The Mad Doctor of One Piece - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Peter ducked, his spider sense blaring a warning about the incoming fist. Yet even as he ducked, another warning went off to alert him of Alex's second fist coming at a different angle. This was the problem with sparring against someone else who was also enhanced with the spider venom. Their speed and reflexes were nearly identical, for now, meaning the spider sense was nearly useless. Peter got his hand in the path of Alex's second blow and caught it his palm with a thunderous crack that launched a weak shock wave out.

Peter had started to take his training more seriously now that they were at sea. He'd spent a lot of time making potions for just about any scenario he could think of and neglected his own training in the process. As it stood, he wasn't as strong and skilled as a leader should be. Though he expected he would never be the expert that Alex would, he could still do his best to at least not hold back his supernaturally gifted crew.

He definitely needed to find a way to make himself stand out like they did. Sure his Essence helped but... He wanted something more visible. Maybe he really should see about hunting down Ace for his Mera Mera no Mi. He did always like fire.

The spar continued in earnest for nearly an hour with Alex taking the time to correct any mistakes Peter was making. That was why he'd made Alex after all. By the time Peter called a break, he'd gotten back into the swing of brawling with Alex throwing in some of the martial arts he'd observed at the marine base. Sadly the man had never seen the Captain practicing so he'd not learned anything ground breaking.

As he sat down, Sakuya presented him with a cold drink and a light lunch made by Erina using ingredients he'd stocked the fridge with. His power was so convenient sometimes. He could get food ingredients from any world he could think of. So, naturally, he picked food ingredients from the food world of Toriko. Not only did the food taste amazing, but it also strengthened the crew just by eating it!

He hummed with enjoyment as he chewed on his sandwich and watched as Alex and Artoria sparred using swords. Artoria had already mastered everything that Alex could teach her, now they were just refining their basic skills to perfection together. Peter hoped they would come across a master at some point so Alex could copy them. It was supremely tempting to head to the East Blue in the hopes of running across the battle between Mihawk and Zoro.

He considered that for a moment. It was possible the events hadn't happened yet. If not, he wouldn't mind just sitting in the background letting Alex watch the events as they unfolded. They could leave after and head into the Grand Line from there...

No, he shook his head. He didn't want to do that as he might end up wanting to follow Luffy. That was Luffy's journey and adventure, not his. He had his own path and goal that he would follow to the end. Maybe they could have a friendly rivalry? He also wouldn't mind joining the alliance in a few years.

Until then, he needed to work on expanding and improving his crew. He very much wanted to add magic to his crew but he still hadn't thought of someone with innate magic and talent extreme enough to teach themselves. He had some knowledge distilled into skill potions, but he was worried it wasn't good enough.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of metal shattering. His eyes snapped back to Alex and Artoria, both now holding broken blades. He sighed deeply, he also needed the magic user to make magic weapons for that pair. They kept breaking their blades! He didn't need something on the level of Excalibur, just indestructible would be nice! Probably needed a blacksmith too at this rate.

He sighed but smiled fondly when Artoria turned to him and gave him a sheepish look. She didn't talk very much but she was very expressive. He opened his mouth to let her know it was fine, but froze as an idea hit him like a freight train.

Merlin!

Fucking Merlin was supposed to be the greatest magic user of all time in all the stories about him. Even the ones where Merlin was a woman. He had King Arthur, so why not complete the set? Hell, he could even create a 'Lady of the Lake' while he was at it! Magic weapons for everyone!

He jumped to his feet, “Don't worry about the sword Artoria, Alex, just grab some more. They were pretty cheap.”

A pair of 'Yes, sir's' came from behind him as he spun on his heel and headed down into the ship to where the brig used to be. He didn't see any reason they would actually imprison someone so he'd designated the brig as the lab area, which he shared with Valeria. The gorgeous blonde was already in the lab working on bits and pieces as she tried to make a more modern rifle using the crude tools she had on hand. Mostly, she spent her time making tools to make tools.

There was a small forge/foundry area where she could cast different parts and melt down any failures. He wasn't the least bit worried about fire thanks to Mera's hydrokinesis. That woman could easily flood the ship enough to sink it, let alone put out a fire.

Valeria looked up and gave him a bright grin when he stepped through the door, “Hey boss! I didn't think I'd see you down here so soon. Something happen?”

Peter shook his head, “No, just had a brilliant idea and needed to get onto it A.S.A.P.”

“Oh?” She smirked when he pulled the large tank out of his storage ring, “A new crew member I take it?”

He nodded and followed the tank with his table and a flow of ingredients, “That's right. I want a magic user and I just had a brain blast up on deck.”

“Well, I can't wait to meet her boss.”

He smirked and didn't argue with the assumption that the new crew mate would be a woman, because it would be. He quickly began making the brew and filling the tank. He couldn't help wondering how the liquid mana he poured into it would effect someone with actual magical powers. The Merlin he planned to create had innate magic and was an unparalleled genius on top of that.

Soon enough it was time for the final two ingredients. He held his hand out and summoned the blood of Merlin from Nanatsu no Taizai. Not only would Merlin be a total babe, but she had the innate magical ability 'Infinity'. Infinity allowed Merlin to stop the time of her spells to make them last forever. It was so broken it wasn't even funny. He could already think of dozens of uses for such an ability.

He grinned like a maniac as he dropped the last tow ingredients into the tank, her blood and his own. In just twenty-four hours he would have a magical genius on the crew! That wouldn't be the end though. No. Thinking of Merlin had brought to mind the third being that was responsible for the legend of King Arthur, the one who gave Arthur his most well known weapon, Excalibur.

The Lady of the Lake.

Depending on the source, the Lady of the Lake could be anything from a simple spirit or fae holding onto Excalibur to a badass warrior queen who crafted Excalibur and enchanted it herself. The one he decided on was a version that made one of the more interesting versions of the sword using means of magic and alchemy said to tread on the territory of God. Though she never appeared in the series, she was mentioned making her cannon. He might not know her name or appearance but her work spoke for itself, the Lady of the Lake from High School DxD.

