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Voyage Chapter 12: Syrups and Villages
🕑 Added 2025-05-23 18:11:52 +0000 UTCA/N: You guys get a double release because I am in a good mood today with some extra time on my hands.
~Yuji Liberio~
As my feet touched down on the mast of my ship I let out a sigh of relief. While I was a master of keeping my composure, I had no delusions that my ship would survive a battle with the Marines, not to mention there was a good chance of said Marines having someone truly strong.
But hey, if Buggy's ass could bluff his way into being a Yonko, I can intimidate some scallywags to scramming.
Now, with this loadout, I feel pretty secure in tackling Captain Kuro. Sure, he was still beyond fast for my liking but I had the advantage in mobility with Nue, he can't fly or super jump.
While I was lost in my thoughts, Nami's head peeked out from behind the cabin door before letting out a sigh of relief seeing I was here. She opened the door to greet me with a nervous expression.
"H-hey boss! How did you uhh... take care of the marines?"
I could see why Nami would be nervous, she was a thief but she shouldn't
be very fine with the idea of me killing marines yet. Seeing her expression, I chuckled darkly, making her wince.
"Isn't it obvious?"
She opened her mouth to retort but I cut her off.
"I employed diplomacy, of course, this ship won't survive any kind of bombardment. And I am not a huge fan of murder."
Nami sighed before putting her hands on her hips.
"You! Don't just scare me like that!"
I shrugged with a smug expression.
"Can you blame me? You look so cute when you're scared!"
Her eye twitched and her fist shook while she wanted to conk me over the head but she decided that it wasn't a good idea to sock the guy who could take down a pirate crew in less than an hour and has a horse-sized bird that looks like it eats people. So she decided on harrumphing and turning around.
"Humph! Whatever. We should be at Syrup Village by tomorrow morning. The weather is quite clear so we won't need to adjust the sails."
I cracked my neck and stretched my arms, seeing Nami's reactions was always entertaining.
"That's good, I don't know about you but I'm exhausted as hell. So I'll retire for the day. Where do you plan on sleeping Nami?"
Nami seemed to have forgotten about the fact that there were no real sleeping places on my ship other than my quarters and the foul-smelling crew quarters, and I doubted even a rat would want to sleep there let alone someone who keeps themselves well groomed like Nami.
"Oh uh... would you look at that! My navigator senses are tingling, it seems like I will have to stay up for the night to keep check on the sails, yep. You don't have to worry about me, Boss!"
"Haha, alright, suit yourself. But if you get sleepy you can always join me, my bed has plenty of room. I wouldn't want my navigator to get too sleep-deprived after all."
Nami gave me a look of trepidation before shakily nodding her head.
"Uh huh, noted."
I suppressed another laugh, she had zero intention of doing so. She probably did not feel comfortable sleeping on the same ship as someone like me. A pirate who has shown zero remorse for killing people. Which was very fair, in fact, I would have thought less of her if she weren't at least this cautious.
So I just let her be, no need to stress her out any more than that. Teasing her was fine, but pushing her too far was counteractive to building a relationship with her. I'd like my crew to like me thank you very much.
As I flopped onto my makeshift yet comfortable nonethless bed I felt my ached and pained muscles groan and relax. I had really pushed myself today. My energy reserves were tanked too. At least I didn't have to worry about getting backstabbed by Nami thanks to Nue being the best boy and keeping watch for me.
And since I was alone, I decided to roll that gold trait intimidating the shit out of those marines had given me.
Rolling Gold Trait Gacha...
A Rare Trait!
[Golden Rule]
|Rarity: Rare|
You can spot treasure from a mile away, and you can just sniff opportunities when they are near you. You gain a sixth sense of obtaining treasure. What is a treasure for you may vary based on your own perception of what a treasure is.
Would you look at that? How fitting for a pirate.
This world better prepare its booty because Liberio is here to take it!
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
~Yuji Liberio~
"Finally, proper land at last!"
"Weren't we just on land at Orange Town?"
I gave Nami a look as we neared the side of Orange Town.
"Proper land, Nami my dear, means land that doesn't have people trying to actively murder us."
Actively being the operative word, because I'm pretty sure Kuro will definitely plan my downfall.
Nami shrugged in a nonchalant manner while I lowered our anchor as we touched down on the small beach opposite the town so that we wouldn't get spotted.
"Hup!"
Nami jumped down from the ship and I followed after her, touching down on the sand before hearing several rustles from the bushes. Nami looked alarmed and took a step back, putting me in between her and the sound while I stood nonchalant. Bull Form and Despair Aura II still being slotted in.
'I think I know what this is don't I?'
As I thought, on top of the small cliff in front of us, a dozen or so pirate flags popped out of the bushes with a weird-looking Jolly Roger drawn onto them. And alongside them, someone stepped out in the middle.
"Hahah! Stop right there! I am the Great Captain Usopp, the man who reigns over this village! If you think you can attack this village forget it, otherwise me and my 80 million subordinates will rain down hell on you!"
He was a young man with dark skin and curly black hair wearing dark brown overalls with a sash tied around the waist. He had a bandana around his head and some goggles propped up. The most distinguishing feature of his was the abnormally long nose he had. I'd recognize that schnozz anywhere.
Usopp.
Of course, knowing he was bluffing out of his ass and how much of a coward he really was, I stepped forward before Nami had a chance to call him out.
'Despair Aura II'
Nami flinched and Usopp froze on the spot as my aura covered the entire beach in an aura of dread and intimidation. Like a metaphorical dagger being held to their throats as I spread my arms and smiled like a madman, cranking the intimidation factor to an 11.
"Is that so? Boy, you couldn't fit a million people on this island. Let alone 80. But if you really want to point that slingshot at us..."
