52 Chapter 52 - Mysterious Island 6.
[Chapter Size: 2641 Words.]
Third Person POV
On island in the sea, East Blue.
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Luffy noted his gains. An unknown Devil Fruit, shaped like an apple with three colors: red, blue, and white. Last but not least, two Poneglyphs that he somehow managed to shrink for compactness. Luffy was sure that he could describe what that strange fruit was and its story of how it ended up there, along with some mysterious history, but that would have to wait.
"I'll have to ask Robin when we get to Alabasta. For now, it's better not to consume the fruit since it's not described in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia. But it's clear that it's special; otherwise, the government wouldn't have been searching for it for centuries. I'll have to figure out what it does and then give it to whoever is most suitable for this fruit before having someone from the crew eat it," Luffy concluded and moved on to the next treasure.
An enormous amount of gold that he absorbed into the system. [Shop Money: 7,920,000,000 Berries.]
"That's a lot, a whole lot of money!" Luffy was in awe of the immense wealth he had acquired on this ship inside the cave. Nami still wept for all those mountains of money disappearing from one moment to the next, thanks to Luffy and his sorcery.
"I don't want to waste any more time here. We've explored the whole place; now let's move forward because I know you all have questions, and I want to explain some things to you," Luffy said, prompting everyone to follow quickly. There were many questions, but he promised to answer them all, so everyone waited.
Soon, they exited the cave. With Luffy removing the key, the doors began to close, and they continued through the forest toward the beach.
"Hm? Looks like Lami is here too," Yamato said after a while as everyone approached the beach. They were already at the last trees, and soon they spotted the Marine ship with a boat beside it and a massive empty raft. Lami and Bepo were waiting for them.
As the group approached them, Lami broke the silence first. "I was ready to go after you; it was quite boring here." Lami lamented and looked at the group, not recognizing Jhonny, Yosaku, and Reiju.
"You guys seem to have left some behind, but still, the group has increased even more," Lami said with a smile, as the strange couple was nowhere to be found, but the number of people did not decrease.
"New companions!?" Bepo exclaimed beside her.
"A talking bear!" Jhonny and Yosaku said simultaneously, surprised.
"What a strange group..." Reiju found these people increasingly peculiar, and their numbers seemed to be growing even more.
Lami looked at the woman she didn't know, and somehow, when their eyes met, it seemed like sparks flew between them. It looked like, from that moment on, they would be sworn enemies.
Luffy looked at that a bit worried, but before he could say anything, someone shouted, "Wait! You're that woman with the bear from the newspaper!" Jhonny shouted strangely, recognizing Lami now along with Bepo.
"You guys are the new bounty hunters from the East Blue! We're your fans after you took down Buggy the clown!" They shouted in unison.
"They're not our companions, right?" Lami asked with a grimace at this strange duo that was screaming in admiration for her, ignoring her words.
"No, they're just accompanying us like Kuina," Luffy said, smiling.
"I see. Anyway, it looks like you guys have been through some things," Lami commented, observing the remaining excitement of some with gold adorning everything they could, while others seemed to be in a state of depression, like Nami in a corner with tears since they left that cave, even though she had three bags of gold behind her.
"Oh, and did you get the money for Kuro and his crew?" Luffy asked.
"Yes, 16 million for the captain and his crew. But the Marines were bothering us this time, especially the base commander, as he wanted me to join under his command, and Morgan's newspaper wanted to schedule an interview. Like, I'm just handing over pirates; I don't know why I'm getting so much attention..." Lami complained to Luffy.
"It doesn't seem like much, really..." Reiju scoffed in a mocking tone.
"What did you say?!" Lami didn't like what the pink-haired woman said, even though she seemed to have some logic in her words. For some reason, Lami didn't like it when it came out of her mouth.
Meanwhile, Bepo took a bag of berries from the boat and placed it in front of Luffy.
"There are 25 million, Captain!" Bepo said.
"That's good, even more than Buggy," Luffy commented, making the money disappear, and Nami, seeing this, cried even more.
"Kuro?! You captured Kuro? Is he still alive?" Yosaku said admirably, now recognizing the conversation between them.
"You're amazing, Sister Lami!" Jhonny said, causing Lami to grimace again.
"It wasn't Lami who caught him... He was killed by Usopp," Luffy clarified.
