Smooth Sailing Chapter 3: Satsuruzo Kingdom 2

Chapter 3: Satsuruzo Kingdom 2

When I left the bar, the sun was setting, dusk having arrived. After I returned to the boat I fed some takeout soup to Hep, Pep, and Pop, and made sure their bandages were changed. By the time that was done, the sun was fully gone and the moon and stars were shining brightly.

"I'll be back soon," I promised the trio.

"Be safe, captain," Hep whispered, and I flashed him a thumbs up.

Then, I slipped away from the Lovey Dovey under the cover of dark, making sure to wear a crude mask out of a cloth bag I cut eye holes into as I left. Inelegant but effective. Nobody would be able to recognize me while I was wearing it!

Yet as I walked through the town whose name still eluded me, I found myself noticing a strange thing. The way the Marines were out in force was one oddity. They seemed to be anxious. From the whispered conversations I overheard, Lieutenant Wooster wasn’t back yet and was late.

Then, the second bit of strangeness was the fact was that there were hardly any people out and about. Though after thinking it over, made sense. The Marines were not bound by World Government law while not ashore on World Government territory. Meaning they could do what they wanted to non-member civilians. And the people of the town seemed to want to not draw any attention to themselves because of this.

The biggest bit of oddness was when I was creeping through a side street, doing my best to stay in the shadows. I was almost out of town when a trio of Marines suddenly came out from a nearby building just as I stepped out of the alleyway, intending to leave the settlement. I froze mid-step, my breath catching in my throat as I was right next to them.

None of them made a comment about the weird woman wearing a bag over her head as they walked past, even though I saw one of them glance in my direction. I didn’t move, afraid to be spotted, but nothing happened. Only when they were gone around the corner did I sigh and start moving again.

‘Odd,’ I thought to myself as I resumed my escape out town. ‘I know I’m not very sneaky, and surely those Marines just now should have spotted me! I was right in the open! Yet they didn’t notice me at all!’

Could it be possible… was the Smooth-Smooth Fruit helping me Slip past people? Or rather, had their eyes 'Slipped' off of me?

Given that imagination was the limit for Devil Fruits, Paramecias especially… I’d have to go with ‘yes’ on that.

‘So, if I believe that I should be able to go unnoticed by Slipping past others, then my Devil Fruit will assist me with that,’ I thought. ‘It has to be an active effect, though. Something I need to concentrate on to work.’

It was certainly an interesting ability, and a unique application of my power. Which made me wonder what else it could do if I was sufficiently imaginative?

‘Something to work on for the future,’ I decided, putting those thoughts aside for the moment as I high-tailed it out of town.

Fish Eye Lake was an hour away, and I didn’t want to take too much longer to retrieve my treasure.

Fate seemed to have it out for me, though, as I saw lanterns in the distance reflecting off of the lake’s surface, illuminating a spot where a bunch of Marines were busy digging up the dirt around the shoreline.

“…has to be around here somewhere! Keep looking, men!” a man shouted, waving a cutlass in the air with reckless abandon.

He was a tall fellow, around seven feet in height, who wore a Marine officer’s coat, the ‘Justice’ kanji on the back for all to see. As for his appearance, he was an older man with loose jowls that resembled a rooster’s wattle, and had red hair styled in a mohawk, like a rooster’s comb. This had to be Lieutenant Wooster, and he looked ridiculous, which I’d honestly sort of expected.

‘The people of this world are so weird,’ I thought. ‘Must be all the Devil Fruits.’

These mystical fruits changed the very DNA of the person who ate one. Who knew what that did to any children they might have had? Plus, with giants, dwarves, minks, and so many other odd sub-species added to the mix, the genes of the people on this world must be a damn alphabet soup of nonsense.

I shook my head, clearing those thoughts away, and crept a little bit closer in order to listen in on the conversation going on. I needed to know what they were talking about.

“Sir, it’s too dark! We need to wait until the sun rises!” a Marine complained, panting a bit as he leaned against a shovel, knee deep in a ditch he’d dug with several others.

“No! We have to find the treasure before the kingdom notices us!” Wooster shouted back. “This is our only chance to find the Alvida Pirates' hidden loot!”

