Chapter 44: Conclusion(2/2)

Author Note: Sorry, I was very busy this week. This is the last chapter for Alabasta, and I won't write such a chaotic arc for a while again :D I also mostly completed the future set ups needed. So there won't probably be much set-up after this chapter. Anyways, I hope you like the chapter.

Abel yawned as he waited while sitting on a large couch. On his right side was Robin with a mask while on his left side was Cavendish. They waited 5 more minutes and finally Rena arrived with Mr.2 with her. Abel frowned as he understood Mr.2 was somehow recruited by her.

'' How is Bernard's wounds?'' Rena askid worriedly.

Abel looked at her weirdly. ' Why do you care?'

'' He's fine. Let's not waste time, dial your boss. Whoever he is.''

After a few seconds the call was connected and Dragon's deep voice was heard.

'' Dark Moon's captain Abel?''

Abel's eyes widened as he didn't expect to speak with such a big shot but calmed down quickly.

'' Yeah.''

'' I am the leader of the revolutionary army, Dragon. Have you heard of us?''

Right now the revolutionary army was not as big as in the canon but still had considerable influence.

'' Yeah. Are you trying to recruit me or something?'' Abel was a little disdainful. ' İf I wanted to be recruited I would go under your son after waiting for 6 years. He is much better than you!'

'' Right now you are in a sensitive position. Every faction will try to recruit you including the world government. İf you refuse them all you will sooner or later offend them. Going under the revolutionary army won't restrict your freedom by much. You only need to use your influence to tell the truths about world governmen-''

'' Not interested.'' Abel cut him off. Even if his freedom was restricted by a tiny bit, this was still something Abel wouldn't accept. Dragon sighed on the other side of the call and then continued.

'' We can talk about this at a later date if you change your mind. Now, how about we exchange informations? As long as we are both honest we can benefit from this.''

'' Fine. But I need to test your sincerity, so I am going first. Do you have any information regarding a criminal named Franky?'' Abel asked immediately.

''... I do.'' Dragon answered reluctantly. He didn't trust Abel much.

'' Ok. Where is he?''

'' He is with me. He joined the revolution army.''

Abel was speechless. ' Dragon recruited Franky? Well, it makes sense after what the government has done. Franky couldn't have escaped on his own, so Dragon must have helped him.'

'' Can I speak with him?'' ' Maybe I can steal him from Dragon!'

'' No. İt is my turn now. Do you have information on Nico Robin?''

'' Not at all. I have never heard of her in my life.'' Abel answered naturally. Cavendish who was elegantly drinking his tea choked while Robin sighed deeply.

'' Mr.2 already confessed Robin was on Alabasta. You really have no information on her?'' Dragon asked doubtfully. Abel glared at Mr.2 who shivered and tried to ignore Abel.

'' Ah... I remembered now. She was trying to escape from cipher pole so I gave her some help. Not sure where she is now.''

Robin was a wanted criminal unlike the rest of his crew. Abel really didn't want to give such crucial info to Dragon. İf they became enemies in the future one word from Dragon could put cp-0 and cp-9 on his ass. Dragon was doubtful but also helpless and he asked about the ponegliph he heard from Rena. Abel dircetly gave him the location of ponegliph since it was destroyed already. Next 5 minutes passed quickly as they tried to scam information from each other but was both unsuccesful. Dragon was way too experienced and Abel just bullshitted nonsense without giving anything useful. İn the end Dragon gave up and they exchanged contacts to cooperate if an opportunity arises.

Cavendish thanked Rena for returning his ring and they were about to leave when Rena asked.

'' Hey, why is she wearing a mask?'' She was still doubtful Abel didn't know anything about Robin.

'' Same reason as me. Her beauty will blind you.'' Abel thought this reason made sense and left immediately. He gathered his crew and they sneaked away to their ship. They already became very famous, especially in Alabasta. Abel didn't want to face with an uproar. Cavendish was very dissatisfied. 10 days of boasting was not enough to satisfy his ego. Abel checked his crew and realised most of their wounds were recovered thanks to the pills. They need another 10 days at least for full recovery though. Abel also needed another week at least to recover fully. They finally reached their ship and was about to set sail when Cobra and Vivi appeared to see them off. Cobra started to solemly thank them which Abel ignored as his mind was on to something else.