"BROTHER USOPP?!" Both bounty hunters exclaimed in surprise.
"Of course, it was me!" Usopp said proudly, not wanting to dwell on the fact that he almost died on that occasion.
"Wait, wait a minute! Lami is handing over a pirate crew you captured?" Jhonny asked strangely.
"Even that old clown, Luffy-sama beat him, and Lami-Sama traded him for berries," Shirahoshi said.
"Why are you all looking at me like that? Lami is a crew member," Luffy said calmly, making the bounty hunters understand the situation, but they were still no less surprised, as it was quite shocking.
Lami was someone they had come to admire as the best in the area in this sea when it came to hunting pirates. Even though the first capture was Buggy, it was unprecedented for someone to hand over a pirate to the Marines with more than 10 million in many years.
"Anyway, is there anyone else to hand over? You mentioned there would be two more pirate groups before we go to the Grand Line," Lami asked, and Luffy confirmed.
"Yes, but before that, let's talk. We have a crew meeting now, and with you, it would save me time to explain things later!" Luffy said, looking at everyone after they paid attention to him when he said those words.
"As you know, we got this Devil Fruit," Luffy announced, holding up the fruit for everyone to see as it increased in size in front of them.
"Do you know what its effect is?" Lami asked curiously.
"No, there are no records in the encyclopedia, and it seems that it hasn't had a user for a few hundred years or maybe more than that," Luffy said, raising many eyebrows.
"And who's going to eat it? Or are we going to sell it?" Reiju asked.
"The only clue is the Poneglyph, here," Luffy showed the miniatures of the stones to everyone.
"This language is forbidden! No one knows it, and the government would hunt us down like dogs if they knew you have it in your hands," Lami warned severely as soon as she noticed the gravity of the situation.
"We'll be hunted by the World Government?!"
"What?!"
"Sharky!"
"This is too dangerous, Captain! I'm sorry!"
"There's no way the government doesn't know about this is with us, and even if they did, we won't be afraid of them!" Luffy spoke confidently and continued.
"Regarding what's written here, there must be many people who know this language, but the vast majority must be scholars under the control of the World Government to read these words. However, there is one person outside their control who has this kind of knowledge, and her name is Nico Robin, whom I intend to find in Alabasta to discover something real about the fruit and the story behind it before deciding who should eat it," Luffy said, and everyone understood.
Although some doubts arose in the minds of those who had known the woman known as the Devil's Child for over 20 years, about how Luffy knew her whereabouts, no one raised more questions about it.
"Now, about the treasure, about the pile of gold we found, there were almost 8 billion berries in that place..."
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The place fell silent after these words. No one could believe what they heard or were still trying to process this information in the wake of Luffy's words moments ago. They knew it was a lot, a lot of gold, but hearing this was too shocking.
"Are you saying there was more than 7 billion in gold in that place?" Kuina said, looking lost.
"7 billion, almost 8 billion..." Nami said, looking like a dead fish.
"It's just gold..." Zoro scoffed. He never cared much for money, no more than he needed, of course.
"Au?"
"It's just gold, he says..." Usopp commented, looking lost.
"Sharky?"
"Papa never talked about money, so I don't know, Megalo, but it seems like a lot of money, I guess," Shirahoshi said.
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"ALMOST 8 BILLION!!!!!!!" The collective scream was heard throughout the island again.
Even Lami and Bepo were stunned, wondering how the crew managed to get so much money while they were away. They knew there was a lot of money, but this amount was so absurd that while Lami, Reiju, and Kuina seemed stunned, Nami, Usopp, Jhonny, Yosaku, and Bepo had looks as if life no longer existed. Shirahoshi, Megalo, and Yamato just looked curiously, and Zoro and Chouchou didn't seem to care.
"There was this money, but I've already spent all the money while we were coming to the beach..." Luffy announced, earning even more astonished looks.
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"Luffy... How did you spend almost 8 billion on this path from the cave to the beach, which lasted only an hour?" Nami asked in a lifeless tone.
She seemed unable to bear it anymore and flew at Luffy with so much anger that it didn't even seem like her captain was a monster. The punches hit Luffy with all the force of the girl, but it only made Nami cry as she tried to alleviate the pain in her fists after connecting them with Luffy's tough skin.
"Hahahaha. Let me explain first." Luffy ignored the fact that Nami tried to hit him and continued with a cheerful laugh.
