Chapter 32- An Insane Expedition

"Are you sure we have to return to the ship, this week living on the beach has been a dream come true" Monet asked me from under her parasol, dressed in only a two-piece swimsuit and drinking a glass of iced lemonade.

"I'd love to as well, sadly we've got a freeloader on deck because of Drake and Corazon miraculously growing a conscience. Not to mention we're being hunted or will be soon" I said as I started getting dressed in my 'captain' attire. Consisting of black jeans, black combat boots and of course my red fedora. 'I feel like a barbarian without a shirt on…..But it fits the look'

"Oh, I forgot about him....it was a nice fantasy while it lasted" She replied with a sigh and began getting ready.

"He's been a good test subject for Law though, Drake really did a number on him, keeping that guy alive was impressive." I replied as we both began walking towards the treeline. 

"The kid reattached his entire intestinal tract. He really doesn't need any more training, admittedly. At least in terms of surgeries, his performance was without flaws" I said with a smile. 'He was a master surgeon to begin with, his fruit is just another piece of machinery to speed up that process'

"Yes, the short is amazing. So why haven't you had him fix your hand yet?" She asked as her hand intertwined with my disfigured one. I recoiled slightly at the question as well as her touch. But it was comforting, so I didn't force her away.

"It's honestly hard to explain. I gained these scars at probably my lowest point, I thought I was going to die. I guess I've kept them this long as some sort of morbid reminder." I said honestly as I scratched my cheek. 

"A reminder of what exactly?" She asked as we passed through what was our battlefield at the beginning of the week. A crater and large crevice marked both mine and Mori's finishing moves.

"Of what it's like to be completely helpless" I said with a smile as I slightly held her hand just a tad tighter. 

The rest of our walk back to the ship was spent in a rather tranquil silence. It only took us around a half hour before we started to hear voices yelling and laughing with each other. A rather telltale sign that everyone has made it before us. 

"Well, how was everyone's vacation? Did you guys find any cool treasure?" I asked excitedly as I arrived at the group that was waiting for us at the gangplank of the ship. 

"We're going to win!" Sugar said over everyone's scattered greetings, she jumped on Caesar's shoulders as she showed off a rather large emerald in her outstretched hand. 

"Impossible dear Sugar" Rosinate said with a smile as he removed a translucent white devil fruit from his admittedly badass-looking cloak. 'Oh….. damn, I figured the ghost fruit would appear in my fruit freezer. The crew is run by 'finders keepers' rule, no reason to be greedy I guess'

"Hmmm, Riser's fruit then. Worth around one to two billion berries if I had to guess. Looks like Team Corazon has stolen the lead sorry little Sugar. Anybody else?" I asked curiously, looking at Mori and Law who just sighed and shook their heads. 

"Well Monet and I didn't find anything close to as noteworthy….. so I guess the winner of the Alabasta treasure map is Team Corazon!" I said theatrically as I handed them the rolled-up map. It seemed there weren't any hard feelings as even little Sugar cheered for them even if she had a slight tear in her eye. 

Well in terms of vacations, this one was rather nice. We needed it after the last few months surely. 

"All aboard!" I yelled with a chuckle as I jumped on the deck of my beautiful ship, lovingly patting the ship's figurehead as I sat on it.

"Course Captain?" Drake asked as took the helm. Mori had already retrieved the anchor as Drake shifted the ship to point away from the shore. 

'The course huh... simply speaking I had no idea how normal people could travel between the four blues. I know for a fact it's possible from Reverse Mountain, however without a viable shipwright I would rather not use it unless absolutely necessary. But there is a simple yet crazy way to get from North to the West blue.' I thought with a laugh as I took out a small map of the north blue. 

'Hmmm so the furthest island in the western part of the North Blue is Ryshu Island. Located exactly on the edge of the North Blue while most of the Island is actually in the Calm Belt. I'll have to give old James a call to see if they have a bounty office or at least a minor marine base stationed there.'

"A course huh? We're heading to the Grandline" I said as I turned towards my crew with a crazed laugh as all of their eyes bugged out at me.

"Head directly west Drake and lock her there" I ordered as I watched the ship begin to turn and set off. 

"Kal, you can't be serious? A fourth of the crew are children, we're not ready for that" Mori said as walked toward the nose of the ship. 

"We're just cutting through, we shouldn't be in the Grandline longer than a month or so. We're actually heading through the Calm Belt, the Grandline is just a path we're cutting through" I said with a smile as Mori nodded, then jerked and looked at me like I was crazy. 

"You can't just cut through the Grandline Kal! We don't even have a navigator. A compass doesn't work there." Mori said with exasperation, it seemed Corazon agreed as he joined him with a worried expression. 

"You all trust me, don't you? The Grandline can't fool my compass. Plus going through the Calm Belt will be an adequate trial for all of us" I said as I pulled out my compass and twirled it on my finger. 

"What is the Calm Belt?" Law asked curiously as he joined us. 

"Simply speakig it's a barrier that wraps around the world. Separating the Grandline from the four blues." Corazon explained. 

"I thought the Red Mountain separated everything?" Mori stated and asked in minor confusion. 

"No, the Red Mountain splits the North and West seas from the South and East seas. The Calm Belt splits the seas into four on both sides. And in the middle of the Belt is the Grandline that wraps around the entire world. Some believe the Calm Belt was made to protect the Blues from the insanity that is the Grand line." Corazon explained.

"Yes, a perfect explanation. Though the Calm Belt itself is not without dangers, infested with sea kings and without wind." I added with a smile as they all looked at me like I was insane, even Drake who landed next to the other three. 

"No.... You couldn't be serious. Entering from the North or West would put us....." Corazon stuttered out as his face took a dark expression. 

"The New World, yes." I replied without flinching. 

"Captian….. you can't be ser…" Drake began as I easily interrupted him. 

"We are not without allies" I said with conviction as I looked at Drake and Mori whose eyes widened at the implication. They both quickly nodded and left trusting my judgment fully. 

"What the hell, where are you guys going? This is serious." Corazon said. He looked around as most of the crew left upon realizing the decision was made.

"Cora, trust me okay. It'll all make sense to you at some point" I said as I dropped down and put my hand on his shoulder. 

"And training resumes tomorrow, make sure you inform everyone for me, got it Law" I said with a smile as patted his head much to his annoyance as brushed my hand away and fixed his hat. I smiled at them and began walking towards my office.

"Yes…. Captain. I forgot to mention there is going to be a snail call for you in two days. Will you be available, it's rather important." Corazon asked as I turned around to listen. 

"Of course Cora, just yell for me. Oh, and that reminds me Law, meet me in my office in around an hour."

"For what?" The little gremlin asked. 

"The success of this expedition will be partly on your shoulders. We'll need to change your training accordingly, we'll talk about it. I need to go make a few calls." I said as I turned and again headed towards my office. 

After a few quick calls, it was confirmed from James that there was a bounty office on Ryshu Island. Though there was a minor problem after my call with Vista. It turned out that if I entered from that part of the Calm Belt I would emerge outside of Whitebeards territory. Luckily it was unclaimed and the only island near that part of the New World was Elbaf, which I had no plan of going near.

All in all this journey promised to push all of us to our limit, it was what we needed if we planned on taking on Doflamingo in less than two years. there were just to many things in the West Blue that we needed to complete the crew. Not even to mention the 'Unknown Island' which I had an eternal pose for. It has been bugging me since I received it, like I had to go there no matter what. 'Could it be fate?' I laughed at my own poor joke as Law entered my office.

                           END OF VOLUME ONE