"Go ahead."
Usopp completely froze on the spot as a tense air consumed the area.
.
..
...
"""We are very sorry!!!"""
Nami rubbed her forehead and shook her head while I stood with an awkward expression as Usopp and three young boys next to him prostrated in front of me with tears in their eyes.
I may have overdone the intimidation factor a little there.
And intimidating Usopp was so easy that the system didn't even give me a ticket for it.
"Geez, calm down guys. It's not like I was planning to raid your town anyway, I'm not that kind of pirate." I could hear Nami mutter 'What kind are you then?' but I ignored her.
"R-really?"
Usopp faced with a face full of tears and boogers, I think I really scared the soul out of the poor guy. I nodded to him as I tried to put on a reassuring smile.
"Yep, I plan to use money instead of violence. Just want to go around for some repairs, buy some clothes, the whole shebang. So, do you think you could show us around Captain Usopp?"
Usopp seemed to regain a semblance of his self-confidence after I spoke my words as he got up to his feet and pounded on his chest while his two cronies slipped away.
"Y-yeah! Sure, if you won't attack us, I can definitely show you around. Follow me, I know a very good diner around, even though it's one of the only diners around."
I looked towards Nami, silently looking for her opinion as she shrugged.
"Why not? I'm pretty hungry."
Hearing her assent I nodded towards Usopp and put my hands behind my head.
"You heard the lady, show us to where we can get some grub."
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
"You guys faced a guy like that!? That's so cool! I can only hope my dad is having adventures like that."
Usopp commented with stars in his eyes as we sat down for dinner, at the local diner after Usopp introduced us as pirates and the owner scoffed at him with disbelief. So despite not lying our identities were not compromised.
As we ate and drank some beer(Orange juice for Nami and root beer for Usopp) Usopp asked us for some stories about our pirate adventures after mentioning his father was also a pirate so he wanted to hear about the life from someone who lived it. So I told him an abridged version of how I fought Buggy while he listened intently.
"Don't worry Usopp, I'm sure your father is probably catching much bigger fish than us. Hahaha." Usopp gave a confused look at me laughing at my own internal reference before I changed the topic to what I wanted to know.
I took a sip from my beer and casually mentioned.
"So, what's with the mansion? I wouldn't expect rich folk to live here."
Thanks to already liking us quite a bit after my stories Usopp was more open to divulging the information to us.
"That mansion? That's Kaya's mansion. It used to be her parents but then they died so it was all left to her. She lives with her servants there, she is really nice." Usopp had a wistful look on his face before it soured. "But she has been feeling really ill and getting worse week after week, I'm really concerned about her."
...My Golden Rule senses are tingling.
Taking another sip of my beer I smirked.
"Rich girl eh? Say, what are the chances of her giving us a fat paycheck if I manage to cure her?"
Nami gave me a surprised look before her eyes widened with greed at the mention of a fat paycheck while Usopp had a far more animated reaction.
"W-What do you mean by cure her!?!?!?"
"Usopp!"
"S-sorry... I mean, what do you mean by curing her?"
Usopp slammed his hands on the table and exclaimed before getting a nasty look from the owner that made him shrink back into his seat. While I simply rolled my shoulders.
"I meant what I said. I used to know a doctor from the Grandline who taught me a bunch of different medicines I could make. I know one of them that would probably work for her."
"A-are you for real? Kaya can be cured?"
Usopp muttered in disbelief while Nami leaned over and whispered into my ear.
"Hey, uh, boss, are you sure about this? I like money but I don't want to hurt a sick girl to get it."
I whispered back into her ear with a tone of confidence.
"Don't worry Nami. I am a man with a plan."
Nami gave me a concerned look but backed off nonetheless while I turned back to Usopp who seemed to paying attention to every word of mine.
"I bet I could. So, Usopp, think you could get me to take a look at the girl? You seem to know her with how familiar you sound."
Usopp nodded his head rapidly.
"Y-yeah! I can ask her butler for you! As long as it's Merry and not Khaladore on duty they should let you in."
Seeing Usopp's enthusiasm I smirked.
Kuro, I'm coming for that ass.
[New Quest: Syrup of Kindness]
Description: There is a sweet and sickly rich girl who needs your help. And as an outlaw pirate, it is your job to help her. Yes, it was in your job description. Catching the Black Cat alongside that is just a bonus to helping a damsel in distress.
Objectives:
-Cure Kaya's "sickness"
Reward: 1x Silver Item Gacha Ticket
-Capture Captain Kuro without casualties
Reward: 1x Advantage Gold Ability Gacha Ticket
-Defeat the Black Cat Pirates without casualties
Reward: 1x Silver Item Gacha Ticket & 1x Silver Trait Gacha Ticket
-???
Reward: ???
A/N: Yuji and Nami have a fun dynamic, the prickly thief who is trying to be flirty to endear herself but being far too prideful to commit while Yuji worms his way into her defences. Yuji does need someone who occasionally pokes at his ego to make sure he doesn't grow too big a head.
We are at Syrup Village at last and Yuji is a man with a plan indeed. While he doesn't have Luffy's (Bullshit)charisma he knows how to talk with people to get what he wants. Did you guys like his interactions with Usopp? I'd love to know.
Comments
Rumble Cloud
With the huge variety of Zoan and paramecia df he probably has a good chance of finding one with Golden Rule
BronzDeck
Fixed
Blorf
Hate to point it out but the other guy is right, nobody knew him as Kuro at this time, only Klahadore.
Colin Peden
True, but we all meant what he knew, I'll give him a pass on that. I always think of him as Kuro anyway. 😋
dragongod0117
Uh, Bronz? I think Ussop meant Klawhadore. He doesn't know who Kuro is 😂.