Peter's cackling was brought to an end by a light smack to the back of his head courtesy of Valeria. Peter gave her the hairy eyeball, “Spoilsport.”

-----Line Break-----

Peter calmly stood at the doorway to the lab on the ship and let out a soft sigh. It took a couple of days to create and upgrade both Merlin and Vivienne, the name he'd picked for the Lady of the Lake, and now they were both in deep discussions with Valeria on Magic, technology, and enchanting. He'd given them what information he could and their genius minds were all crunching the data and coming to conclusions, which they then tested.

Seeing all three women, geniuses each, working together was... TERRIFYING.

It was like their intelligence increase my an order of magnitude, each, while working together. He couldn't even follow their conversation anymore! In just hours after waking from her dose of Spider Venom, Merlin had figured out how to perform basic elemental magic. A few hours after that the madwoman made a giant iceberg with a simple wave of her hand! Then proceeded to melt with with a terrible blast of fire.

Meanwhile, Vivienne had already figured out some basic enchanting. The first thing she did was make unbreakable glass. The second, unbreakable swords. Or at least, so durable that Alex and Artoria had yet to break one even when going all out.

Now all three women were working together to use magic and enchanting to skip steps in the evolution of technology to help Valeria out. He shook his head at the sight and left them too it to make his way up to the deck. His crew was crazy overpowered.

It was AWESOME.

-----Line Break-----

Peter looked at his work as he hung from a rope at the stern of the ship. He'd finally come up with a fitting name for the ship and decided to write it bold as brass.

“The Coming Storm. I think that's pretty fitting considering what we're going to accomplish.”

He smirked an put the paint brush in the bucket then put the bucket in his storage ring so he could haul himself back up onto the deck. As his boots hit the deck he heard a bright voice shout, “Land Ho!” from the crows nest where Ai was strumming a guitar and practicing some lyrics.

Peter retrieved his spy glass and looked through it to get a better view of Hana Island. It was not only the island closest to the entrance to the Grand Line, it was also a ship building island filled with dry docks and ports where ships could be built, repaired, or overhauled. They were named after the massive flowering trees that grew all over the island and made up the bulk of the wood used for their ships. It was good wood, not as good as Adams wood, but still good.

The plan was to get a dry dock and begin retrofitting their ship into something much more interesting than a standard Carrack. He also hoped to find a shipwright to join the crew, or failing that to be able to pay a shipwright to make a skill potion. He'd be happy with either. Valeria was good and had designed an amazing ship, but they wouldn't be building it until they reached Water 7 on the Grand Line.

A few hours later the crew disembarked from the ship, each of them flush with cash given out by Peter. They were to buy anything that would help them out, or that they wanted. As they left, none of them failed to notice the attention they were gaining, specifically the girls. It was to be expected since every last one of them was beautiful. Some of that attention was definitely because of exotic features, such as Ai's eyes or the butterfly-like wings on Vivienne's back.

They made sure to at least stick together in pairs with at least one combatant member sticking to a non-combatant. Not that they couldn't all take care of themselves, but certain members among them just didn't like fighting. Erina, Ai, and Vivienne especially didn't like to fight. They would defend themselves, but they would never enjoy a good brawl.

Peter, Alex, and Sakuya were the last to disembark. Peter looked over to Alex and addressed him, “After you finish your shopping, look around and see if there isn't anyone interesting for you to copy some skills from.”

Alex gave a gruff grunt of acknowledgment and disappeared into the streets of the city. Peter wasn't sure but he expected that the marines here had to be led by someone strong. Someone like Smoker over in the East Blue, to prevent pirates from making it to the Grand Line or getting their hands on a ship from the island. He might have to pick a fight with them before leaving. He and his crew were going to be named pirates soon enough, regardless of what they did. His goal was to, essentially, destroy the current world government, after all.

Aside from that, he also planned to utterly ruin any pirates he came across that weren't decent folk like Luffy. He barely considered Luffy and his crew to be pirates, honestly. More like rambunctious adventurers just looking to have fun. Bartolomeo and Law were descent folk, but others, such as Eustass Kid, needed to be put down. He didn't care how much they may have helped in a pinch moment, that didn't make up for the horrific things they did before then.

He put those thoughts out of his mind and began exploring the city. He wasn't looking for anything in particular, but he did have his eyes out for anything that could help with his work or be useful in some other way. No one on the crew needed to worry for raw materials, only finished products held any interest. He hummed to himself when he found a nice looking weapon shop. Might as well take a look. If any place was going to have a Meito it would be one right by the Grand Line entrance.

Stepping into the shop, Peter found himself surrounded by weapons on display. Swords, knives, axes, hammers, and even a few morning stars, all hung on the walls. Near the back of the store was a counter slash display case the featured just two swords. Even from the door and with minimal knowledge, Peter could tell they were special. He calmly made his way to the display to look at the exquisite weapons.

The first was a katana, not much of a surprise. What was surprising was the way it looked. The blade was mostly a swirling mix of gray that looked like clouds while the hamon was sharp zigzagging jagged line that had a light yellow tint to it, and a stark white razors edge. The tsuba was an unadorned oval while the handle was wrapped in dark blue with yellow ray skin beneath.

The second sword was a cutlass. It was pure white, reminding him of Zoro's Wado Ichimonji, only there was a blue tint to the whole thing. It was like he was looking at a sword carved out of a piece of solid ice.

“I see they've caught your eye.”

Peter looked up from the weapons to finally take in the sight of the middle aged man behind the counter. The mans beard was amazing, but that wasn't important. Peter nodded his head, “They're both beautiful, what are their names?”

The man pointed to the katana, “Inazuma.” He moved to the cutlass, “Korikiru”

Peter didn't beat around the bush, “How much?”

The man snorted, “Korikiru is a wazamono, three million. Inazuma though? That's one of the ryowazamono, ten million.”