' I need to come back to farm Vivi again!'

' Mark this place.'

' Place marked. Marked places: Cocoyashi Village, Drum Kingdom, Alabasta Kingdom. Marks remaining: 6'

Abel turned around and saw everyone was looking at him waiting for an answer. Abel coughed a little emberassed.

'' I agree with everything you said. You really are a wise person!'' Abel concluded but then realised everyone looked at him awkwardly. Vivi glared at him and went next to him.

'' You weren't listening at all! Also... About your promise for my birthday. You didn't forget it right?''

' Ah... I forgot about it.'

'' Of course not!''

Vivi was a little excited as she tiptoed and whispered something at Abel's ear. Abel's eyes went wide with shock.

'' Do you think I am a god or something!?''

'' You... You said nothing is impossible!'' Vivi was a little emberassed. The reason she whispered Abel was she was scared others would laugh at her dream.

' Ah...'

Abel sighed and thought carefully. ' İt... might not be impossible actually. I just need to find that old geezers.'

'' Fine. I shall take this challange!'' Abel declared in a happy mood. Vivi's mood improved immediately as a smile appeared on her face. Cobra and others just watched their exchange with weird looks. A guard came running towards them and asked for them to wait.

'' Our lady wants to speak with the prince of sniper island. She says he is her lover''

Abel was dumbfounded but then realised she was the noble woman he scammed at the banquet. Abel immediately ordered his crew.

'' SET SAİL! You stop slandering people! I have never heard such a person in my life.'' Just like that, they escaped the country hurriedly. Abel saw a woman and her bodyguards came rushing to the dock and then chaos happened at the dock as the ship went further and further away from the country.

' Ah... This was close!'' Abel relaxed as he realised the ship succesfully went away without a need for massacre and becoming criminals. Abel ordered his crew to gather at the table in the kitchen and then ignored them.

' Status'

Name: Abel

Race: Half-Lunarian

Strength: 119

Agility: 105 (121)( Due to imperial flame passive)

Endurance: 127

Stamina: 124

Observation Haki: 35(intermediate)

Armament Haki: 22(Beginner)

Sword Mastery: 50(intermediate grade)

'Ding! Congrulations for reaching -75 relationship with Crocodile(intermediate character). Calculating the reward... Calculation completed. Ring of Ambition(Ancient) Awarded. Bonus reward for exceeding -60. Ding! Bonus reward Epic Grade Training set rewarded.'

' Ring Of Ambition(Ancient). A ring that symbolizes ambition. Only for those who recklessly follow their dreams. Can only be controlled with Conqueror's Haki. Not advised to be weared by people with weak willpower. A timeless artifact that existed long before humans. A total of 157 person wore this ring. 3 of them achieved their dreams while 154 was destroyed by the ring.'

' Training Set( Epic Grade): 10 Training stimiluation pills, 3 Limit breaking pills, Supreme Grade Fist Art: Fist of the Drunken King'

' Relationship updated with Vivi(İntermediate character). Current Relationship +65( Friendly)'

' Relationship updated with Cavendish(Minor Character). Current Relationship +70(Friendly)'

' Relationship updated with Robin( Major character). Current Relationship +25(Thankful)'

' Relationship formed with Dragon(Major Character). Current Relationship +5( Slight like)'

' Relationship formed with Mr.2( minor character). Current Relationship +30( Friendly yet scared)

' You reached a new state in swordsmanship.'

' One With the Sword: Every great sword has it's characteristics. A great swordsman can sense the sword's ambitions and tame it. Congrulations for fulfilling one of the conditions for obtaining a black sword. Host is advised to tame Aranruth by fulfilling it's ambitions.'

Abel's mind felt a little numb.' There are so many notifications! My bottlenecks are cleared... Epic grade training set is also great.' Abel then frowned as he tried to analyze his other rewards. ' Every sword has it's conciousness...' Abel remembered the times Zoro spoke and tried to tame his swords, most recently with Enma. ' Ah... What does even a sword want? How do I even know?'

