7 Chapter 7

Ikari and his crew of four trekked the swampy land. They proceeded to tread through the marshes and arrived at the town. "Willow Town" they read the sign above their heads.

"We should split up to cover all bases before dawn. Bepo and I will handle the supply stocks for the ship and the next voyage to the next island." Law volunteered.

"Shachi and I will look for maps we can find. Maybe we could buy or steal a map about the grand line." Penguin had his arms around Shachi.

"Then, we'll split up. Be sure to meet up here before dawn." Ikari reminded as they split up.

...

Shachi walked around the town with his brother Penguin. "We should try the brothel," he said with a knowing smile.

Penguin bashed his foolish brother's head. "You idiot. I also want to visit the girls... But we should search for a map and info about the grand line first."

They glanced at each other for a while and suddenly laughed. "Ha Ha Ha! you almost had me! almost!" Shachi slapped his thighs as he laughed.

Penguin smirked. "We should be quick then. Ikari might roast us to death." he shivered. "Ah. It was because you sneaked out of the dojo! Sensei must have known that we went out to the brothel." Shachi grimaced.

They strolled with their arms around each other's shoulders. "We are on our way to the whores..." they sing along the way.

"We're finally here," Shachi said. "Our safe haven! Our lust shall be our undoing." Penguin added.

...

Back to Law and Bepo,

The man and mink entered a tavern. Their entrance was nothing amazing. No glances and silence. "This place is lively." described Bepo.

Law made his way to the counter. "Hey, bartender. I would have some rum." he looked at Bepo who shook his head. "And one water for Bepo."

The bartender stared at Bepo. "Hmm. Are you paying? or the bear?" he jokingly said with a chuckle on the side.

"I have a name!" he yelled in frustration. "Every time, every damn time!" Bepo slammed his paw with an electric surge at the counter and left a burnt mark. "We're mink! Do you understand? And I can fucking talk!"

The bartender gulped loudly. "Y–yes, sir. I meant, Bepo." he turned his back and trembled badly as he served them rum and water.

Law smirked at Bepo's outrage. "Ikari did one on you, huh. I thought you would be depressed or timid when he called you that."

Bepo angrily drank the water. "Captain said that I should man up! And I just did that. It feels liberating." a smile formed on his face, but the bartender only saw his deathly teeth and he paled.

...

Back to Shachi and Penguin,

Panting and moaning noises could be heard in the two occupied rooms adjacent to each other. Inside, Shachi finished on the woman and breathe out. "This is the life! ... Ikari should bring some girls on board the ship. It was boring sailing in the sea."

"You sail?" the girl asked. "My father used to be a pirate... Tch. The bastard never came back from the grand line."

Shachi perked his ears. "You mean that grand line? The pirate's graveyard, grand line?"

The girl raised her brows. "Yeah. I had my dad's records. He often mails us through the news coo seagulls with his great 'adventure'." she quote and quotes.

"How about we go to your place?" Shachi took out a jeweled ring he got from the pirates two days ago. "You give me the records, and you'll have this. He's a bastard, as you said."

The girl contemplated but gave out in the end. "I have a month's worth of income." she giggled. "Come with me."

Shachi slipped a note through his brother's door. "Let's go, baby." he grabbed the wench's buttocks.

Later that day, the two arrived at the girl's house. "I didn't quite catch your name yet." Shachi inquired.

She smiled. "I thought you'd never ask. Most men think with their dicks a lot of times. The name's Betty."

"A lovely name." he complimented. "I am not most men, I can tell ya that. You know what I mean." he winked. "I would have learned of your name one way or the other." he smiled.

Betty rolled her eyes. "It's in my room, I'll get it for you. Sit on the couch." she winked.

Shachi patiently waited. He heard footsteps descending from the stairs. "You got it?"

Betty pouted. "I may be a wench. But I ain't a thief." she puffed her large chest.

"And that is what I love about you." Shachi smooched her forehead as he gently snatched the pile of records. He checked it just in case. "I would love to stay the night. But my friend is likely in trouble." he waved goodbye.

Shachi safeguarded the records as he went back to the brothel. He knocked on the door and no one answered, unlocking the door. He only found an unconscious woman. "He would never hit a woman. Who did it?" He made up his mind to search for Ikari and find Penguin together.

Meanwhile, Law and Bepo already gathered their supplies. "This should last for a week even before making it to the next island." Bepo surmised.

Suddenly, they recognized an unconscious man being dragged from the ground. "That's Penguin, right?" Law asked to which Bepo nodded.

They saw a green-haired man with an earring on his right ear and he had a beer belly. "Hey!" called Law.

Coribou looked over his shoulder. "What?" he only got a fist filled with electricity and burnt part of his pale face. "What was that for!?" he aimed his Gatling gun at Bepo.

"Room! Shambles!" Law interchanged Coribou's Gatling gun with a stone on the ground. "Why did you drag Penguin?"

Coribou was bewildered as his gun was replaced with a stone. "This man is a sinner. Bro bro will kill him and I will be the one to bury him."