Peter whistled. Inazuma was one of the fifty skillful grade swords, that was something else. He turned to look at Sakuya, “Pay the man.”

The man blinked in surprise when Sakuya, whom he'd barely noticed, stepped past Peter and set a duffle bag on the counter. Opening it revealed stacks of cash wrapped together. She quickly counted out stacks of one hundred thousand Belly until she'd placed the full thirteen million on the counter. The shop keepers eyes widened with each stack until the man was grinning ear from ear, “Pleasure doin' business with ya!”

Peter left the shop with Inazuma strapped to his waist while Korikiru rested inside of the duffle bag that Sakuya carried. Seeing the lightning themed katana had stirred Peter's emotions and he now really wished to learn how to use it properly. He would have to join Alex and Artoria for their sparring sessions so he could learn alongside them.

After they'd walked a fair distance away, the man behind the counter smirked and called out, “Boy!”

A kid, no more than eleven or twelve, walked out from the back of the shop, “Run off to Morgan's and tell him to hunt down that fool and get back the swords.” His smiled turned decidedly cruel, “He can keep that pretty maid and half the cash.”

The boy bobbed his head and took off out of the store at a run.

-----Line Break-----

Erina hummed a tune that Ai got stuck in her heard while she explored with Mera. The two had struck a bit of a friendship after Erina learned that Mera was the one to go to for the freshest fish. Mera enjoyed Erina's cooking of said fish so they'd become friends over good food. Even if they couldn't stand each other they would be cordial just to keep their master happy. Though the only one who called him master anymore was Sakuya.

Erina was on the hunt for two things. First, a better set of knives. The ones she had were decent, but they could be better. Second, a nice clothing store. Cross Island had a very bland selection of clothing due to its nature as a hospital island and she wanted more daring clothing that showed off her figure. Mera joined her for the second reason as she took wanted nicer clothing. Erina was pretty sure all the girls did while Alex and the captain seemed content in just about anything.

Men.

Currently she and Mera were in a store that specialized in swim and beach wear. Mostly bathing suits, beach dresses, sarongs, and sandals. Mera was looking for a bathing suit that could withstand her swimming speeds. For obvious reasons she'd skipped right over the two piece swim suits and focused on the one piece ones. Currently she was modeling a dark green suit with a pattern that looked like stylized fish scales. The suit revealed plenty of her cleavage but still had nice and thick shoulder straps that would keep it from rolling off of her body at high speeds.

Erina looked it over with a critical eye before giving Mera a thumbs up, “It looks good! It really goes well with your hair.”

Mera looked at herself in the mirror and smiled brightly, “I'll take it then.”

Aside from a practical suit for Mera, the both of them bought several different outfits just for lounging around in the sun. Erina really wanted to work on her tan. The memories of the woman she was based on bothered her for just how crazy focused she was on cooking and only cooking. That wasn't a life! She loved cooking, and pretty much had to do her own cooking as everyone else food tasted like hot garbage to her. But that didn't mean she wanted it to consume her life! She might not want to fight, but she could find other ways to live her life to the fullest and have fun doing it.

Mera came out of the dressing area once more still wearing the green scaled suit, but she'd added a translucent sarong around her waist and wedge sandals with straps that wound around her legs up to her knees. With her wavy bright red hair flowing free and her eyes sparkling, she looked divine.

Erina had already picked out much of what she wanted, mostly in white, with a few flower patterns here and there thrown in for a splash of color. After paying the bill, the pair left the shop only to run into a sight they'd hoped to avoid.

Right outside of the shop were six scruffy looking men 'casually' standing in a semicircle around the front door of the clothing shop. Each of them was armed with a wooden club and mocking grin. The apparent leader stepped forward while threateningly bouncing his bat on the palm of his hand so it let out a meaty 'thwack' with each hit, “Well well well. Ain't you a pair o' right beauties! Me'in tha boys was thinkin' you should join us for a bit o' fun, eh boys?”

The five other guys chuckled and leered at the two women. Even a blind fool could tell what the men before them were after. Mera looked at the leader, a scrawny man in ragged clothing with long black greasy hair and a hooked nose with a massive wart on the end of it. He looked like he hadn't bathed in months, at least, and smelled like it too. She was disgusted to the point of not even wanting to punch the man for fear of how filthy her hands would get.

Mera stepped protectively in from of Erina, not because Erina was weak, but because Erina chose not to be a fighter. Of course, Erina was more than capable of handling all six of the men before them without even breaking a sweat. Yet, she would leave it up to Mera. Her hands were meant to prepare food, not teach fools lessons in pain.

Mera glared at the leader of the group, “Leave now, or leave broken.”

The man laughed, “Ya hear that boys?” The other men laughed, “I like ya girlie, ya got spirit. I can't wait ta break it!”

The man hefted his club and charged toward Mera with the clear intent of beating her into submission. He only got as close as the furthest distance Mera could punch him from. No one watching but Erina saw Mera move. One moment the filthy man was charging at her, the next there was a resounding crack and the man was slamming into the wall of the building across the street. Everyone watching looked at the now unconscious thug with a shattered nose and likely cracked skull in shock.

The remaining five thugs looked between Mera and their leader, then they chose the dumb option. One of the thugs shouted, “Get 'er!” and all of them charged. Seconds later all five were on the ground either unconscious or groaning in pain from their broken bones. Mera huffed and brushed her hair over her shoulder, “Come on Erina, let's head back to the ship.”

-----Line Break-----

Domino hummed a random tune as she sat in a pub with Valeria and Artoria. The three of them had done some shopping and were now enjoying a meal. Or in the case of Artoria, a dozen meals. She had no idea where the petite blonde put it all but she could out eat any man. She'd honestly never heard Artoria say she was full, the food always ran out first. At least they never had to worry about left overs going rotten.

Valeria, on the other hand, ate like a bird. She always ate a full meal, honest, it's just that everyone else tended to eat a minimum of two servings while Valeria always stuck with one. It's not like any of them had to worry about getting fat. Their looks couldn't change. They would look the way they did until the day they were destroyed.

