He really thought this might happen.
Leo smacked Bolt on his head, and said, "Why are you cursing her? And I know how to control myself."
Bolt rubbed his head, feeling wronged. He mumbled, "I doubt that."
"Ahh… What did you say?"
"Nothing. Nothing. I am just asking for the direction of the Redwood town." Bolt prayed for the mayor's wife's safety.
"To ten o'clock."
Bolt used his ability on the mast, it sped in the direction of the Redwood town.
Leo was standing comfortably on the mast, but Bolt was finding it difficult to balance himself, so he held onto Leo's shoulders.
As for why they didn't take the pirate ship. First, they didn't want to be labeled as pirates, second, Bolt wasn't strong enough to use his ability on such a large ship, the maximum weight to which his ability could be applied was far from this ship's weight. Third, they were still too weak to get noticed by strong people.
That's why Leo decided to sink the ship along with pirates. No one will ever know what happened to these pirates.
Redwood town, mayor's house.
Mayor's wife was lying unconscious in her bed. Mayor sat beside her, watching worriedly.
Suddenly she woke up and spoke to herself. "He promised me that he will come back. I have to prepare dinner for him." She got out of the bed and walked towards the kitchen.
Seeing her regaining consciousness mayor became happy, but when he heard her he started worrying. "Wife, what are you talking about? He is gone. He is not coming back." He tried to bring her back to reality.
Hearing him she became very angry. "How dare you say this? Get the hell out of the house. I don't want to see you ever again." She dragged him to the door by grabbing his arm, and then pushed him out.
"Wife. Wife, listen to – "
"BAM." The door slammed shut before he could complete his sentence.
Mayor sighed helplessly. She was acting just as when their son passed away.
He knocked on the door a few times, but he didn't get any response.
He knew his wife wouldn't listen to him anymore, so he decided to come back tomorrow when she would be calm enough to hear him. He headed to the inn for the night.
Inside, the mayor's wife began preparing the dinner.
When they arrived, Bolt jumped into their boat and entered the cabin for taking a rest.
Leo headed to the mayor's house.
As it was dinner time, very few were out of their house. So it became easy for Leo to reach the mayor's house while hiding himself.
He knocked on the door. "Grandma, I am here."
As soon as she heard Leo's voice, she hurriedly walked to the door and opened it. "You are just in time, I am just finished," she said with a joyous face. She seemed as if she had forgotten about him taken away by those pirates.
Leo also didn't mention anything.
"That's good. I am hungry, I can't wait anymore." Leo quickly sat on the chair beside the dining table.
Mayor's wife became happy at Leo's response.
One by one she brought everything she prepared, the whole table was packed. Steam rising from the colorful hot dishes, and the fragrant scent made Leo's mouth water.
Leo started eating with no table manners. Mayor's wife sat in front of him and watched him happily eating, she felt as if her son was sitting in front of her, silent tears streamed down her eyes.
After the dinner was over, Leo thanked her for the food, and told her that he might not be coming back anytime soon, he was returning home.
Hearing this she became sad but she accepted this because she thought his mother might be waiting for him at his home.
Before saying goodbye she hugged him and told him to take care.
Leo also asked her to take care and reminded her to keep his visit secret.
After this Leo and Bolt left the island, not knowing if they would ever come back here again.
They slept in the cabin on their beds, while their boat kept moving on its own toward their island.
As for something happening while they were sleeping, they didn't have to worry because Leo's second brain never needed any rest. If there is something of concern then it will wake up Leo.
The next day they traveled with their empty stomach. Leo felt the most dangerous part of journeying on the sea was not having food. As for Bolt, it was not having money, because with money they could eat anywhere. Working at the inn was a very traumatic experience for him, he felt the money was as important as life.
For the rest of their journey other than spotting a marine ship from afar nothing interesting happened.
They reached their island by the evening.
After they reached their home, their parent's hugged them, and after that, they asked about their voyage.
They told them everything except for the pirate part.
Their parents became happy hearing their experience.
At Leo's home.
"Mom, I am hungry," Leo said while moving his hand over his stomach.
Nejiko smiled hearing him. "No need to tell me, I can hear your stomach crying for the food."