"Sinner?" muttered Bepo. "What did he do?"

"He defiled the word of god!" Coribou said fanatically. "Lusting over women! Unforgivable!"

Law and Bepo facepalmed. "You'll bury him because of that? But he's a friend of mine." Law sliced Coribou in half. "Don't bother reattaching yourself, it never works out."

Bepo carried the unconscious Penguin over his shoulder. "Captain will scold them."

"That's guaranteed." Law nodded.

The three arrived at the rendezvous. Bepo placed Penguin on the tree. They waited for ten minutes and Ikari with Shachi arrived.

"It looks like he's in good shape." Ikari assessed Penguin's situation. "Any problem with him, Law?"

Law shook his head. "He's just unconscious. Oh, now he's awake."

"Guaaaa!" Penguin exclaimed. "What are you guys doing here?" he looked left and right.

Shachi smacked his head. "You were gone from the brothel. The owner said that someone took you."

"I don't remember anything." he pressed his head. "Damn! Don't smack my head. I just woke up."

Ikari sensed someone approaching. He saw a man with wet-greased hair and a dark complexion. He was lean and sported an oversized sleeve.

"Kehihihi! Who did it to you, Coribou?" he asked the green-haired man.

"The white bear and the one with a hat," he told his brother. "Bro bro. We should kill them."

Ikari waved his hand. "It was just a misunderstanding. Your brother kidnapped my friend."

"Kehihihi! I don't care. You are sinners. I pray to god for forgiveness of these filthy scums. Caribou shall take yer heads!" he laughed maniacally. "Swamp Swamp Machine Gun!"

Ikari noticed that a Gatling gun suddenly emerged from Caribou's stomach. "A logia devil fruit user, huh." he parried the bullets using his sword while activating his observation and armament haki.

"Absolute Sun Sword Technique," Ikari immediately whisked toward Caribou.

Swoosh!

"Second Tempo, Blazing Inferno!" he slashed through Caribou's body. Ikari's Rain Moon Kitetsu caught flames due to the combustion of his devil fruit ability and armament haki.

Thud!

"How... How did you hurt me...?" Caribou bent a knee and looked at his gushing stomach. "Impossible! I am invincible, a logia!"

"There are things in the world that frogs in a well could not understand." Ikari walked back. "I'll spare you this time since your brother only knocked out my comrade... Your power is against the rule of nature, so it came back with a vengeance."

They walked onward on their ship as they heard Caribou's yell. "Please! Please take us with you. You opened my eyes, I thought that God gave me this ability to purge sinners. But you proved me wrong." his forehead kissed the marsh. "I devote my strength to you. Please let me join your crew!"

Ikari looked back, and he contemplated. "Okay, you can join. But always listen to my orders. Got it?"

"Got it!" Caribou smiled. "Can you also let my younger brother, Coribou, join? My grandma told us to stick together. I never broke our vow since she died."

Ikari sighed. "Be thankful for your grandma then. Sure, he can join us. I'll tell you the rules on my ship. Number 1, never betray your crewmate as we are brothers in arms. Number 2, we rob but never hurt innocent residents. Clear?"

"Crystal! Aye, Captain!" Caribou and Coribou answered.

"Law, treat his wound," Ikari said.

"No. It is okay." Caribou looked at his closed wound. "Your attack had flames so it closed the wound. Also, my devil fruit covered the injury."

"Still, it should be treated immediately. Room!" Law created a dome covering Caribou. "Scan!" he took out a needle. "It just needs a little stitching. Bandage. And done."

They walked back to the ship, Law, and Bepo handed their bags to Caribou as he can store them in his stomach. "Are you sure it will not go bad?" asked Bepo a second time. "Trust me. I stored food countless times using my devil fruit powers. They always come out fine, like really fine." Caribou assured the worried bear.

They eventually arrived at the shore and climbed on the ship. Caribou let the bags of food go from his stomach. "See, good as new." he licked his lips.

Ikari smiled and introduced the crew. "This is Bepo, the navigator. Law, our ship doctor. You met Penguin, he's our shipwright as he apprenticed from a local shipbuilder in his hometown. This is Shachi, just like his brother, he's also a shipwright slash cook on the ship. Welcome to our humble ship."

Caribou smiled at the ship. "This is a huge ship. Two mainmasts. So what's she called then?"

Ikari scratched the back of his head. "I forgot about that. What do you think? I think your first contribution would be the name of the ship."

Caribou whipped his long tongue on his lips. "Kehihihi! She is a beauty, that she is..." he sniffed the deck. "Her name shall be 'Sweet Caroline'." Caribou utilized his devil fruit power to mold a beautiful mermaid with the name of the ship.

Ikari smiled at his new comrade's antics. "Then, Her name shall be Sweet Caroline. Sachi, Penguin, and Coribou! Replace the figurehead with this beauty of a mermaid!" he patted Caribou's shoulder as they both admire the mermaid.