Domino herself ate a good amount of food, something between her two friends. Between their looks and eating habits, the three of them had garnered a lot of attention from the other patrons in the pub. Not that she was complaining. She found she enjoyed being looked at with envy and desire, especially since she was the only ebony goddess in the building. Actually, people with her skin tone seemed pretty rare so far. She wondered why that was but didn't let it bother her, it was just skin color.

She smiled at the cure little sounds Artoria was making as she polished off the last plate they were allowing her to have. If Artoria had her way, she'd stay and eat until the kitchen ran out of food and they didn't have that much time to waste. They might not be in a rush, but an entire day of watching Artoria eat was not her idea of fun.

Soon enough they paid the massive bill and left the pub. It didn't take long for Valeria to grow annoyed as they passed yet another store that didn't have anything she could use, “This place is so low tech it's getting on my nerves! I can't find anything useful.”

Domino hummed in acknowledgment but didn't say anything. What could she say? She was no scientist, just a marksman with good luck. Just as she thought that, she tripped and stumbled like a buffoon until she bumped into a door and caught herself on the door frame. Before she could say or do anything, she heard a hushed voice coming from the back of the supposedly closed store, if the window sign was any indication.

“I'm telling you, the Vinsmoke's are looking to align with Big Mom. The word is out that their looking for one of their long lost kids. You hear anything about this Sanji, you send a message to their man on Sabaody, Ronji, ya hear?”

A different voice grunted then said, “Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Underworld will go crazy with this ya know. Joker ain't gunna like it fer sure.”

“Yeah, well, Joker ain't the king of the underworld. Just don't mess with his business direct and yu'll be fine. Just let yur contacts know to keep an eye out for a blonde guy with weird eyebrows, alright?”

“Yeah yeah, no go, don't want no one seeing you and losing legit business.”

Domino decided that was her queue to leave. She silently shut the door and quickly rejoined Valeria and Artoria who were both giving her curious looks. Domino grinned at them, “I just heard something mighty interesting. I think we should head back soon so I can inform the boss.”

Her companions nodded, though they might have stopped to do a little more clothing shopping on the way back to the ship.

-----Line Break-----

Ai, Merlin, and Vivienne had decided to spend time together. Merlin and Vivienne got along for obvious reasons, they were the only magic users on the ship and loved to bounce ideas off of one another. As for Ai, she found magic fascinating and kept trying to get them to learn spells that would make special effects for her to put on a show with. Neither Merlin nor Vivienne minded as Ai's excitement and random requests and ideas helped them try things they never would have thought of. Their magic had grown in leaps and bounds thanks to Ai's boundless enthusiasm.

The three of them had just left a jewelry store where they'd purchased a few plain pieces that they could practice their magic on, especially enchanting, when they were rudely stopped. A group of six men blocked the path forward and when Merlin glanced over her shoulder, she saw six more men close off any possible escape route.

Seeing that they were surrounded both Ai and Vivienne looked slightly concerned. Neither of them were fighters by any stretch of the imagination. They might be able to easily lift ten tons with their strength and dodge bullets with their speed and reflexes, but it didn't change who they were deep down. Ai just wanted to become the best performer she could while Vivienne just wanted to constantly improve on her enchanting ability. Both of their personalities had been mildly influenced by Peter's memories of their characters leading them to almost become pacifists.

Merlin, on the other hand, curled her ruby red lips into a wicked smile. She brushed her short dark blue hair our of her eyes and scanned the men before her while striking a provocative pose, “Well well well, what do we have here? Is there something we can do for you boys?”

One of the men stepped forward while hefting his rusty cutlass threateningly, “Yeah, you can come without makin' no fuss, or you can make a fuss an' we gunna make you come anyway.”

The other men leered at the girls and held their own weapons up. One or two even sported flintlocks. Merlin's grin grew as she asked in a salacious tone, “Oh? And what do you plan to do with us, big boy?”

The man walked closer while waving his cutlass in a 'threatening' manner. The other men snickered as they watched. When he was less than two feet from Merlin, he answered her, “If'n yur lucky, Cap'n Morgan will just sell yur pretty ass off. If'n yur not lucky, we'll get to play witchya before he sells ya off. He's decided that you and all 'o them other pretty things on yur ship belong ta him now. Them boys'll hafta go, but that's jus' how the world works. Now, ya gunna come quiet like or wut?”

Merlin tapped her lower lip while humming, acting as if she was putting some thought into it. In reality, it was taking everything she had not to just erase the little pissant in front of her from existence right then and there. No one threatened her Captain! NO ONE!

Then she realized something. Peter had only told them to not start anything, he never said anything about finishing it. Her smile grew as she found the perfect excuse for what she was about to do, “I believe I will choose option three.”

The thug gave her a blank look and dumbly asked, “Wut option three?”

His answer came instantly when Merlin lifted up her hand an instantly cast one of the basic fire spells she'd mastered. A roaring column of flames erupted from the palm of her hand bathing the scumbag in crimson power that reduced him to ash in moments. He died before he could even scream. While the other men stared in shock, Merlin continued to act. Her other hand came up and began spewing flames as well. She bathed the entire row of men in front of her with the flames.

Meanwhile, neither Ai nor Vivienne remained still. They too were furious at the mere thought of these bastards trying to kill their captain! They spun and charged into the group of six that had been behind them. The pair might not have been true fighters, but they didn't need to be due to the massive gap in strength. In mere moments there were six sickening crunching sounds as the two non-combatants literally shattered the skulls of the six men with a single blow each.

In seconds twelve men died and left behind only six bodies. Merlin looked away from the smoking piles of ash on her side to the crumpled bodies on the other. She nodded in satisfaction before addressing Ai and Vivienne, “Come, we should head back to the ship and let the Captain know what's going on.”