Nejiko immediately went into the kitchen. She was used to Leo's eating habits, so she always prepared a huge amount of food, mainly meat.
A large amount of meat would always be stored in the kitchen, it came from all the hunting Leo and Bolt would do. Nowadays they hunted only for the meat, as there wasn't anything stronger than them in the forest.
At Bolt's house.
As soon as their family entered, Bolt knelt in front of his father. "Dad, I want to be a merchant. I want to earn money. Please teach me." His tone was filled with determination, he never ever wanted to work in the kitchen.
Hearing this his father and mother were stunned.
Two drops of tears left Mercer's eyes. "How long I have been waiting to hear this. My son has finally grown up." He felt letting his son go to the sea was the best decision he had ever made in his life.
From this day onwards, the "Being Merchant" class was added to Bolt's training schedule.
Next day morning. Leo was reading the newspaper. Finally, there was the news that he had been waiting for.
The arrival of the World Noble in the Goa Kingdom in the coming spring. There was a photo of the World Noble, Saint Jalmack, wearing a thick white suit, and transparent rectangular helmet over his head.
In the Gray Terminal fire incident, many were rescued by the Monkey D. Dragon, but still, some were consumed by that raging fire. Long ago Leo had decided to save those unfortunate lives.
As for the restriction from the system, he just have to save those people in a way that didn't affect the plotline of One Piece. The system gave him a green light, it said it doesn't matter if he saved those common people or not. And it also warned him that Bolt's actions would be considered as his, as it was he who was dragging Bolt into that incident.
Until now he hadn't met a single original character from the anime, so he was looking forward to his voyage to the Goa Kingdom. And what's more, he wouldn't be just meeting some random character but the main characters of the One Piece world, "Luffy, Ace, and Sabo." He might also be able to meet Monkey D. Dragon, Bartholomew Kuma, and Emporio Ivankov.
In so early timeline of the One Piece, so many major characters were on the same island at the same time, what an unexpected twist 'Oda' had slammed onto us.
Just thinking about him also being there amongst them was making Leo excited and nervous. Meeting any of them would be a monumental achievement in the world of crazy One Piece fans. Leo wasn't sure about if he would meet the Dragon and his crew, but he was sure about Luffy, Ace, and Sabo. He was going to meet them in real life, while others have to make do with cosplay events. The only unfortunate thing Leo felt was that he didn't have anything with which he could record this, and there was no one to whom he could show off his achievement.
Under the Giant Tree, Leo informed Bolt about receiving the vision of the future because of his 'ability'. He told him everything about the fire incident. Leo decided to head towards the Goa Kingdom for saving those people.
Bolt trusted Leo, so he readily agreed without asking any questions. And saving people was never a bad thing.
"We still have some time before that incident, so we should prepare ourselves," Leo said.
Bolt was puzzled. "What is there to prepare?"
"First, let's see if your ability works on the fire."
Hearing this Bolt became excited as he liked trying out new things with his power.
Leo brought firewood and set it on the fire. "Use your ability on the flames."
When he used his ability, firewood also got lifted in the air.
"No. No. Just the flames. Firewood has to remain on the ground."
"I know. I only tried to use the ability on the flames, but firewood came along with them," Bolt said.
Hearing this Leo thought for a moment, then said, "Okay. Now, imagine a line dividing the flames into the upper and lower portion. Can you do that?"
"Yes." Bolt nodded.
"Now, forget about everything below the line. Just focus on the upper portion, then use your ability."
Bolt did as Leo instructed. When he used his ability nothing happened to the upper portion, but the good thing was the portion below the line also remained unaffected.
Even though he didn't succeed, Bolt had a satisfactory smile on his face as he managed to use the ability on the flame without affecting the firewood below. "Flame is difficult to grasp, but compared to the air it is too easy. I am sure, I can succeed after some practice," he said confidently.
After this Leo focused on his training, and Bolt continued with his practice.
After ten days, Bolt succeeded. He used his ability, gave speed to the upper portion of the flames in the upward direction. It seemed as if the flames were getting torn at the line. When the upper portion flames completely separated, they disappeared, as they lost their source of energy.