“Yes, sir!” the man sighed, and resumed digging.

I watched them toil away, a frown on my face as flashes of memory popping up into my head at the sight of the moonlit lake's surface. Oh all the times to remember where Alvida had put her treasure! Worse, it was in a place I couldn’t reach!

“Damn it,” I muttered, my eyes darting between the Marines and the lake.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t quiet enough, and one of the soldiers heard me and turned in my direction. Whatever obscuring ability my Devil Fruit had temporarily granted me was now gone, perhaps because I’d spoken up, and I winced as he shouted “INTRUDER!” at the top of his lungs.

Soon, I had a bunch of guns pointed my way. A thrill of fear shot down my spine at that sight, even if I knew bullets wouldn’t harm me thanks to my Smooth-Smooth enhanced skin.

At the same time, an idea popped up into my head, and I raised my arms up in surrender. A pair of Marines grabbed my arms and tied them with rope then prodded me with their guns towards Wooster, who stared at me in disdain.

“Hmph! What are you doing here, civilian?” the lieutenant demanded. “And with a crude mask, no less?”

“Just going for a stroll,” I replied casually. “What girl doesn’t like long walks at night under the moonlight?”

“HA! Not likely,” he sneered. “I know what is going on here! Rumors have reached my ears about a female thief who goes around stealing treasure from pirates. While I don’t know what she looks like exactly, I do know from the reports she was a shapely, buxom young woman.”

Wooster pointed at me dramatically. “Admit it! You’re the thief! And you’re here to steal the Alvida Pirates' treasure from me!”

I blinked. ‘They think I’m Nami?’ I thought, surprised.

Not that they knew who that was, it seemed, only that there was a woman going around snatching wealth from under the noses of pirates. But I decided to roll with it, as they had just given me the perfect cover story.

“You got me,” I ‘admitted.’ “I found out where Alvida had buried her treasure and came here hoping to steal it out from under her nose. But when I got here, I discovered you’d already taken care of the pirates for me. So, thanks for that, I suppose.”

“You know where the treasure is?!” he demanded. “Tell me!”

“Only if you let me go,” I requested.

“Fine, fine, I will let you go free if your information is accurate,” Wooster scoffed. “Now, where did she hide it?!”

“There,” I said, gesturing towards Fish Eye Lake with my head. “It’s all at the bottom right in the center.”

He blinked, and turned away from the pits he’d dug along the shore to the freshwater lake behind him.

“Of course,” he muttered, before pointing at a couple Marines. “Men! Go and fetch it for me!”

“Yes, sir!” they shouted, and dove into the water with some ropes. A few minutes later they resurfaced, dragging a large, waterlogged treasure chest out of the depths.

Wooster eagerly shot the lock off of the chest with a pistol and kicked the lid open, revealing a mound of gold and jewels within.

“Must be fifty million beri here, easy,” one of the Marines muttered in awe, and even I had to whistle.

‘Damn! Alvida was a real busy bee!’ I thought. ‘Then again, she was active for years. No wonder she could have built up such an amount.’

The fact that some of this was no doubt blood money, taken from her victims, did cool my excitement a bit, but it was technically mine, and I needed the treasure to fund my eventually trip to the Grand Line. Because one way or another, that was my ultimate destination. I wasn’t going to stay in the East Blue for much longer.

I then cleared my throat, getting the lieutenant’s attention. “May I go, now? You did promise.”

“I did,” the greedy Marine said, tearing his gaze away from the treasure. “But I’ve decided to change the deal a bit.”

He pointed his sword dramatically at me. “You are going to lead me to the location of all the other treasures you’ve stolen over the years. And maybe then I will free you!”

“That wasn’t what I agreed to,” I said, though I had already expected this sort of betrayal from him.

What else were a bunch of Marines illegally here on the island going to do? If I went free, I might tell the Satsuruzo Kingdom about this trespass. Not that anything would be done, but it would be a black mark on Wooster’s record all the same, even if just an informal one.