-----Line Break-----

Alex checked the position of the sun in the sky, trying to decide if he wanted to head back to the ship or not. He'd already accomplished everything he'd planned to in the line of his duties as the first mate. He'd placed orders at the shipyards for the materials that Valeria required for the ships overhaul. He'd also booked a dry dock for the next day that would let them do some maintenance on the hull. Mera could do it by herself since she could breath underwater and easily keep pace with the ship, but the Captain wanted them to do it as a team.

Alex could respect that. He knew he was created to learn the skills of the stronger people in this world and teach them to the crew, it was his primary function. However, that hadn't stopped the Captain from treating him as an equal, as a friend, and that was something Alex appreciated. He was also proud to be chosen for the position of first mate. It let him know that all of his hard work was appreciated and respected.

While he was trying to decide what to do next, his spider sense blared out a warning that had him instinctively tilting his entire upper torso to the right. Not even a moment later something flashed past him at a speed he was unable to track.

“Ho? You dodged? Impressive.”

Alex spun gracefully to face the speaker. Standing across from him was a man covered in muscles at least twice the size of Alex himself. How someone so big could move so fast, Alex couldn't comprehend. Then again, from what he knew of this world thanks to Peter, he shouldn't have been so surprised. Even bigger people than the man across from him were capable of moving at speeds unheard of to most people.

Curiously, the man that apparently attempted to kill him and now smirking at him while holding a decent looking sword, was dressed in a Marine uniform. The man was bald, massive, muscular, and giving Alex a look that seemed to be a mixture of curious and hungry. It was fairly off putting. The problem was, Alex had no idea why a Marine would attack him. No one on the crew had a bounty yet, they hadn't even done anything yet. The obvious way to find out was to ask, so he did, “Why is a Marine attacking me? I haven't broken any laws and I am not a pirate.”

Yet.

The marines smile turned cruel and bloodthirsty, “Doesn't matter. The Captain has decided the women of your ship belong to him while you and the other guy are just fish food.”

Before Alex could ask anything else to get more information, the Marine moved again at high speed. This time Alex was on alert and paying attention. While his senses told him to dodge, he'd gotten a clear view of what the Marine had done to propel himself so fast. Once again, Alex easily twisted his body out of the way of the slashing sword blade and turned to face the Marine again.

“I see. So, this is the 'Soru' move the Captain spoke of.”

The Marine's eyes widened in shock, “How do you know that?! No one is supposed to know that!”

Alex didn't answer him, rather, he disabled the resistance his body was always under then vanished from sight as he utilized Soru nearly perfectly. With his current level of strength he was at least five times as fast as the Marine. The man had no chance to dodge at all before an iron fist slammed into his jaw with bone breaking force. The marine's jaw was shattered into dust before his body rocketed through the air to slam through a store's stone wall.

Alex contemplated checking to see if the Marine was dead or alive, but decided against it. This needed to be reported to the Captain right away. Once more, Alex vanished as he used his newly acquired skill to travel swiftly while perfecting the move to make it even more efficient.

-----Line Break-----

Peter walked with some pep in his step. It had been a great day! He'd gotten two named swords, one of which was one of the fifty skillful grade and that was huge! He just hoped Artoria liked Korikiru. It would be hers until they could find, steal, or make something better. He had no doubt that, in time, Vivienne and Merlin would be able to make swords that made the twelve Supreme Grade Blades look like garbage.

A well forged, sharp, highly durable, nearly indestructible sword sounded awesome. Until it went up against a sword just like it only with magical abilities. Though, he couldn't help wondering what would happen if they permanently 'blackened' a magical blade using Armament Haki. That would be an interesting experiment to try in the future.

He was brought out of his musing when he arrived back aboard the ship to find everyone else waiting for him. Before he could say anything they all began talking at once. Peter waved his hands, “Stop stop! One at a time!” They quieted down, “Alright, now Alex, you go first.”

Alex nodded in acceptance then went on to explain what had happened to him. Once he finished Peter hummed, “So, the Marine Captain in charge of this island wants to kill you and I then capture the ladies?”

Alex nodded while Merlin chimed in, “That leads nicely into what happened to myself, Ai, and Vivienne. We got jumped by a dozen guys saying pretty much the same thing.”

“Huh.” Peter pondered on that before asking, “Anyone else get jumped?”

Erina and Mera both lifted their hands with Erina speaking, “We did, though not by so many men. Mera handled them easily.”

His gaze shifted over to the last three, “But not you guys?”

Domino, Valeria, and Artoria shook their heads. Then Domino explained the conversation she'd overheard on 'accident' while they were exploring randomly. Peter chalked it up to her mutation simultaneously keeping her safe while finding her a juicy bit of information. He processed everything he'd heard and frowned, “So, the Marine Captain definitely wants all of you ladies as slaves with myself and Alex dead. Obviously he underestimated us this time, which means next time he'll come at us with even more men. Not that it'll matter.”

He shook it off, “Right, we'll have to set a watch tonight. Tomorrow we move into the dry dock to begin work on the ship. That'll take a few days to complete. Until then we'll have to keep our heads down. After the beating that Marine got from Alex, the Captain should keep his head down... unless he's stupid. Which is highly likely as most corrupt idiots are. Mera, Vivienne, I'll need to pair of you to keep an eye above and below for incoming Marine vessels. The good Captain might call in reinforcements, though I doubt it. If he does he wont be able to sell you like he seems hell bent on doing. Still, better safe than sorry.”

His gaze shifted to Valeria, “The rest of us will help you with working on the ship and getting it retrofitted as fast as possible.”

Valeria sighed and nodded her head, “It's too bad your ability to generate materials doesn't let you just pop out finished items boss, that would be so much more convenient!”

Peter chuckled, “Yeah, I know what you mean. It'd be great if I could just picture an item and 'poof!' there... it...is...”

Peter trailed off as his mind pictured what he was talking about and a name popped into his mind. He felt like a goddamn moron for not thinking of her sooner. Without a word he left his crew on the deck, confused and concerned, as he dashed below deck and into the lab where he immediately began making yet another homunculus. Not only was the woman he had in mind intelligent and beautiful, she had a power that was EXACTLY what they needed to get their hands on modern technology and begin to push the boundaries of that technology.