"What's next?" Bolt asked eagerly.
"Now you have to completely separate the flames from the firewood."
"That is easy. I only need a few days." Bolt was overflowing with confidence.
Just after five days, Bolt succeed.
It seems getting the hang of the flames was more important.
With this, the new ability to extinguish the fire was added to Bolt's list of abilities.
Keep in mind that Bolt cannot control fire like how he controls his metal rod, as flames couldn't exist without some source of energy. The only thing he could do was, give speed to the existing flames in one direction, and when the speed was enough, flames would get separated from their source, then disappear.
"Yahoo!!" Bolt yelled in joy when he succeed. He got another new ability.
"There is another very interesting application of your power."
Excited Bolt immediately focused on Leo. "What is it?" He asked in anticipation, as it was the first time Leo used the word 'interesting'.
"Flying!" Leo just said a single word, as there was nothing more to say.
As soon as Bolt heard the word 'Flying' his mind flashed in realization. His mouth remained open for a long time at his own stupidity.
Bolt felt deceived. "You traitor! How could you keep this from me until now?" Bolt punched at Leo, but he easily avoided it. He tried again and again, but only to be met with the air. Bolt's speed was useless against Leo. He was the perfect counter for Bolt's abilities.
"Damn it. Stop moving. Just let me hit once," Bolt said in frustration.
"You can only dream about that," Leo smirked at him.
Leo intentionally kept quiet about 'flying' because if Bolt had known about it, he would have wasted all his time flying.
Every day Bolt was training in using his power on his own body, so he was very proficient in it. It was very easy for him to fly, but this flying thing never came to him. "Damn, how could I be so stupid to not think of this?" He almost wanted to slap himself.
When Bolt tired, he gave up on hitting Leo. He rested until his breathing returned to normal.
It was very easy to fly, he just have to give himself speed in the upward direction. In just a short time he perfectly adapted to flying, it felt as he was born for flying. He flew swiftly and fluidly to left-right, up-down. He was laughing in joy. He couldn't believe he was being kept in the dark about such an amazing thing.
Suddenly Bolt flew to a very high attitude until he looked like a dot even to Leo's enhanced eyes.
He stopped himself there and looked down. What he saw left him with an indescribable feeling. Everything looked tiny. Their island looked like a green plate floating on the vast surface of blue water, he also saw other islands near theirs.
Just then an idea popped into his mind. He turned off his power and let himself fall freely, the rush of air hitting his speedily falling made him excited, as he fell down a very strange sensation was feeling his heart, an involuntarily scream left his mouth. He did not stop until he was close enough to the ground until he could see Leo again. He used his power and stopped himself just above Leo. "That felt awesome!" He began laughing. "Let me try once more." With this, he vanished into the sky.
Leo expected Bolt to act like this. "This is why I didn't want to tell him about flying this early," he murmured to himself. He didn't have a choice, as they may have to use the flying ability in the Goa Kingdom.
Once again Leo saw Bolt falling, he stopped, laughed madly, then again vanished into the sky.
Leo just sighed, and then continued with his training.
The next few days Bolt practiced with the fire until it became easy as breathing.
Initially, Leo thought of heavily disguising themselves, but as they weren't going there to show off their powers he didn't feel the need to.
Leo just untied his bun, let his shoulder-length hair hang freely. His face was so average that most would forget about him after some time, so he didn't feel the need to do anything extra.
But in the case of Bolt, it was the exact opposite, just one look was enough to keep him in the memory for a long time. Leo dyed Bolt's blue hair black. As for his face he just sighed, he left as it is.
Bolt wore a striped blue shirt whose collar's edge turned white from too much use, black trousers, and worn-out brown leather shoes. Even in ragged clothes, he looked as handsome as ever.
Leo wore a green plaid shirt whose color was faded after many washing, khaki knee-length shorts with three patched holes, and simple black flip-flops. He was standing out more than when he normally dressed.
They weren't actually trying to disguise, Leo wanted them to mix well with Gray Terminal people.
In the newspaper there wasn't an exact date of the World Noble's arrival, so they left for the Goa Kingdom earlier.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone