Arming an Army

"This is great news! Still, we would very much like your assistance in this endeavor! You as well, Law-dono! Facing Kaido and Orochi will be no easy task!" Kin'emon said.

"Ohh, that's right! Together with the samurai and the minks, we'll have a much easier time fighting one of the four emperors!" Usopp exclaimed.

"I refuse!" Luffy spoke, shocking the others.

"Luffy has a point…" Nami agreed. "We need to discuss remuneration!"

"""Don't you dare!""" Franky, Usopp, and Chopper reprimanded.

"Are you just a figurehead, Momo?! You're supposed to be the leader of these mighty warriors, so speak up for yourself!" Luffy chastised.

"Quit it, Luffy! He's only eight years old!" Nami rebuked.

"That's right, Luffy. He's the heir, not the Daimyo yet. It's only natural for him to follow the guidance of his retainers until he is old enough to lead himself." Brook agreed.

Tears were still fresh on Momonosuke's face from acknowledging the brutal truth of his father's death. He walked past those who tried to offer him comfort and faced Luffy head on.

"I wish to defeat Kaido!" Momonosuke choked out. "He killed my father, and my mother was put to death as well!"

"I want to possess the strength to defend the people I care about most on my own, but right now I am too small, too weak!" Momonosuke continued. "So I can only beg you for your help!"

The adult samurai and minks were crying now too.

"I get it." Luffy stopped him from bowing and put his hand forward. "Let's make an alliance, then!"

Murmurs of approval went around the room as they understood Luffy's intention.

"What about OUR alliance, Straw Hat-ya?" Law said, a bit annoyed he went over his head for this.

"You don't mind right?" Luffy asked.

"No, but-" Law said, then was interrupted by Luffy. "Then it's fine! Shishishi!"

"Then we're now the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance!" Luffy declared to the cheers of the others. "Now that we're in an alliance, that means we're friends! No more bowing your heads to me!"

"It doesn't mean that…" Law feebly retorted.

…

Cherry parted ways with them as they began to discuss the past and reminisce about old times. She only had a week and maybe a few more days more to outfit the guardians and musketeers before they needed to leave for Big Mom's territory if they were going to make it in time for the wedding / tea party. There was no point in rushing off to Wano immediately, anyways. The minks needed time to recover from their week-long battle against Jack and his men.

There was also another matter she needed to take care of before then, so she would be working without sleep for the foreseeable future.

Cherry's unbelievable speed that still did not sacrifice quality greatly inspired Wayland and his smiths, making them improve on their prototypes in record time.

It was after eight days that Cherry finally emerged from the blacksmith, arms covered in soot up to her shoulders, but miraculously the dress that Carrot gave her was untarnished. Wayland's smiths weren't so lucky, having gone the week and day without bathing, spending almost every waking moment honing their skills. It certainly paid off for them, as a few of them were able to get Cherry's approval by the end, let alone Wayland who managed to do so in only three days.

Wayland actually collaborated with Cherry in making Duke Dogstorm's new rapier, his blacksmith's pride not allowing an outsider, however skilled she may be, to make their king's weapon. She mostly stood back to ensure the level of quality was a cut above the rest, stepping in here and there where necessary, but Wayland did the lion's share of the work on it.

Wayland sucked in a breath as he gazed upon the finished product with gleaming eyes, brimming with tears. This… this was his greatest work! Even without the strange golden inlays that would improve its function greatly with the addition of Electro, it was still qualified to be a Meito!

Perhaps, it even matched Durandal, the finest work of his ancestor…

"Not bad." Cherry said, entirely unphased.

"Not bad? NOT BAD?!" Wayland blew a gasket.

His smiths held him back, trying to calm him down. "That's the best thing she's said about anything we've made, Master Wayland!" "That's right, just accept it as a compliment!" "She's impossible to impress, just leave it be!"

"It's good enough to give it a name, at least." Cherry added, though Wayland felt she was just trying to assuage him.

"Damn straight it is!" Wayland held it pointing upwards, tracing its length with his eyes in thought.

"I'll name it… Joyeuse." Wayland spoke.

There was a strange feeling in the air, and the smiths present somehow just knew that the sword had accepted the name. Undoubtedly, there was something special about it and now nobody who'd witnessed its naming could deny it.

"Well, I'm done. I need a nap and a bath, not necessarily in that order. Heck, probably at the same time." Cherry said, waving at them as she sauntered out of the smithy.

Wayland and the other smiths barely even noticed her departure, grunting in acknowledgement with the vast majority of their focus on Joyeuse.

Cherry wasn't really tired and cleaning up would be as easy as forcing all the dirt and grime off of her with various techniques in her possession, or even parting the filth from her skin via un-fusion.

What she really needed was to center herself for the coming challenge. That is, breaking through to the 7th realm and taking her first step into becoming a real powerhouse by cultivator standards. For it is in the 7th realm that cultivators are called Transcendents.

She didn't need to leave Zou for the tribulation, thankfully. The 7th tribulation for body cultivators was a bit special and wouldn't do any physical damage to her body or, by extension, her surroundings.

The 7th realm in body cultivation was called the Soul Fusion realm, and the tribulation mirrored what the name suggested. That is, it would attempt to rip the soul from the body, and the body cultivator must resist.

It was the most perilous tribulation for body cultivators even though the next two were technically more difficult by a large margin. The risk of failure wasn't just death, but possibly even the annihilation of the soul.

Cherry thought that was a bit silly though, since even if your soul survived you weren't going to remember your past life on your next go around.

"Or maybe they do? I did, I suppose…" Cherry spoke her thoughts aloud.

"Who did what?" Robin asked her, appearing from nowhere.

"Nothing!" Cherry latched onto her, wrapping her filthy arms around her waist.

"Why?!" Robin tried to pry her off to no avail. "You're filthy!"

"Take a bath with me!" Cherry insisted.

Robin sighed. She needed one now anyways, but rewarding Cherry's obvious scheming didn't sit right with her. An idea popped into her head and she smiled deviously, though Cherry couldn't see it. "Alright, fine. Follow me."

Cherry followed after Robin, the latter knowing the layout of the city better than Cherry did given that she'd been cooped up in a smithy for most of it.

"..." Cherry pouted.

"What's wrong? You wanted a bath right?" Robin asked, clearly amused.

"It's a public bath…" Cherry murmured.

"Yes, it is. Is that a problem? You just wanted to get clean, right?" Robin soaked in Cherry's disappointment.

'I can't get frisky with a crowd watching…' Cherry thought, but didn't say. Robin understood the sentiment regardless, mirth in her expression.