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Stop it, Bro~ (19)
🕑 Added 2022-09-02 15:34:32 +0000 UTCTitle: A Fiery Bonding of the Devils (3)
"This is too much," Nami whispered as their ship's sail was already bunched up with the wind currently opposing their flow while looking at almost 40 ships chasing them at a great pace. Of course, the ship's most trustworthy 'engine' was currently holding two large pedals just for cases like these and rowing like hell!
However, Nami's 'normal' panic wasn't shared by everyone.
"Just how much do you eat, you pig!" Carmen scowled but no matter what she said, the woman with a natural hairstyle similar to flames brought a plate of cooked sea king tuna meat and set it in front of Alvida who had already devoured 5 more plates worth of meat without any indication that she may be feeling full!
"Don't mind it, honey," Alvida smirked and licked her lips, "I'm only getting started. It's not an easy task to satisfy me once I get going."
Meanwhile—
"I see, so this 'Aura' that seems to be present in the most organic and inorganic materials can help you recover but you have yet to define just how much of aura you can take and going over your limits, or instead, overeating will have adverse effects to your body. Hmm, and living beings especially are shown to make full recovery... right?"
Nojiko gained another level of respect for Reiju when she helped Nojiko summarize her devil fruit's current abilities. "Exactly," Nojiko nodded, "But... I'm afraid what would happen if I take and others don't recover."
Giving an answer grimmer than Nojiko expected, Reiju smiled, "That's why enemies exist. Make use of any opponent you have to stretch the limits of your understanding about your devil fruits... the abilities a person gains at the very beginning are merely the tip of the iceberg. Devil Fruits of all kinds have amazing potential that needs to be explored gradually."
"Sigh... I miss Usopp... he would have shared my fears..." Nami groaned and felt actually... stupid to even panic at this point. She was clearly normal. She knew that. But being surrounded by eccentrics, her sister included, made Nami wonder if she made a mistake getting lured into this ship by treasure and even more, wondered if she should try and change.
'No... Nami, you have to be the voice of reason. If not... we all could seriously die!' She shook her head before her gaze fell on a giant region of mist and fog up ahead.
"Brody, this might really be a trap!"
With Marines just surrounding them from three directions, it was clear that this was a trap. A poor one at that. But Reiju made it clear that poor traps are often backed by confident expectations and they might just meet their match here.
But.
Every gaze turned to Brody, awaiting his orders as he laughed.
"It's fine! I became a pirate to freely pick a fight with anyone I want! If I meet a good challenge here then even better!"
While others smiled alongside Brody, not even trying to think that seriously since he wouldn't but still managed to laugh at the end of the day, Nami felt her intelligence threatened by this logic. But, as a Navigator... she felt that this was a tide that she must never go against. Sighing, she demanded, "Fine! But who amongst you is the strongest beside captain?"
"Me!" Alvida was quick to nominate herself as the orangette turned to look at Reiju who shrugged, "I'm so-so..."
"No need to humble," Dropping all her worries, too, Nami gave a mischievous smirk, "Captain, Alvida, and Reiju will deal with enemies then!"
"Hah! Hell, no!" Brody grinned even more mischievously, "You've got a staff, use it! Ain't nobody going to be a basic bitch in my crew!"
"Eh? But... They have guns!" Nami hissed.
"Train and until then, just catch them by surprise," Brody smiled.
"But I still think—"
"Nami!" Brody looked at her, "You'll do just fine. Give it a whirl. Experience battles. If you can't fight even after all that, then it's fine. I'm still here. But, fighting is easy. The aim is always to defeat the enemy the quickest no matter how you like!"
Emphasizing the point he wanted to make with actions before words, Brody suddenly picked one of the cannonballs near him and threw it to yet another ship, laughing, "There are no rules for us!"
"Truly... what did I get myself into..." Nami sighed.
"You mean you've actually never fought with marines all this time?" Nojiko's question attracted her attention.
"Why would I?" Nami shrugged, "But given our situation, I just might need to... wait, why are you grinning?"
"I don't know... I've never fought so I'm a little excited." Nojiko smiled sheepishly and looked at Brody, "Captain, where should I kick for the greatest effect? Head? Wait... am I even that flexible? Oh, maybe legs or—"
"When confused, aim for the crotch you should!"
"The crotch?"
With utmost severity, Brody nodded, "The Crotch."
"Oh! Look, beyond the fog... it actually looks like a ship," Carmen looked toward their destination, and indeed, within the region of fog, the group could see a ship's silhouette.
The Warship Island.
---
"Oh, Fukurou, you're back!" The round green-headed man could be seen jumping in the air from one position to another before dropping by the unknown cliff. His bruised face could be seen by his comrade but the duo was interested in something else.
"So? How much was his Doriki?"
"I- It was," Fukurou gasped for breath with his zipper mouth unzipped and looked at the duo with a grave expression, "2060!"
His comrades' expressions changed before one of them growled, "The last time you measured my Doriki, it was about 2100 and it doesn't involve the increase of my strength after using my devil fruit. I'll take care of him. You should keep that device and deal with Reiju."
"Yoooiii! Fine!"
But when it rains, it pours.
*Gero Gero*
Fukurou took out a tiny sail from his pocket and picked up the speaker phone built on top of its shelf as the eyes of the snail shifted from dull and lifeless to pale brown, "Reporting from Unit 8, Sir! The Devil Back Pirates are approaching the Warship Island from the intended direction. Captain Smoker from Loguetown, on his way to Grandline, chanced upon our pursuit and has decided to lend a helping hand."
"Oh, my fucking god!" One of them groaned, "Unit 8's Captain has a Devil Fruit using Merc, right? Get him to delay Smoker."
"R-right!"
Fukurou set the speaker back on top of the snail as it made a quiet 'gacha' sound and slept.
"So?" Fukurou looked at the 'leader' of the group who scratched the back of his head, "Damn, that Smoker is troublesome. But, nothing we can do about it. We need to keep our record clean so we have to get all three of our targets. Let's go!"
---
"Here we are..." Having crossed the foggy perimeter, the Devil Back Pirates finally docked their ship near an inconspicuous location and away from the group of civilians they saw working in the fields. After all, they would have no way of knowing if all these men were part of the elaborate scheme but Reiju thought that being without a large crowd was better for them.
The Island, for the most part, seemed 'stacked' with one cliff at the top and various others layering around as one got closer to the sea level. And from a certain angle, this Island did resemble a warship but their interest did not gain priority over the urgency of their situation. He might have laughed it off but the crew needed to figure out what kind of trap was set for them and then figure out a way to move past the fleet after them. If it comes to the worst... Brody would happily carry all of them on his back and just swim away.
"So... we split up?" Brody inquired.
"Why?!" Nami's glare sharpened, "We'll stick together and when we come across anyone who's trying to hurt me, you can deal with them... of course, I'll throw a punch or two but this world isn't ready to witness my glory!"
Brody blinked and shrugged, "Sure, you can tag along with me."
"Wait, wouldn't it be a foolish mistake on my part to go unprepared?" Reiju smirked as she took out a pink-colored canister marked with a white '0' and the can suddenly rotated while releasing a sharp pink glow with a burst of pressure that served to peel away the clothes Reiju wore while covering her in the very same glow as 'something' solid soon became more apparent and under everyone but Brody's stunned gazes... transformed.
"Did I watch that happen?" Carmen whispered.
"You did, Bitch Cook..." Alvida whispered.
"Hmm~ Jealous?" Reiju looked at others and winked as they couldn't help but take a moment to gawk at her. In reality, they had seen this outfit before— when Reiju crashed onto the ship. But... this is the first time they saw her 'wearing' it.
Her body was covered by a form-fitting, extremely low-cut, short pink dress, and a purple cloak shaped like butterfly wings. Her suit was decorated with yellow target-shaped ovals on pink background right above her breasts. The end of each 'wing'-like cloak had a mark reminiscent of the number 0. Her forearms were also covered by pink gauntlets, and purple and white round elbow pads. Finally, a pair of white and pink boots with strange spherical padding reached her calves and a blue ascot covered her neck. The depth of the dress by itself went past her navel and only then rounded off to the rest of the dress and her head was decorated by earphones marked by the number '66' on each side.
Looking at Nami with a bit of amused expression, Reiju giggled, "This is a Raid Suit, an invention from my former Kingdom. When I wear this suit, it boosts my raw strength, speed, and durability greatly including my ability to manipulate toxins within my body. It's so strong to the point that the only reason I was even 'defeated' by Captain was that he sweet charmed me."
"Hnegh!" Brody gave a cheeky grin, "Don't you forget that even sweeter punch that sealed the deal!"
"I don't believe you!" Nami narrowed her eyes.
Reiju's boots suddenly gave a soft whirring sound and she floated in the air, "Oh, I can also fly."
"Yep, I'm going with her," Nojiko nodded.
"Me, too!" Carmen still looked star-struck while Nami pouted, "T-That's nothing... flying sucks..."
Everyone looked at Alvida then who waved her mace and set it over her shoulder before smiling, "Of course, I'm going alone. I'll only be held down by others but, I've promised the Captain to save your sorry lives so if in danger, Call the most beautiful woman of the sea!"
***
Alternative Title: Nami is the New Usopp