Dr. Vegapunk and Egghead Island were five hundred years in the future? He and his crew would be a thousand years or more in the future! All because of the stupidly broken ability of one heroine, Momo Yaoyorozu, Creati herself with the ability to create ANYTHING she understood the makeup of from her lipid cells. With his memories, Valeria's brilliance, and Momo's own excellent intellect, she would be capable of producing anything!

Was it a little exploitative to create Momo just for her genetic ability? Yes, yes it was. Did he care? Not one bit. He'd treat her like the treasure she was. Her ability was simply too important for him to get all hung up on morals over. Besides, once she made Valeria and himself the proper equipment, he could copy the section of her genome that gave her the Creation Quirk then give a copy of it to Valeria so Momo wouldn't have to do as much work.

This was going to be amazing!

-----Line Break-----

Sakuya sighed as she watched her master run off to his lab once again, likely to give them all a new sister. She shook her head slightly then focused on her job. She spoke calmly, “Artoria, Master purchased something for you.”

That got the petite blondes attention. Sakuya opened the duffle bag and pulled out Korikiru and explained what it was to Artoria before handing it over. Artoria accepted the sword from Sakuya the ndrew it to examine the ice-like blade, “Beautiful.”

Alex studied the sword in Artoria's hand. He wasn't jealous or anything as he found he preferred martial arts to swordplay, even if he was equally good at both. It looked like an excellent weapon and he was happy for Artoria. Though he did worry that the better quality sword would once more cause the destruction of practice blades with its superior cutting edge.

Finished admiring the sword, Alex spoke up, “While the Captain is busy, I'd like to take some time to instruct all of you on the use of Soru.” That got plenty of groans from the non-combatant members of the crew, but Alex was having none of it, “You will all learn it. It might have been made as a combat move, but it could be easily used as a tool for escape. I know none of you wish to disappoint the Captain so I will take the time to instruct all of you. I expect you to practice until you are proficient with the skill!”

There were groans and some complaints, as well as some excitement from the more combat oriented members. Alex was the first created by the Captain, the first mate, and their combat instructor. They gave him the respect he deserved and listened to his commands, as was expected of them.

-----Line Break-----

Peter stood next to Artoria and Mera across the deck from Alex. The three of them were working on mastering Soru under the guidance of Taskmaster. He was living up to his name as he shouted out corrections to their forms. Thanks to the Spider Venom Peter and Artoria had the leg strength needed. Mera had even more strength than they did so she was clearly capable as well. All three of them had gotten the basics of Soru down pretty quick, they were now just working on perfecting it so they could use it instinctively.

While they were doing that, Valeria was leading the majority of the crew on the retrofit of the ship. She had plans and, unfortunately, Momo's creation didn't change anything in that department. It was a good thing it didn't since Momo wasn't very good at using her Quirk yet. Peter had given her skill potions filled with everything he could remember of her using her Quirk along with all of the scientific knowledge he had from his education, but it was far from perfect or complete. Momo would have to work closely with Valeria to work some things out. But he was sure that, together, those two alone could change the entire world.

For now, Momo was practicing making items out of just a single material, such as iron rods. Not steel, just plain iron. To help her out, Peter had made potions just for her. He'd done his best to make sure they didn't taste too horrible, but there was just no getting around how bad potions tasted. Yes, he could actually make artificial flavors, but adding them to a finished potion or trying to include them in the recipe always ruined the potion. At this point, he was certain whoever gave him the Essence WANTED the potions to taste terrible. He was just thankful that some things could just be injected.

With a grunt, Peter kicked the ground ten times in an instant and shot across the deck. At the last moment he lost his balance and was forced to use his reflexes to keep himself from fall on his face. He was having a little trouble keeping up with the speed he could move at. That's what the practice was for though!

-----Line Break-----

Meanwhile, below the ship in the dry dock, Valeria was guiding the other girls on their work. The hull had already been cleared of barnacles, now they were focusing on repairing or replacing any of the wood that looked rotten or too heavily worn. They wanted the hull of the ship to be as strong as possible to make sure the ship would stay afloat. So far the hull had been in excellent condition as the previous owner had clearly taken good care of it, until it was repossessed anyway.

The next step was working on the interior. They weren't sure what the ship was used for previously as it seemed equally capable of being a merchant ship or a small warship. The bottom deck had the galley, crew mess, magazine, three port cannons and three starboard cannons for a total of six, a cargo hold, and a brig. The bow quarterdeck contained crew quarters, which were just a bunch of hammocks, the officer's mess, and the two bow cannons. Meanwhile the stern quarterdeck was entirely comprised of officer's quarters.

Valeria didn't know much about ships, sure, but did a ship as small as a Carrack need six officers and a captain? With how many hammocks there were that was basically one officer for every two crew! Seemed like a waste. Unless some of those quarters were for passengers? Seemed legit.

Anyway, the last interior space was the Captain's quarters located on top of the poopdeck. Those wouldn't be getting touched for the retrofit. For them a lot of the space dedicated to holds was wasted space. Between the Captain, Merlin, and Vivienne, they had plenty of ways to make expanded storage spaces. A single chest could hold the entire ship's magazine with ease. They could make it two even, one for cannonballs and one for gunpowder. Or just make three of each and split them between the port, starboard, and bow cannons. In short, the magazine area was wasted space for them.

Then there was the hold, which could also easily be replaced by a few chests with expanded space inside of them. They had no use for a brig, and the crew mess was unnecessary. In short, aside from the cannons an the galley, nothing on the lowest deck was useful for what it was meant for. All that space could be converted into much more usable space. In the case of the crew mess, they were going to expand the galley to include that space to give Erina far more area to cook in. They were also going to make it so that the current utilities could be easily replaced when they made better ones in the future. Why use a wood stove when you could use a magic one?

