Malphegor
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OP: AMP Ch. 09
🕑 Added 2025-08-13 00:18:58 +0000 UTCAnd just like that, Kira was brought aboard the ship.
At first, she was a little panicked, fidgeting and looking like she wanted to jump overboard at any moment. But as time passed, she settled into her role as navigator with surprising competence.
You had to give the girl credit, she actually had talent. For someone on her first real voyage, she could navigate the open ocean with impressive skill.
There wasn't even a hint of the awkwardness you'd expect from a complete novice.
Clearly, all those years hadn't just been spent reading navigation books. She must have been secretly observing ships and mentally rehearsing sailing scenarios in her head.
However, there was one thing that made Marcus and Alvida seriously concerned about their new crew member.
The girl got seasick.
At this very moment, Kira was hanging over the ship's railing, face pale as a ghost, looking absolutely miserable.
"You call yourself a navigator?" Alvida watched the scene.
Kira tried to stand up and respond, but the moment she opened her mouth, she hurled again.
Marcus scratched his head. "I feel like the ship's sailing pretty smoothly though?"
Alvida nodded in agreement. "Compared to the ships I used to sail on, this one's way more stable. Hell, it barely rocks at all."
Between dry heaves, Kira managed to gasp out, "I... I'm not seasick. I just... I have a bit of social anxiety."
"What?"
Marcus was baffled. Social anxiety made you puke? That had to be the weakest excuse he'd ever heard.
Probably the only tough thing about her was her ability to come up with ridiculous explanations.
Alvida chuckled. "There are only three people on this ship. What are you afraid of?"
Kira turned her head to look at them, but the moment their eyes met, she panicked and quickly looked away, her face somehow turning even paler.
After that awkward little episode passed...
"We've reached our first stop," Kira called out to Marcus and Alvida, who were both fast asleep below deck.
The sun had risen, and morning light streamed through the small portholes into their quarters.
Marcus lay on his bunk, staring at the ceiling in a daze. He was slow to respond to Kira's call, lost in his own thoughts.
It had already been a week since he'd arrived in the One Piece world, and he was starting to seriously miss his old life. He wanted to play video games, browse the internet, do literally anything other than stare at endless ocean.
It was just too damn boring out here.
Even though there were three of them now, and they could theoretically play card games, the dynamic between them was... complicated.
Kira was so nervous that even when she had a great hand, she wouldn't play aggressively. She'd never volunteer to be the dealer or take any kind of leadership role in their games.
That left only Marcus and Alvida actually competing, and whoever got the better cards would win. Simple as that.
It was fun for a couple of rounds, but after a while, it became mind-numbingly boring.
They'd already exhausted every form of poker, dice games, and card tricks they could think of over the past few days.
There was literally nothing entertaining left to do.
"We're finally... on land again."
He felt relieved. At that moment, he totally understood how Luffy must feel when he spots an island after days at sea. The excitement, the anticipation of something, anything, different happening.
Kira saw them emerge from below and pointed toward a village in the distance.
"Do you guys want to go restock our supplies?"
Thanks to Marcus' fruit farming setup, they had plenty to eat. But they were running seriously low on fresh water, and that was becoming a problem.
Having two women aboard didn't help the water situation. Even if they didn't bathe every day, one proper wash could seriously deplete their freshwater reserves.
Marcus stretched and cracked his neck. "I'm gonna go do some mining first. Alvida, you take Kira into town."
"Can't... can't I go mine instead?" Kira raised her hand timidly, expressing her preference.
Seeing both of them trying to avoid responsibility, Alvida felt a flash of irritation. She used to be a captain, for crying out loud. Since when did she have to handle all the mundane tasks herself?
In the end, she just waved her hand dismissively. "Fine, whatever."
Marcus jumped onto the shore, and the soft soil beneath his feet felt strange and almost uncomfortable after a week on the wooden deck.
"Is there anything you want us to buy?" Alvida asked, watching Marcus excitedly prepare his mining gear.
"If possible, get more seeds. Oh, and if you see any cows, try to get a couple. Also iron—"
Watching Marcus ramble on with his shopping list, Alvida cut him off. "I can get you the seeds. You'll have to figure out the rest yourself."
"Fair enough."
And just like that, they split up to handle their respective tasks.
Back on the ship, Kira watched it all unfold. For a moment, something flickered across her expression, but in the end, she quietly and dutifully remained behind as the ship's guard.
