บท 92: CHAPTER 92 WATER SEVEN
"Do you hate me?" I asked Usopp.
The sniper jumped a little as I walked up behind him. He was sitting between rails near the front of the ship. It had been a few days since we left Sky Island. A full 48 hours since I told him about the condition of the ship. He had been depressed since then.
"I did," Usopp said. He turned back to look at the ocean. "I really did." Usopp let out a long sigh. "I have been the shipwright since we got the Going Merry. Cannon holes, Luffy and Zoro accidentally breaking parts, normal wear and tear. I've gotten to know every inch of her. Sometimes I felt like I could feel her presence all around us. Watching over us."
"Sounds crazy, right?" Usopp asked.
"No," I said. He looked up. A small smile on his lips.
"I think I saw it last night. The spirit of the ship," he said. "It came to me in a dream. Or maybe I was awake. I don't know." He sighed. "The spirit told me that it was going to miss us. That's all. No anger. No blame against us for treating her so poorly. It apologized to me that it wasn't strong enough."
We stayed quiet for a time. Simply watching the water as I leaned over the railing. "She's a great ship," I said. He nodded. We left it at that. I hoped it was enough. Only time would tell.
Next I had to work on Robin. And I wasn't sure if I should. She would abandon us to save us from the world government. Then we would go after her, declaring war on the government. Cementing the Straw Hats name on the world stage. It would be a tough fight. But also a defining moment.
I didn't want to let her go though. Not without trying.
"You know we are here for you, whenever you need us," I told Robin randomly as we lazed around the ship. She was sitting on her beach chair as I sat on some railing.
The tan woman looked up from the Introduction to Spiritual Energy book to stare at me. "What?"
"The crew and I. We are here for you," I said. "If you need something. No matter what it is. We will help you."
"What brought this on?" Robin asked.
"Nothing. Just…I feel like you don't see yourself as part of the crew. I want you to know that I see you as just as important as everyone else."
She didn't have anything to say to that. Robin couldn't know what was to come. As a woman whose entire family and village was massacred in front of her, it wasn't hard to guess why she would make the choice she would. We got quiet again and went back to relaxing. That was until Nami cried out.
"Oh no!" She yelled from the aft near her orange trees. Robin and I shared a look as we got up and headed back to her. She was on her knees on the deck as the paper delivery bird flew away. In her hand were three bounty posters.
"What's up?" I asked with a smile. It was finally happening.
"New bounties," Nami said angrily as she passed them to me. I looked through them quickly until I found my own.
"75,000,000 berrie bounty. Hell yeah!" I said as I raised my bounty picture up. It was still the one of me running in Logue Town.
"What?!" Luffy asked angrily. I passed him his. "Ha 100,000,000 berrie for me."
"That's it?" Sanji asked. "No one else?"
"Zoro got one," I said. Passing it to the green haired man he had a big smile on his lips.
"60,000,000 is not bad for a first time," he said.
"This is not good news!" Nami said. "Our total ship bounty is worth over 200,000,000."
"More like 300,000,000," I said.
"What? There are more?" She asked.
"Well yeah. Robin's bounty was 79,000,000 last I checked."
"Robin?! You have a bounty?" Nami asked.
"It's pretty old. I got it when I was 8," she said.
"What?! Who did you kill for that kind of bounty?" Usopp asked.
"No one," I said quickly. "Government propaganda." I tried to change the conversation quickly from her uncomfortable look. "Damn, Robin is worth more than me. Guess that makes you the vice-captain."
"Vice-captain?" She asked.
"Yep," I said. "It's like an unwritten rule. Whoever has the second highest bounty gets all the responsibility, right captain?"
"100,000,000 berries," Luffy said as he stared at his poster. Not paying attention.
"Here are the keys to the treasure chest. And you get to run the meetings from now on," I said.
Robin smiled, pushing the key back to me. "As vice-captain, I leave it in your capable hands."
"You can do that?" I asked. "Zoro, I leave it in your capable hands."
"I'm good," he said, taking his bounty poster and walking away. I grumbled under my breath but honestly knew it was a lost cause. I preferred knowing the work got done right.
"Don't look so sad, Nami. You'll have a bounty soon enough," I said.
"Don't joke about that," she said. "We are going to have more bounty hunters after us soon enough."