Meanwhile the magazine was being converted into the new crew mess where everyone would eat together. It was right next to the galley at the stern which meant no one would have to carry food up a flight of stairs to the bow quarterdeck where the other mess was. This was especially nice since the stairs leading down to the lower deck were exposed to the elements. Who wanted to risk rain or saltwater slashing into their food while it was carried out in the open? Bad design is bad.

As for the bow portion of the gun deck where the brig and hold were located, those two spaces were being turned into one large one. The newly opened space would be converted into the workshop area that all the creatives would have to share. Even though it was nearly a third of the ship in space, it was still going to be a bit cramped with the Captain, Valeria, Merlin, Vivienne, and now Momo all crammed into it.

That was a problem Valeria was going to be sure was covered on the custom ship she was designing.

Next would be the quarterdecks. The stern quarterdeck was not being touched. It provided six private bedrooms and that was perfectly fine. The bow quarterdeck though, was getting an overhaul and being turned into more bedrooms. They wouldn't need the officer's mess and the hammock filled crews quarters was just insulting to the crew. The two large spaces would be converted into more bedrooms similar to the ones at the stern. It would give them six more room, which was one more than the crew needed.

The overhaul was expected to take a couple of days, but only checking the hull required the dry dock. The rest they just needed to buy the materials for and could easily be done on the ocean. Alex had already put in the order for the materials. Once they were delivered and the hull check and repair was complete, they'd be leaving. The Captain did not want to tangle with the marines or risk an army of reinforcements coming after them. Not yet, at least.

-----Line Break-----

“What the hell do you mean you won't let us leave?”

Peter glared at the clerk behind the counter for the dry dock's office. The man, now shivering in fear under Peter's glare, had just refused to open the gates and let the ocean in so they could leave.

“I-I'm sorry sure, but it's order from Captain Morgan! He sent word that you're not allowed to leave until he gives the say so!” the man explained while cowering.

Peter gave the man one last glare before turning on his heels and leaving the office. He was already trying to decide on which course of action he wanted to take. He could either wait and see what happened, or he could blast the gates open and leave. Either way he was one hundred percent certain he could be getting a bounty afterward.

His decision was made for him when he arrived back at the ship and Mera came up to him, “Captain, two Marine ships have left the main docks and are headed this way.”

Peter nodded firmly, “Right. ALEX! Have the crew prepare for battle!” While Alex issued orders and the non-combatants took cover below deck to handle the cannons, Peter got Domino's attention, “Domino, blow the gates and get this dock flooded.”

Domino sported a grin as she drew her revolver, yes it was hers now, and made her way to the stern of the ship. She happily loaded an explosive shell into one of the chambers before taking aim and firing it. The sound of the gunshot was nothing compared to the sound of the explosion. A massive force of fire and pressure was unleashed when the bullet collided with the large gates holding the ocean back. The blast was so powerful it obliterated the gates and a good portion of the walls surrounding the dry dock.

Peter couldn't help wondering if the explosive power was maybe a bit too much... Then again, he did enjoy the sound of Domino's joyful laughter at the destruction and mayhem she caused.

With the gates no longer holding it back, the ocean came flooding into the dry dock and quickly filled it, lifting the ship up and allowing it to float once more. Peter turned to Mera, “Mind giving us a push so we can get out of here faster?”

Mera nodded and jumped over the side of the ship and into the ocean. Just a few moments later the ship was moving backward and out of the flooded dry dock. Mera was by far the physically strongest among the crew and it showed as she moved the whole ship by herself.

Sooner than would have otherwise been possible, they were out on the ocean and facing the two incoming Marine ships. For the two full days the ship had been in the dry dock they had been left alone. Peter did not think it a coincidence that the Marines set sail on the same day they were scheduled to leave.

Peter stared at the approaching ships feeling a swirling mixture of emotions. There was some fear in there. He knew, objectively, that he was highly unlikely to die, but that fear hadn't gone away even with his eternal youth, massive healing factor, and other tweaks that should keep him alive through almost anything. He'd been in quite a few street fights, but that was noting compared to this. But then that just led to thoughts of an even worse fate, being captured. He could easily imagine how the Marine leadership would torture him to get all of his secrets and use them for themselves. There was fear for his crew and what could happen to them too given their varied abilities. Poor Momo would be tortured and forced to work just like himself, if captured.

But, far more than fear, there was excitement. He had an amazing crew. He had a good ship. He had power that only veterans of the first half of the Grand Line could comprehend. Perhaps most importantly, he had a dream that he would do anything to see through to the end. He was firm in his resolve and would not quake before his enemies in fear. He would control and use his fears to push himself to be better but he refused to allow his fears to control him.

A booming voice echoed over the ocean as The Coming Storm faced the two oncoming Marine ships, “You, pirates! Surrender and prepare to be boarded! Failure to comply will result in your swift deaths!”

Peter turned to look at his crew, “What do you guys think, should we surrender?”

The scoffs, smirks, and head shakes were all he needed to see. His gaze shifted to Domino while his lips curled into a smirk, “Open fire.”

Domino and everyone else laughed as she casually strolled up to the bow, her hips swaying playfully, as she casually draws the revolver and loads all six chambers with explosive rounds. She aims in the general direction of the ships charging toward them but doesn't aim at anything specific, letting her 'instincts' guide her shots. In an less than a second she fires three shots at each ship.

Six massive explosions rock the pair of ships. Both ships bows had been reduced to splinters stopping them cold as they started taking on water. Both ships would sink in a matter of minutes or less. Domino blew on the tip of the barrel before holstering her gun and taking a bow toward the crew, “Man I'm good.”

That earned her some polite clapping and light cheers from the others. They didn't get to celebrate for long as an inarticulate scream of rage sounded from one of the ships. They all watched as a blur shot into the air and began running through the sky toward them, “You filthy pirates will pay with your lives for the humiliation I have suffered!”

The man came crashing down onto the deck of the ship. When Peter got his first look at the man, he couldn't help but be reminded of the Captain Morgan that Luffy ran into. The two men didn't look much alike, aside from being tall and muscular, but it did make Peter wonder just how many Morgans joined the Marines and became Captains. Still, the Captain Morgan he got was clearly significantly stronger than the one Luffy got, after all, his knew two forms from the Rokushiki, Soru and now Geppo.