Over the past week, she'd witnessed these people's incredible abilities. They were both Devil Fruit users with powers she couldn't even begin to understand. With her own thin arms and complete lack of combat experience, there was no way she could resist them if they decided to do something to her.
And forget about trying to sail away with their ship. She wouldn't even know where to begin.
As she watched Alvida's figure disappear into the distance, she muttered to herself, "Alvida is so beautiful now... will Koby end up getting overwhelmed when he sees her?"
She gave herself a light slap and shook the thought out of her head. Then she went to the tool storage, grabbed a mop and bucket, and began cleaning the deck, finding work to keep herself busy.
During this entire week, neither Alvida nor Marcus had assigned her any specific tasks. No serving tea, no running errands, nothing inappropriate or degrading.
But doing absolutely nothing made her feel anxious and useless.
So she'd assigned work to herself. Even though the wooden deck always seemed to stay magically clean, and even when it did get dirty, it would somehow return to spotless condition on its own, she still mopped it.
---
Meanwhile, Alvida had arrived in the village and found it in the middle of some kind of celebration.
Many of the surrounding houses had collapsed or been damaged, yet the villagers were all in high spirits, clinking glasses and laughing together in the streets.
She couldn't quite understand it.
Her appearance naturally drew the attention of many villagers, all of whom seemed eager to answer her questions and bask in her beauty.
"You're saying that just two days ago, this place was controlled by a pirate called Buggy the Clown, but then some guy in a straw hat showed up and sent him flying?"
"Yeah, yeah! That Buggy pirate supposedly ate some legendary treasure of the sea. Even when he got chopped into pieces, nothing happened to him, it was terrifying to watch."
"I heard from the village chief that the straw hat guy's body can stretch like rubber!"
Several villagers chatted excitedly, talking over each other and gesticulating wildly. They even invited Alvida to join that evening's final bonfire celebration.
Hearing all this, Alvida's expression turned thoughtful and slightly puzzled. If she remembered correctly, that "straw hat guy" had declared his intention to become the Pirate King, right?
A man who aimed to be the Pirate King... saving innocent villagers like this?
"Interesting," she muttered, not wanting to disturb the villagers' joy and celebration.
She briefly explained what she was looking for, just some seeds for planting.
"Oh, you just need seeds? Beautiful lady, my family's got seeds saved up for next spring's planting! You can have them all!"
As soon as the man made this generous offer, he was promptly dragged away by his wife, who had grabbed him by the ear with a murderous expression.
It was both amusing and awkward, but in the end, Alvida still managed to acquire quite a few different types of seeds.
When she tried to pay for them, the man refused to take her money.
This surprised Alvida. In her previous form, merchants would've charged her double just for the privilege of getting her ugly face away from their stalls.
Seeing his lovestruck expression, she gave him a flirtatious, enchanting smile, which nearly caused the poor seed shop owner to have some kind of cardiac episode. Whether it was his age or just the overwhelming effect of her beauty, he simply collapsed onto the ground with a blissful expression.
"I really am the most beautiful woman on the seas," she said to herself proudly.
In an excellent mood, she still honestly left behind some berries as payment. It was only fair.
She hummed a cheerful tune as she strolled through the village streets.
Even though many of the houses had been damaged or destroyed in the recent battle, everyone's faces were filled with happiness and relief.
"Oh, Miss Alvida! Are you really coming to the bonfire party tonight? The village chief's promised to perform his secret specialty act!"
A man invited her enthusiastically, only to receive a death glare from his wife that could've frozen the ocean.
"If I'm free, I'll try to stop by," Alvida responded graciously.
This was an experience she'd never had before. In the past, whenever she showed up anywhere, men would scream in terror and run away. Now they were actively inviting her to social events.
Her smile never left her lips.
When she returned to the ship, she noticed that someone had built a neat, square stone structure on the coastline.
One glance told her it was definitely Marcus' handiwork.
Curious about what he'd been up to, she peeked inside the entrance. To her surprise, it was unusually bright down there.
Layer upon layer of stone steps led deep into the earth.
"What the hell has he been doing down there?"
Just then, she spotted Kira coming around a corner, struggling to carry a large wooden box up the stairs.
Alvida immediately recognized the container, it was one of the storage boxes from their ship's warehouse, modified by Marcus to hold far more than it appeared capable of containing.
Seeing Alvida appear at the entrance, Kira smiled and waved in greeting, though she was clearly winded from the climb.
"What's all this?"