Abel ignored the notification about the sword and took out the book of curses and the ring of ambition. He took a deep breath after he read the ring's description and was conflicted if he should wear it or not. ' Logically I shouldn't wear it since it killed so many people and I don't even know it will benefit me. But... does that mean I am scared to even pursue my dream!? Fuck!'

Abel's face was dark but he felt that if he didn't wear this ring and backed off he would be taking a step back from his dream. Abel sighed after contemplating for a minute.

' System, you really trapped me well with this one. Congrulations.'

'...'

Abel took a deep breath and wore the ring in his right ring finger. Abel nerveously waited for several seconds but nothing happened.

' Haha, I guess it doesn't effect handsome people!' Abel was satisfied and stood up. The moment Abel stood up he felt an extreme amount of pain in his mind and fell to the floor helplessly. Abel gritted his teeth as he tried to resist the pain but it was getting more and more painful each second.

' You dared to wear me!? A weakling like you? Your personality disgusts me to no end! I will take your life right away!'

' FUCK! I don't talk with inanimate objects so get lost!'

The ring and Abel cursed each other for minutes. Abel tried to destroy the ring using all his abilities but this ring was seemingly as durable as a ponegliph, it wasn't getting damaged in the least.

' Tsk, tsk. You have some potential. To resist me for so long. Let me get rid of your weaknesses. You will be able to achieve your dreams easily. You will be perfect. Let me help you...'

Abel's eyes turned cold as he got ready to cut his finger off.

' Get Lost! I don't care if you are indestructable. Don't force me or I will find a way to destroy you.'

After that Abel tried to pressure the ring with his mind and was partially succesful as after 15 minutes the ring stopped speaking and it's lights dimmed. Abel sighed in relief but realised his palms were covered in blood as his nails were dug into it from the struggle.

' Congrulations for repelling the ring of ambitions. Host has shown the potential of a conqueror. Fulfil your ambitions and unlock your conqueror's haki to fully tame the artifact and access it's functions. Host is advised to unlock his potential soon. Each time this artifact attacks it gets stronger. Host can no longer take this ring off without taming it or dying. This ring is indestructable.'

Abel looked at the black skull shaped ring on his ring finger and cursed.

' You are saying either get strong fast or die!?'

Abel sighed as he accepted his fate and was about to walk off when he started coughing blood.

' Fuck! What is going on!?'

Abel saw that a drop of blood happened to fall on the book of curses from Abel's bloodied palms and the book was releasing an ominous purple light.

' Congrulations for bonding with cursed book Bloody Tears.'

' You have been cursed by Bloody Tears to cough blood for 30 seconds as a welcome gift.'

' Host is advised to curse other people frequently to not displease the cursed book Bloody Tears. Host can tame the book completely by proving his wickedness or supressing it with Conqueror's Haki.'

Abel was furious as he helplessly coughed blood after blood for 30 seconds. After the 30 seconds was done Abel immediately threw his imperial flame at the book but a warning appeared immediately.

' Destroying Bloody Tears will result on a lifelong curse on it's owner. Do you wish to continue?'

Abel immediately took his flame back and calmed himself.

' These weird items... Why do they find me!? When I unlock my conquerors, I will discipline you properly.'

Abel wiped his bloody mouth and went towards the kitchen with a dark face.

Abel went to the kitchen and saw everyone was already sitting and waiting for him. The mood was extremely chaotic in the kitchen. Even though their info's were collected and released their photos was also revealed by Morgan's newspaper today. Except for Abel who wore a mask and Robin whom nobody was aware she was with Dark Moon everyone had a photo of their own. Cavendish was cursing because only half of his face was in the picture and he found it ugly. Barbossa was trying to calm him down by flatter while Nana was busy admiring her photo. Robin was reading a book at the side relaxedly while Bernard was also looking at the book puzzledly, trying to understand it's contents and failing. Bernard kept asking dumb questions to Robin who replied calmly. Abel hit the kitchen table a few times and finally the crew grew silent to listen him.