Knowing this, I immediately Slipped free of the simple ropes binding my wrists and grabbed one of the guns poking me in the back. I twisted it out of the Marine’s hands and pointed it at Wooster, who froze. I was still surrounded, but now the rest of the seamen would hesitate to shoot at me.

“I think I’ll be taking that treasure as compensation,” I drawled. “Unless you want to eat lead for a midnight snack!”

“Grrr! NO!” Wooster snarled. “That is my treasure! I found it!”

“Uh-huh. Sure you did,” I drawled, and then pulled the trigger. The gun bucked in my hands, and the bullet zipped through the air.

The lieutenant cried out and slashed it out of the air with his cutlass, destroying the projectile in a shower of sparks, and in response the Marines opened fire on me in retaliation.

I had ducked the moment I’d fired the gun, however, and the shots all missed me, sailing over my head. And, since the Marines had been in a circle, they just hit themselves in the poor lighting.

They all fell back with cries of shock and pain, and I rushed in, swinging the now empty rifle at Wooster’s head like a club. He easily blocked the strike with his sword, more sparks flying as the blade scraped against the barrel.

“Bitch!” he snarled. “You think you’ll get away with this?!”

“Absolutely!” I responded cheekily.

He yanked his sword back and began to swing wildly, trying to cut me down. I simply blocked his attacks, wincing at the clang each blow made, my ears ringing.

“You! Stop fighting back!” Wooster demanded.

“Are you stupid?” I asked incredulously, before scoffing. “What am I saying, of course you are! Only an idiot would have such a dumb haircut!”

He howled furiously as I dissed his ‘do, and he lunged at me. I successfully blocked the cutlass strike, but the sword took a chunk out of the barrel, and I winced.

‘How sharp is that sword? How strong is this guy?’ I couldn’t help but wonder. Steel isn’t something easy to hack apart like it was a piece of wood!

Wooster was taller than me, and considerably more muscular, but I knew my body was superhumanly strong, too. I just looked like a skinny twig. Without hesitation I swung my makeshift club at the Marine’s head, and he raised his sword to block it, thinking it wouldn’t hit that hard.

He was unpleasantly surprised when my blow was a lot stronger than he expected, and sent the rooster-themed Marine staggering backwards when it slammed into his weapon. He nearly dropped the blade out of shock!

“You’re strong,” he noted, recovering quickly and settling into a proper sword fighting stance. “I see now how you were able to steal from so many pirates and get away scott free!”

“Thank you,” I drawled, happy to keep playing into his delusions. “I also like punching arrogant jerks in the face. Like this!”

I Slipped past another sword swing, feeling the breeze it caused as it passed by my cheek, and cocked my right hand back, clenching it into a fist. My knuckle sandwich rocketed forward and slammed into his face, causing Wooster’s head to snap back, nose broken by the punch.

He howled in pain, staggering back with one hand clamped over his nose, desperately trying to stem the flow of blood.

Not wanting to give him a chance to recover, I darted forward and smacked the rifle butt into Wooster’s left shin, which had him yelp in pain and hop about on one foot. I followed up by jumping behind him and delivering a kick to the back of his uninjured leg. Since he was balancing on only a single limb at the time he was unable to prevent himself from toppling over and landing on his face.

I couldn’t help but snort at the sight of the man lying on the ground, face down and ass up. It was made even more ridiculous by his red mohawk.

‘Reminds me of a chicken pecking at the dirt, looking for bugs or feed,’ I thought in amusement.

“How dare you strike a Marine officer and laugh at his misfortune?!” Wooster roared as he leapt back to his feet and spun around to face me. “Take this!”

Clutching his cutlass in both hands, his sword came streaking down, faster than any previous strike. It was aimed at my chest, and I could have dodged, yet I didn’t, fighting every instinct within me to let the blow land. And when the blade hit, it simply Slid off of my exposed skin, doing absolutely no damage aside from cutting my shirt open.

Shocked by his attack failing, Wooster was now wide-open and unbalanced from his blow literally Sliding off his target, and I brought the gun down on his head, cracking him right in the noggin and knocking him onto his ass, unconscious.

