Chapter 15: Ship

Midpoint Island, West Blue.

Inside the Azure Blue Co. building. Mizuki leaned forward on the counter, talking to Penelope with a smile, while Ulysses stood in the back, waiting for their conversation to end.

"So how have you guys been?" Mizuki asked.

"Wonderful, thanks to Ulysses of course, without him, we'd be in trouble," Penelope replied.

"Yeah, don't mind his cold attitude, he's just shy," Mizuki pointed back at Ulysses with her thumb.

Ulysses's face cringed hearing her words, but he suppressed himself and kept a straight face.

"Ah, he's shy? That's alright," Penelope nodded in understanding.

"So, how is our caravel going?" Mizuki asked about the ship.

It had been two days since they ordered the medium quality caravel ship from Azure Blue Co. Since then, the two had just been sulking over the town bored out of their minds. Though Midpoint Island was a decent area, it was lackluster compared to the grandness of the sea.

"Your caravel is finished!" Penelope replied happily.

"Oh? We can take it out?" Mizuki's eyes lit up.

"Yep," Penelope nodded.

Alec and Enkiri suddenly came through the door and walked to the counter. They greeted Ulysses and Mizuki with a wave.

"Yo, we'll show you the ship," Alec gestured for them to follow.

Enkiri went up ahead and opened the door for the three, while Penelope stayed at the counter with a smile. Ulysses and Mizuki followed behind Alec and went out to the shipyard, where there were numerous ship frameworks.

Alec and Enkiri lead the way and they eventually came to a standard black and brown ship. The ship was quite big compared to Mizuki's old ship, and had two giant sails. However, there were no cannons or special designs, which was something Ulysses liked.

"It's your ship!" Alec exclaimed.

"Yeah, we made it the best we could!" Enkiri added.

"Wow! Thanks guys!" Mizuki gave the two a smile.

"Nice aesthetics," Ulysses commented.

"We thought you'd like it," Alec and Enkiri responded.

"We have a lounge, bedroom, kitchen, restroom, storage room, pretty much everything you need for your travels at sea," the two described the interior of the ship.

Ulysses listened idly. He didn't care much about the luxuries of a ship, and just wanted a faster ship. That being said, he didn't understand how the ship even worked with all those rooms.

"How fast would you say it is?" Mizuki asked.

"Fast as a caravel can get!" Alec and Enkiri lifted their noses in pride.

"Ulysses, wanna check the interiors?" Mizuki asked.

"Alright, sure," Ulysses hopped onto the ship and went inside.

Meanwhile, watching from above was President Kennel, who was gauging their reactions. Besides him were the two middle-aged men from before that protected the building, Manuel and Charles. The two also looked at their reactions and lifted their noses in pride.

"Heh, what would you expect from our handiwork," Manuel looked smug.

"They're amazed at our work," Charles nodded.

President Kennel's eyes were fixed on Ulysses. The power and speed that Ulysses had shown that day enthralled him. Building a ship for a figure like that, was both an honor and a stain on their reputation, who knows how they would act with the ship of Azure Blue Co.

"I hope he likes it," President Kennel remarked as he turned back and went to his chair.

"President Kennel, why wouldn't he like it? We put in a lot of effort on that ship, y'know," Manuel suddenly groaned in pain.

The bullet that day, though it didn't hit any vitals, it was still an uncomfortable feeling for a man in his 40s.

Mizuki went around in the ship, tugging Ulysses by the sleeve to check out all the rooms. It was her first time being able to freely roam on a 'luxurious' ship like the one they were in. The two checked all the rooms, and Ulysses grew increasingly fascinated with how the ship worked.

"How are these lights powered?" he asked.

"Dunno," Mizuki replied.

"How does this kitchen work?" he asked.

"Dunno," Mizuki replied.

"How does this toilet work?" he asked.

'Dunno," Mizuki replied.

Ulysses's face scrunched up at Mizuki's replies. Wasn't she supposed an expert? How the hell did this ship function at all?! He scratched his head in frustration as he was led around by Mizuki.

The two eventually finished touring the ship and came up. They leaped off the deck and stood in front of Alec and Enkiri.

"Not bad," Ulysses commented.

"He means to say that it's really nice," Mizuki followed up and 'corrected' Ulysses with a bright smile.

Alec and Enkiri's noses pointed higher as their pride swelled. As shipwrights, their work was their blood, and to be praised was bliss. They both nodded incessantly at Mizuki's words, and Ulysses and Mizuki casually passed the two.

"H-hey, where are you two going?" Alec and Enkiri asked.

"Getting food and supplies, we're not sailing like that," Ulysses said as he walked away.

"R-right," Alec and Enkiri scratched their head in embarrassment.

A while later, Ulysses and Mizuki came back to the ship with bags of food and supplies. Alec and Enkiri were nowhere to be seen, so Ulysses and Mizuki just hopped onto the ship. They had already paid the money, and they had already gotten the supplies. There was no need to wait.

Ulysses went inside the ship and put the food into the storage room. Their food consisted of cheese, salted meat, vegetables, and some fresh meat. They wouldn't be out in sea for too long, so spoiled food was not a problem.

He came out and laid out on the deck. The ship was much more spacious than the last one. Though it didn't really matter to Ulysses. All it mattered was how fast it could go.

"Ready to set sail?~" Mizuki asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright then, hold up," Mizuki unraveled the map she took from her own ship.

The map outlined the entire West Blue, or what was just common knowledge among the people. She looked at the map for a bit before making up her mind.

"Alright, it'll take us maybe 4 days to get there, so we have a day to stop by at islands," she calculated.

"Sounds fine to me," Ulysses replied nonchalantly.

"By the way, what is Deadman's Island? The name sounds pretty unique," he asked.

"Deadman's Island is a completely barren island, devoid of life. People who end up stranded on it inevitably die. In fact, it's practically a patch of sand," Mizuki explained.

"Why would the Tiger Pirates want us to meet there?" Ulysses wondered.

"Because hardly anybody visits it, so it's gonna be a secretive meeting," she answered.

"What are they trying to achieve with a coalition?"

"With a coalition, they can easily overpower any opponents that might be too strong for them in the Grand Line. It's said that pirates in the Grand Line are far beyond any from the Blue Seas."

"The Grand Line has very strong pirates?" Ulysses asked.

"The strongest in the world," Mizuki nodded.

"Really..." Ulysses contemplated.

"Hmm?" Mizuki noticed that he was in a daze.

"It's nothing," Ulysses brushed her off.

The ship began to move north. At first, Ulysses felt no difference in the speed, and he groaned at the waste of time that the trip had been. But then, somehow, the ship began to sail faster, and faster, much faster than the ship before.

Ulysses, who was clueless about how ships worked, was surprised. The ship hardly looked that advanced, yet the speed was in a completely different league compared to Mizuki's old one.

"Are you sure that it'll still take us four days to arrive?" Ulysses wondered.

"Give or take, yes. I assumed that the caravel would be roughly fifty percent faster than our old one," Mizuki nodded.

"Huh," Ulysses looked at Mizuki blankly.

"What is it?" Mizuki noticed his gaze.

"How'd you know that?" he asked curiously.

"I told you, I've read a lot of books," Mizuki pointed her nose up proudly.

"What kind of book did you read to know how fast a ship you've never sailed on is?" Ulysses's face scrunched up.

"Ship knowledge is common knowledge for anyone trying to sail," Mizuki chuckled.

Ulysses's face heated up a bit. He had no idea how things like shipbuilding worked, so he resolved himself in his mind to get caught up with Mizuki on common knowledge. He scratched his cheek a bit as he laid out on the deck.

"Are you embarrassed?~" Mizuki giggled at Ulysses's actions.

"A little..." Ulysses gave a few fake coughs.

The atmosphere was weird and the two remained silent for a while. Ulysses blankly stared at the sky, while Mizuki looked for natural landmarks for their journey. Out of the blue, Ulysses broke the ice.

"Mizuki, do you know how to fight?" Ulysses asked.

"A bit~ I'm definitely not strong as you though," she answered.

"When we part ways after we deal with the Tiger Pirates, I want you to be safe," Ulysses spoke softly.

"I'll teach you the basics of haki," he suddenly stood up.

"W-wha~ haki? You're on about that again?" Mizuki was a bit flustered.

"Haki is very much a real thing and a necessity for combat," Ulysses stretched his limbs.

"Why have I never heard of it?" Mizuki was confused.

"I don't know, maybe your books didn't cover it," Ulysses scoffed as he took off his trenchcoat.

"I'll just teach you the fundamentals, and you should be good."

"Alright..." Mizuki nodded.

Though she wasn't sure what Haki was all about, knowing Ulysses's strength, and seeing his emphasis on Haki, it definitely had to be important. She glanced at him to see what he would do.

"The first Haki is Armament Haki," Ulysses spread out his fingers.