'' We won against the Baroque Works. Right now everyone's eyes on us. We might gain invitations from big forces left and right. But... I will refuse all of them. We, Dark Moon won't work for anyone. We just do whatever we want, for our own ambitions.''

Abel then took out the documents he stole from the castle and laid them to the table.

'' These are the documents from this year's reverie. The location of strategic resoures such as mines, important information regarding wars, underground operations, diplomatic situations of countries... İn short, this is a classified information avaible to only 200 countries that rule the world. We have this info as well. So, we are going to invest in the businesses that will bloom later. We will also invest to form an information group and to recruit talents and secure devil fruits. All of this takes tons of money. So... The money I gave you, you give it to me for now. I will give you back after our investment.'' Abel ordered without any shame.

' Ah, Golden Finger is on cooldown for a while. Even though I made tons of money, it won't be enough to form a huge organisation yet. I can at most form something like Baroque Works which is only enough to cover one or two countries.'

Barbossa looked at Abel awkwardly.

'' Captain... I told you before. I lost all my money to complete the mission. I don't have any left!''

Barbossa felt like crying. ' I need money the most, yet you are asking for it!'

Abel ignored him and turned to Nana.

'' I gave mine to Bernard to keep it!''

Abel had a bad feeling as he looked at Bernard.

Bernard met with Abel's gaze without any guilt and spoke.

'' I bought meat with it!''

Abel was dumbfounded. ' That money I gave you is enough to cover a lifetime expenses. What buying meat?'

Abel patiently asked.

'' Nana's money?''

'' I bought her meat too!'' Bernard happily declared as he took out a piece of chicken leg and gave it to Nana generously. Nana looked at Bernard blankly as Abel cursed inside.

' He got scammed!'

Abel felt headache as he kept speaking.

'' You never stop to amaze me with your incompetence. Anyways, what do you feel after we achieved such a huge victory in Alabasta?''

The crew's mood grew complicated as Cavendish's face turned dark while Bernard looked thoughtful. Nana frowned while Barbossa sighed.

Cavendish gritted his teeth. ' Daz Bones? Who is he in front of a genius like me? Yet I could only achieve a draw against him? What a joke!'

' That small fry was strong!'

' Brother, don't blame me in hell...'

' I will kill that Norris, next time I see him!'

Abel took out his wine cup and started speaking.

'' Seems like you got what I am trying to tell. You are still small fries. You are just famous small fries, nothing changed at all.''

Everyone's mood went down as they delved deep into thoughts.

Abel sighed as he watched his crew. ' I am the youngest here, why am I like their mother?'

'' İt has only been what? 40 days? This is the time frame we traveled. Yes, you risked your life every week and trained hard with good methods. But, do you think this is enough to be big shots? What a joke. İf it was enough I would have ditched you and got strong in a month and conquer the world! So, train harder. Don't worry, those people from cp-9 will not be a match for you soon. They are small fries as well. Reaching the peak should be done step by step! We will be traveling and training for the next few months. We will also invest and scam money- I mean gain money along the way. We will also make our ship better by visiting Water-7. No more crazy things for a while!''

Abel really needed some time to train and not waste the epic grade training set. His crew was also much too weak. Even though Abel didn't wish to do anything too crazy for a while he wasn't sure he could achieve it. Fate seemed to be playing with him.

' Should I hunt for devil fruits?' Abel thought and started planning. But his thoughts was interrupted by Bernard.

'' BOSS! I am hungry.'' Abel turned at Bernard exasperated but saw the whole crew and even Robin was looking at him expectantly.

Abel sighed. 'These guys are hopeless.' Abel was about to stand up and prepare something but Bernard ran off to the kitchen saying he got something good. Robin took out her book while waiting and Abel immediately stored it in his space ring without looking at it's contents. Robin was stunned as she looked at Abel expecting an explanation. Abel took out Observation Haki manuel which was much easier to learn than the Armament one and gave it to Robin.

'' Read this in your free time! Don't slack off.''