"I have a special ability, which everyone deserves to know. I have a power that can exchange berries for other items at market prices." Luffy said, and extending his hand, a white Devil Fruit with green stripes appeared in the shape of an orange with wings.
"I traded most of the money for this fruit." Luffy said, showing the fruit.
Everyone, without exception, looked curiously at this Devil Fruit.
"What kind of fruit is it?" Lami asked.
"It's not one you know or is in the encyclopedia, but it's more expensive than your Ope-Ope no Mi." Luffy smiled.
"What, is it worth more than 4.5 billion?!" Lami exclaimed in amazement now.
"4.5 billion? Luffy, you spent more than that on this fruit?!" Nami shouted at Luffy, but didn't try to hit him this time, as it didn't yield much result last time, but she had no less desire to do so.
"Yes, I bought it because I know it will be useful, since this fruit will be yours." Luffy said, turning to Nami, who still held his hand in pain, and showed her the fruit, leaving her stunned.
"What are you saying?! Are you going to give it to me?!" Nami was speechless after that question.
"Yes, I was thinking of the best way to deal with Arlong. I came to the conclusion that you should do it with your own hands, so I spent 5 billion on this fruit. I already intended to give it to you anyway when I had the money, so it just came earlier than I imagined. With it, you will be one of the most powerful in the group once you consume it." Luffy spoke.
"5 billion Luffy, you can't give me this! It's too much money!" Nami may love money, but she knows her place when she needs to. 5 billion is an amount she never dreamed of having in her life, but now, this man she decided to call captain said he would free her land with something so valuable; he was giving her such a precious gift.
"I've already decided, it's yours." Luffy smiled.
"But what about the others? Why give me this power when others might be more useful than me...?" Nami insisted.
"Don't worry, I have this book, which I bought for another 2 billion. It's a manual of the Six Styles of the Navy, and it's not just any, but the best in the world, used only by the elite of the World Government." Luffy said, showing a decorated and protected book cover.
"2 billion?! What are these Six Styles?" Kuina was the first to ask, making Luffy earn more curious looks.
"Incredible Luffy, you got that!" Lami said with an admiring look, as she knows a bit about these techniques, just as Reiju knows a bit from the time of Germa.
"Is it that amazing?" Zoro asked with curiosity.
"These Six Styles are powerful techniques used by the elite of the Navy and World Government. There are many useful techniques; one of them is that you can step on the air as if it were solid ground. You can practically fly with your jumps." Reiju said.
"Now, eat this, Nami." Luffy said, handing the fruit to Nami.
"I..."
"Just eat, no one will complain... Don't you want the power to avenge your mother?" Luffy asked. He knew that no one would mind all that treasure being invested in a fruit in Nami's hands, and even if someone complained, he wouldn't care, as he is the captain and decided so.
"...Yes, you're right..." Nami finally said, reaching out and eating the fruit at that moment.
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"What a terrible taste!" Nami almost spat out everything she put in her mouth, but seeing that she was eating 5 billion berries, she quickly put the whole fruit in her mouth and tried not to vomit in the next moment. Her captain smiled at this and announced.
"Congratulations, Nami, you ate the Eikon Eikon no Mi, Model: Garuda!" Luffy said happily and looked at Nami's status in the system.
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[Nami] (Navigator)
Devil Fruit: None -> Eikon Eikon no Mi, Model: Garuda - E
Vitality – E -> C
Strength – E -> C
Defense – E -> C
Speed - E -> B
Spirit – C -> B
(– As a member of his crew, all of her talents increase by 100%)
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System rules - The ranking level of the system works from the letter E to EX; this is the mortal limit, which is understood within this classification from lowest to highest, just below.
{ E -> D -> C -> B -> A -> S -> SS -> SSS -> EX }
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Author's note:
* There's no Sanji to fight with Zoro, so the quarrelsome duo of the group will be Reiju and Lami. It might seem strange, but it's a reality that often women don't like each other at first sight.
* Nami had a development from one of the weakest to even standing up to Lami. I thought this was the ideal initial development after she ate a Mythical Zoan fruit. Among the physical attributes, speed increased the most, as Garuda controls the wind. After this development, Nami will be more combative and reliable in the story. (These are her physical abilities; in the final form, she transforms into a creature of 50 meters.)
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