"We've had bounty hunters after us?" I asked.
"Well no. But even I'm tempted to turn you all in," she replied.
"Me too. I got it. You turn me in for my bounty. Then you break me out. We can do that at every island we visit. It's the perfect money making scheme." It was the premise of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but they didn't need to know that.
"You can make yourself look like anyone. Why not turn into someone with a higher bounty?" Robin offered.
"Oh that's a great idea, vice-captain. I see why your bounty's so high." I used a transformation jutsu to turn into her. She laughed loudly as I looked back at her. Until I started feeling my chest up.
"Stop that," she said angrily.
"What?" I asked in my normal voice. "Just curious." I still played with the breasts as she watched. But it was really a synthetic chakra exterior. The clothes felt the same as the skin.
"Usopp get the camera. We can probably make some money," I said as I ran down to the main deck.
"Get back here!" Robin yelled as she came after us. It wasn't long until she was chasing us around the ship. Laughing as it quickly turned into a game of tag.
—-
We arrived at Water Seven a few days later. Everyone was healed from the ordeal of Skypiea and ready to stretch their legs.
Water Seven was an advanced island. The islands we had been to before felt rather dated in comparison. Every square inch of Water Seven had large buildings and warehouses on it. People were always working, mainly on large ships that would be supplied to pirates, marines, merchants, and pretty much everyone on the Grand Line.
Though we were pirates they accepted us with open arms. It would have been stupid to cause trouble since the city was run by the shipwrights. They could simply refuse to help the lawbreakers fix their ships if they caused problems.
I had been debating what to do and decided to simply take a step back. Let the canon flow. In MHA I had changed events and came to regret them. I wanted to change some events in One Piece, but not this one. So I decided to disappear.
I was assigning duties as soon as we landed. "Luffy, Usopp, Nami, you're exchanging the gold for berries." The trio replied happily. They were the most excited about seeing how much we got. "After that you guys mind looking for the best shipwrights to check out the Going Merry? I think the best in town is the Mayor, his name is Iceberg."
"Sanji, you mind getting provisions?"
"On it," he said.
"Zoro you mind guarding the ship? I've heard there are people that target pirate ships here," I said. He yawned but nodded.
"Robin, Chopper, you guys going to do anything?" I asked.
"I was hoping to look for medical books," Chopper said excitedly.
"I'd like to check the local stores as well," Robin said.
"Alright sounds good. I want to see if I can learn anything in town about our next stop as well as see if there are any special ninja contacts around."
"Ninja? I want to go," Luffy said.
"If I find any, I'll bring you by later," I promised. "Here's some spending money." I passed them all a few thousand and they were on their way. "Nami, one thing," I said, stopping her.
"What's up?" She asked. I pulled her to the cabin and she went in for a kiss. We hadn't played around much. Still no privacy, I was getting excited about having a ship with my own room soon enough.
"Not that," I said, kissing her back. "You know that thing I showed you back on Skypiea?"
"Your dick?" She asked cutely.
"Not that," I said laughing. "That trick about reading Haki?" She nodded. "Some bad stuff is going to happen here."
"Like what?" She asked worriedly.
"I can't tell you all the details. Basically Robin is going to get kidnapped. We will have to go after her."
"What?! Why?" Nami asked.
"Her past. I'll tell you later. Quick rundowns are: Water Seven is going to hate us, Robin will get kidnapped, then we need to go and save her. I'm going to disappear for a few days while I try to stop it. If I can't. You make sure the guys go after Robin. She's part of the crew, right?"
"Well yeah," Nami said sadly. "Why can't we just lock her up here? Go somewhere else?"
"We need a new ship," I said. "The Merry can't make it to the next island. Besides, this needs to happen. Or else some big stuff won't happen in the future. Don't worry. It'll all turn out okay. Don't tell the others I told you, okay?"
"I'm not good at lying," she whined.
"Don't lie. You're the best at lying," I shot back. "I'm always going to be watching. If they ask where I am, tell them I left secret ninja messages that I'm trying to get Robin back. And that I'll be waiting for you in Enies Lobby if I can't."
"Where?" She asked.
"Doesn't matter. You'll find out soon enough," I said. Kissing her again I was soon out the door. Usopp and Luffy were crying about her taking forever. She chased after me but I'd already jumped off the ship chasing after Robin.
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