I held in a sigh of relief as he slumped to the ground like a bag of bricks. ‘That was nerve-wracking! I’d wanted to test my resilience, but that was a bit too close for comfort!’

Still, I now knew for a fact I was immune – or at least resistant – to physical damage. I’d need more tests, but it was clear the East Blue would have few threats to me.

‘Not to mention I’m crazy strong, now,’ I mused.

My superhuman strength was obvious thanks to the fight just now. I had no clue how strong I actually was, but it was certainly far beyond my previous self. Just looking at my weapon revealed out strong I’d become. The rifle had gotten bent a bit when I’d used it as a club, and the barrel, which I’d been holding tightly, was dented, my fingerprints stamped into the metal.

Looking around and seeing none of the Marines were in fighting shape, I ditched the gun and grabbed the treasure chest. It should have been heavy, but just like with the giant club, it felt light, like an empty cardboard box.

With my goal in hand (both hands, to be precise!) I rushed back to town and the Lovey Dovey, sneaking back onboard and preparing to set sail.

“You got it!” Hep said excitedly, staring at the treasure chest I’d plopped down next to the steering wheel.

“Yup! Now we gotta leave, because I had to beat up a Marine lieutenant to get all of this!” I replied.

“Did you avenge our crew?” Pop asked hopefully, and I paused, unsure of how to answer.

After a moment I simple nodded with a muted “That’s right,” which seemed to bring smiles to the trio’s faces.

I hadn’t killed Wooster, despite him being defenseless. He’d been responsible for the death of my old crew… but they weren’t really mine, were they? I wasn’t really Alvida, no matter how much anger I felt on her behalf at times.

Yet I had spared him. I could have stuck his own sword into his neck, or taken a gun and popped a round into his head. Hell, I could I kicked him into one of the holes he’d had his men dug and buried him alive!

But I hadn’t done any of that. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. I’d been too focused on taking the treasure and getting clear of the island.

Could I have killed Wooster? I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know if I had the stomach for it. What would happened if I was ever forced into the position?

This wasn’t a Manga or Anime, despite everything coming from one I’d seen in my previous life. This was a real world, with real people, and real consequences.

‘Do I have the determination to kill?’ I wondered.

It was a question that would linger in the back of my head for weeks, long after leaving the Satsuruzo Kingdom and the East Blue itself. And it was one I’d have to come to terms with before I’d even spent a year in this new world.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to dwell on this uncomfortable question for long, as once we pulled out from the docks, one of my crew asked a good question.

“Where are we gonna go next, captain?” Pep inquired, shaking me from my depressing thoughts.

“Shopping,” I announced. “We need some more supplies. Namely, clothes. My old ones don’t fit me anymore.”

“We should head to Boot Island, then!” Hep suggested. “No better place to get new duds. Plus, we can cash in the treasure for beri there.”

“Yes, not much reason to carry a bunch of solid gold and gems around,” I agreed, thinking it over.

‘Boot Island… that's where the Nagagutsu Kingdom is, according to ‘my’ memories. That was the one that was sort of based on Italy, wasn’t it?’ I pondered, plumbing the depths of my memories of the One Piece series.

Where Water Seven was Fantasy-Venice, Nagagutsu was Fantasy-Italy in its entirety. It had dozens of settlements, being a large island nation, and it was known for its fashion, being based off of things like ‘Ferrari,’ and ‘Armani.’

Hep was right, it was definitely the best place to go if I wanted to trade in the treasure for cold hard cash, and to find new clothes that would fit my slimmer frame. Having to keep my pants cinched tight with multiple belts was annoying.

‘I also need underwear,’ I thought, trying not to blush at that though. Yes, my body was sexy as sin, but going underwear shopping was still dauntingly embarrassing!

“Alright, we’re going to the Nagagutsu Kingdom!” I announced. My crew cheered at that. “Now, does anyone know where we need to go to get there?”

That caused my three idiots to fall silent. “Err, there might be a map in the cabin?” Pep suggested after an awkwardly long stretch of silence, and I sighed.

‘What I wouldn’t give for competent help!’ I thought in exasperation.

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Author's Note: Thank for the engagement with this new story of mine! Look forward to another chapter later today!