"You can't perceive it right now, but surrounding me is a coat of Armament Haki, which makes me much more durable and stronger," Ulysses waved his hand.

"Ok," Mizuki gave him a weird look.

"The next level would be hardening, which is this," Ulysses's hand suddenly became black with a glossy look.

"What?!" Mizuki's eyes bulged.

One moment, his hand was all normal, the next moment, it turned completely black. He wasn't kidding!

"Hardening is like an upgrade of normal Armament Haki, there isn't much of a difference there. The next level after that is the highest I know of, and is on a different level. I won't show it to you to not overwhelm you," Ulysses spoke like an expert.

"The second type of Haki is Observation Haki. I can't demonstrate it without an opponent, but think of it as perceiving your opponent's intents and actions. At the highest level that I know of for this, it's possible to see into the future," he continued his lecture.

"Any questions?" Ulysses paused.

"Uh... no, keep going," Mizuki listened to Ulysses's words.

"The way to train this is a bit weird, but trust me on this. You will need to first perceive the flow of your spiritual energy inside your body."

Ulysses's eyes shifted to the distance, where a ship was rapidly approaching the two. Compared to the shabby appearance of Mizuki's old ship, the new caravel was in another level. Pirates would definitely be enticed when they notice a high grade ship with only two people.

"Perceive the flow of spiritual energy?" Mizuki was even more confused.

"Yes. That's the hardest part, once you can do that, then everything else is much simpler. It's ideal to be in nature for training Haki though," Ulysses shrugged.

"I'll show you what Haki can do on those bunch," he pointed to the Jolly Roger in the distance.

"Erm. Alright," Mizuki wasn't sure of what to think.

Wouldn't he just kill them all in an instant?

As the ship drew close enough for Mizuki to observe their fight, Ulysses hopped over, drawing cries from crew members. They were a standard pirate crew, the pirate captain had a very pompous appearance as he stepped forward with a bejeweled cutlass.

"Surrender! And we will give you mercy!" he said haughtily.

"Mizuki, observe carefully," Ulysses ignored the pirate captain.

The crew members surrounded Ulysses and had their swords up. They were ready to strike at the captain's order.

"Fool! Then die! Kill him!" the pirate captain ordered angrily.

"This is Armament Haki!" Ulysses exclaimed as he spread his arms, allowing himself to be attacked.

"Ulysses!" Mizuki jolted at his actions.

However, when the swords struck Ulysses and cut down, there was no blood nor cut. The swords were unable to penetrate Ulysses, despite him spreading his arms and allowing them to attack him.

"W-wha?!"

"Devil Fruit user?!"

"Attack!"

"Attack!"

The men jolted in surprise when they couldn't push the blade down any further against Ulysses's skin. They wildly swung their swords around, striking Ulysses from all directions, but Ulysses remained calm and even grinned. To the pirates, it was as if they were trying to cut diamond!

"So that's what he means by Armament Haki..." Mizuki calmed down after seeing that the swords had no effect.

The pirate captain, who was watching from a few feet away, was shaking in anger and fear.

"Attack! Attack him more, you fools!" he roared.

"Mizuki, this next one will be Observation Haki!" Ulysses yelled out.

Mizuki nodded as she looked on at the show. Ulysses was demonstrating the effects of a strong Haki to her, and she was taking mental notes.

Ulysses started to move, however, his moment was very slow, as if he was in slow-motion. Despite that, all of the pirates's attack began to miss. As if they were intentionally attacking the air.

"What are you bastards doing?! Attack him!" the captain was furious at his crew playing around.

"We are!"

"He's a freak!"

"I'm not fighting this!"

The pirates were truly not trying to miss Ulysses. They attacked quickly, but once they attacked, it was nearly impossible to change their trajectory. Ulysses was clearly moving far ahead of them, and it freaked the men out.

"I believe that's enough to show you," Ulysses looked over at Mizuki.

Mizuki nodded. He was clearly moving so slow that even a child would be able to hit him. But he was able to easily evade all of the pirate's attacks. His words about being able to see into the future were true.

"There is a last one that I haven't talked about yet. It's extremely rare, and it is an inherent trait. The third type of Haki, Conqueror's Haki!" an invisible wave swept over the pirates.

The invisible waves smashed against the deck and rims of the ship, causing the ship to take damage as fractures appeared. The eyes of the pirates around him, including the pirate captain, turned blank as they fell down unconscious.

"Get stronger, Mizuki," Ulysses unsheathed his sword and began to behead the bodies.