Robin who already started training harshly sighed as she started reading the manual without complaining. Abel nodded satisfied. Abel knew Robin didn't reach a very high strength level in canon. But the thing was Abel never saw Robin training harshly. Even without much training, no great techniques and no haki she managed to beat an officer like Black Maria who had 300M+ bounty and was a confirmed haki user. So Abel didn't think she would be weak as long as she trained hard. She would probably reach commander lvl at least with haki training and awakening. As for top tier... Abel didn't have much hopes since it was way too hard to achieve. Only around 30 people in whole planet achieved that level of power.

'' BOSS! Let's eat this!''

'' QWAAK! QWAK WAAK!''

Abel turned to see the chaos behind him and he was shocked once again.

' Relationship formed with Karoo(minor character). Current Relationship -40( Hatred via association)'

Bernard looked at him expectantly while Robin examined it intently.

'' He is so cute. He seems to understand us.'' Robin commented as Karoo struggled even more after Bernard's command.

'' There are no ducks in my country! Let's eat it!'' Cavendish commented.

'' They taste really well, we raised some in my village'' Nana added.

'' İt is also very economic.'' Barbossa concluded.

Abel frowned as he thought about it. ' He is a minor character. But... I kinda want to cook him.'

Karoo screamed in fear as Abel looked at him thoughtfully.

[Marineford]

Sengoku was on his office sitting behind his desk while two marine soldiers were waiting on their feet.

'' Report.'' Sengoku ordered. He was really tired to deal with Dark Moon. They managed to gather information about nearly every member except for their masked captain. Kong ordered him to investigate other warlord members carefully and even made the selection 1 month longer for it. İf Dark Moon's background was clean Sengoku would offer them a position to fill the gap. They were recognised as pirate hunters and heroes so it would also be good for government's reputation.

'' Cough. About Abel... Based on the route he came he probably came from East Blue. İt is said that he summoned the rain in Alabasta. He probably has a devil fruit related to weather. He uses a famous sword named Aranruth. This is all the information we know for certain. İt is as if this person appeared from thin air one day. Family, friends, purpose.... We don't have any clue. There are some rumours though...''

'' Tell me about the rumors.'' Sengoku who was curious asked to maybe find a clue.

'' İt is said that he and Emperor Shanks is drinking buddies. This info was collected from a barmen in whiskey peak. İt is also said that he is a miracle doctor, famous swordsman, most handsome man alive and a prince from a distant land called Sniper İsland-''

'' STOP! What is this nonsense!? Are you all dumb? How could you bring such a joke report to me? GET OUT!''

Sengoku was furious after the report from his underling and turned to other soldier.

'' I want any information you can find on Abel. Who is his parents? What is his goal? Find me anything you can about him.''

Even though Dark Moon defeated Crocodile and helped government get rid of someone dangerous to them Sengoku felt threatened by this mysterious group. ' İf they are uncontrable we need to get rid of them!'

[Enies Lobby]

Lucci appeared with Kaku while Norris and Blueno's group also arrvied at Enies Lobby. All agents were there as Spandam screamed at them with a red face.

'' Both failed!? 2 person who never failed both failed their special missions from the 5 elders!? Are you joking with me!?''

Everyone was silent but then a cold voice broke the silence.

'' I will take responsibility.''

Spandam looked at the cp-leader with the giant sword and gulped a little scared. This cp-leader was a person whom never failed before. He was supposed to be promoted to cp-0 after this mission. Blueno looked guilty as he looked at the floor not meeting with his leader's gaze.

'' I am resigning from cipher pole. I won't come back before securing Nico Robin. No one in paradise can escape from me. Lucci, you are the new captain from now on.''

After that he left without saying any goodbye. Lucci looked after him respectfully while Norris was a little reluctant to be ordered by his juniour. Spandam looked at them and spat.

'' Get lost!''

A few minutes after they left Spandam heard a snicker in the corner of the room and his face turned red immediately. He walked to the corner and looked down at İceberg who had a smile on his face despite his injuries. He was tied to the wall and Spandam immediately kicked him in his stomach with a dark face.

'' You are still laughing!? The only reason you are alive is that government doesn't want Water-7 to rebel! Cutty Flam, Nico Robin. They will both be captured soon enough. Just you wait!''

İceberg closed his eyes and smiled as Spandam kept beating him up. ' There is still hope after all.'