Morgan glared at Peter and his crew, his eyes bloodshot and veins standing out clearly on his tanned skin, “You bastards are all under arrest. Surrender now and I may be lenient.” He gave them a cruel smile, “Or don't. I would prefer that.”

He curled his hands into fists so tight his knuckles cracked. It was clear to everyone that he wanted a fight to vent his anger. Peter though, turned to the side ignoring him to speak to the others, “There's only one of him and five of us.” He looked at Domino, “You don't count since you got to blow up his ships.” That drew a pout from her but he moved on, “Rock, paper, scissors to see who gets first dibs?”

The already pronounced veins on Morgan's head became even thicker as he clenched his jaw and his anger grew from the disrespect he was being shown. He was a true captain, trained in the forms of the Rokushiki and only held back by his lack of accomplishments. Originally, he had planned to just take the women to sell as slaves and kill the men. It was a little side gig of his that let him live the life he felt he deserved. Who cared if a few pretty girls went missing every now and then? Pirates kidnapped people all the time, after all.

But now, now he was not only furious, but he saw an opportunity for a promotion. Whatever they had used to sink his ships, it was powerful, if he could beat the secret out of them, his promotion would be guaranteed! He would have to make sure to leave at least one of them alive to interrogate... maybe two or three, but the men had to die for sure!

Unable to take the disrespect being shown to him by the pirate scum, he whipped out his sword and charged with a battle shout. His target? The bastard that dared to make the choice of who would fight him into a children's game! None of them were worthy of fighting him, he would strike them all down! Even in his rage he kept proper form as he lashed out with his sword, aiming to remove the man's head from his shoulders in a single strike.

A loud clang of metal striking metal rang out as Morgan's attack was stopped cold. Morgan glared at the, admittedly beautiful, petite blonde woman whose green eyes were narrowed in anger. Of concern to Morgan was the fact that his arm was shaking as he tried to exert more force while the woman's was rock steady. She gave a powerful shove of Korikiru that forced him back a couple of steps.

Artoria separated from the rest of the group, having just won the game a moment before Morgan had attacked. She glared at the coward that would attempt to sneak attack her Captain. She held Korikiru in one hand, though she felt a two handed sword would fit her better. Her glare never strayed from Morgan as she addressed him with disdain coloring her voice, “Attacking a man from behind, coward. I did not wish to believe the tales the Captain told us of the cowardice and corruption of the arbiters of justice. Clearly, he was correct. Now, prepare yourself. I am Artoria Pendragon and I will be your opponent!”

Morgan growled out, “I will not be talked down to by pirate scum!”

Artoria scoffed and didn't bother pointing out that it was his actions alone that had them acting like and being labeled as pirates. Clearly the mans intelligence was lacking. When she didn't reply, he gave a shout and charged at her. Their blades clashed and it became a display of skill for the pair. It was clear that even though Morgan was scum, he was skilled and well trained scum.

When he saw standard sword work wasn't going to put Artoria down, he jumped back to make some space before instantly using Soru to try and surprise her. Instead, he was the one left shocked when not only did Artoria block his 'surprise' attack, but countered by using Soru herself to come at him from a different angle. Morgan was immediately put off balance by the shock of seeing a 'pirate' use the Marine's well guarded secret move, “How did you do that?! I thought Monoske was lying to cover his failure when he said one of you used Soru to defeat him!”

Artoria didn't deign him with a response. Instead, she upped her usage of Soru and put Morgan firmly on the back foot. It happened in an instant. Artoria knocked Morgan's sword out of position before her sword came down slicing him across the chest from shoulder to hip.

Morgan fell to the ground, blood pouring from the deep cut. He stared up at the sky, unable to comprehend how he could have possibly lost while his body went into shock from blood loss.

Peter calmly walked over to the dying man and assessed the situation. To others Morgan would have been moments from death. For Peter? He had all the time in the world. Hell, he could let the man actually die and wouldn't have much trouble bringing him back. At least, as long as he was only dead for a couple of hours or so. Once decomposition kicked in there was nothing even he could do about it. So, Peter calmly watched as the light faded from Morgan's eyes and his chest no longer rose and fell with his breath.

The moment Morgan died, Peter got to work. The first thing he did was pull out a strong healing potion that he proceeded to pour over the chest wound. The wound hissed and steamed but closed rapidly until the only sign of the wound were the slashed clothing and puddle of blood.

For the next step, he pulled out a vial filled with a clear potion. Despite its harmless watery look, the potion he held was one of the most insidious ones he'd brewed. He'd dubbed it his 'interrogation' potion, but in reality it was a mind control potion so strong it made the Imperious Curse from Harry Potter look tame in comparison. On top of the mind control, it also erased the memories of the imbiber once the effect was removed, which could only be done by a counter potion.

He forced Morgan's mouth open and poured the potion into it where it was immediately absorbed into the skin. No swallowing required. Lastly he pulled out a syringe filled with a green liquid. He slammed the syringe down and injected the potion directly into Morgan's heart. The result was instant as Morgan's body shot up and inhaled a deep breath. Morgan looked all around until his eyes landed on Peter, “Master.”

Peter grinned and issued his first order while gesturing to Alex, “Obey all commands given to you by Alex as if they were my own.” He turned to Alex, “Milk him for everything he knows on combat, training, and Marine tactics.”

After Alex nodded in acceptance of his orders, Peter made his way up to the wheel where Mera had been standing and keeping watch of the sinking Marine ships. The Marine's aboard were too busy trying to swim to shore to worry about them anymore. All-in-all, he thought their first battle had gone rather well.

Though, he couldn't help wondering what their bounties would look like.

-----Line Break-----

AN

A nice 10k words for this one. Can you guys tell I'm enjoying myself with this one?

Let me know what you think of this chapter and the events within!