[Chapter 54: Farewell]
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-East Blue, Dock of Loguetown.
-Sid POV:
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"Man, it has been such a long time since I've been here... two or three weeks maybe?"
Currently, I was disembarking at Loguetown to go and pick up Kuina so that we could go and fetch the other ones and then begin our adventure. Unfortunately, reuniting with my family could have to wait for the time being.
I wonder what my brother might be doing now? He ended up becoming a merchant just like our father after he disregarded his childish dream of being a marine.
... Probably because the payment is seriously low.
"Whatever, let's just do our business here and then leave right away. A month is really short when you need to make the world know your name"
As I predicted from the very beginning, I ended up receiving a month or so of vacations after doing so much "work" at Arabasta as a marine. Thus, I was completely free to do as I pleased for the time being!
And of course, I couldn't waste such an opportunity to go and explore this world and the mysteries that it hides!
Devil fruits, possible new materials that surpassed common sense, treasures from an ancient civilization, or even some kind of mythical creature known in legends that will probably end up as my pet when I find it.
Also while I'm at it, during this month I might as well improve my reputation at the marines as Asura, or maybe I should increase my infamy as Thanatos by committing several crimes against the world government?
And while I'm doing that, I might also try and search carefully for the Anomaly on the islands that I've yet to check.
Though I may already have a hunch on where it may be.... but I don't know how to GET there yet...
But whatever, all in due time.
For now, let's just take a bit of rest from being a mob marine. It has been quite exhausting these few months after all... Besides, my abilities as a mob had already surpassed what I thought in a beginning to be the full potential of a mob, and I'm sure it will be enough for the time being. Maybe after my holidays end I will continue practicing and evolving my Mob-fu to the next level...
Though, It seemed that I had made a bit of an error a few months ago when I fought Luffy here at Loguetown. After all, I had believed that I was seen as just another Mob by the Straw-hats after getting my ass kicked. However, it seemed that I had actually made an error and they managed to remember my identity when we met at Nanohana!
Gosh, that was such a scary moment... Protagonists are really to not be underestimated...
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A few days ago...
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"I've found them! Fire!!"
Well, isn't this a bit different from the canon? The straw-hats should have gotten to their ship pretty easily before being found by the marines and then attacked. However, not only are they not on their ship right now, but they are also being chased by a ridiculous amount of marines like me.
But then again, Akainu appeared in Alubarna and tried to kill Luffy. Something that was not in the cannon by any means... So I guess the story is already a bit diverted from the original by quite a lot. However, what I still have yet to check is whether destiny actually exists and has played something in all this story, or simply doesn't exist and Luffy's adventures where and are going to be simply an incredible amount of impressive coincidences.
Because if destiny really exists... then it will probably fix every diversion on the story that has happened until now somehow. But if it doesn't exist... then nothing protects the Straw-hats from dying randomly in the middle of the sea after being attacked by a Sea king that was passing by...
In the worst case they will be killed by an Admiral while I'm not looki-- Oops, the fight is starting.
"Shoot them!!"
*Bang!!*
*Bang!!*
*Bang!!*
I started shooting as ordered. But of course, something on this level was at most laughable for people like these guys. Luffy just had the bullets bounce off his skin as they weren't made of Sea stone and thus they couldn't hurt him, Zoro just used his swords to block all the bullets, and Sanji just moved extremely fast so to avoid being properly aimed at.
There was also Chopper, Nami, and Usopp, who were actually having some more problems handling that amount of bullets coming their way, fortunately for them, whenever they had some bullet about to reach a vital spot, I made sure to use of my gun to deflect the bullet with another bullet and save them from a possible death.
It wasn't long before our group started to get obliterated completely under the attacks of Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy. Making our numbers decrease rapidly, and our morale plummet completely.
Soon, Zoro started attacking our group, and blasted us away with incredible force several meters into the distance.
Several deep cuts started appearing on the bodies of my companions as they screamed in pain while being blasted away by the three swords of Zoro, me in contrast, just had to open up some bags of false blood and spread them all over my uniform while also altering my appearance to add some false wounds over my arms and face.
Though even while being false injuries, the pain was still there, so moving was kinda hard. But I guess in a way this just added more credibility to my performance.
Now I just need to lie down until this ends...
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Why is Nami looking this way?
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-Present time
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After that they started surrounding me and recognizing my existence, which I thought couldn't be possible!
I even had my environment-fusing technique activated, so noticing me should have been impossible. But as always, Protagonists just seem to surpass the limits of common sense...
Not only did I fail to pass as a normal mob and make them hold a memory of my existence, but I also somehow got into a debt with Nami, who lent a bit of medicine to heal my "injuries" after getting attacked by Zoro.
"This is such a mess..."
But whatever, I only need to improve my mobness to a level where they will forget about me eventually, and problem fixed...
*Knock*
*Knock*
*Knock*
As I arrived at the house where Kuina and Bell-mere lived, I called at the door and waited for them to open.
*Click*
"So it's you Sid... I guess you've finally finished your "business" at Arabasta huh...?" Kuina, who opened the door, looked at me with a raised eye-brow while speaking in a dubious tone.
"Yes, it was a hard task, but the world is once again safe from any danger..."
"Haha... sure, come inside and wait a bit, I will go and pick up my luggage. Also, while you're at it, you might as well go and bid your goodbyes to Bell-mere. She is in the kitchen by the way..."
"Sure, just make sure to hurry up, my enemies won't wait you know? Time is precious"
"..."
After Kuina went to her room to do who knows what, I went towards the Kitchen to bid farewell to Bell-mere. After all, me and Kuina could be gone for at least a month or so, and I could probably go back to being a mob marine right after that.
Let's just hope I can find something good in this month though, or else this trip might be quite boring...
"Oh Sid, when did you arrive here? Sorry for not coming to receive you. Here, have some tangerines" Bell-mere, who until now seemed to be a bit absentminded, turned to look at me right when I entered the kitchen, and then handed some tangerines to me with a smile on her face.
"It's okay, formalities are kinda annoying anyway. Besides, I'm leaving in just a few minutes as I came here to pick up Kuina" *Munch* "I also left you some money for you to use during this month in whichever way you like... Including visiting Cocoyashi Village..."
"You mean-?!"
"You're free to go back and meet Nojiko, though meeting Nami will be a bit harder since she is roaming around the world currently... After careful consideration I decided that your existence will no longer provoke any change in the future, so use that money to go and talk a bit with your daughter... Oh, right, I also have to deactivate this..."
I placed my hand on Bell-mere's face, and it soon started changing to that of her former identity. No longer that one of Bella, but that one of the true Bell-mere.
Though she did indeed look a bit older...
I gave her a mirror so that she could look at herself while also giving her some space so that she could have her moment of nostalgia.
"Do you want me to make you look a bit younger? You're quite the old lady right now"
*Crack*
Oops, the mirror broke... I probably should remember in the future to not call a woman an old lady...
"No, it's okay. It could look unnatural for Nojiko to see me so young after all these years..." Bell-mere stayed silent for some seconds while a vein popped up on her forehead, but soon ended up answering me after calming down.
"Neat"
Suddenly, I noticed Kuina enter the kitchen while carrying an enormous suitcase on her shoulder.
"Are we leaving right away Sid? I wanted to bring with me a few snacks from this town before... Hmm? Bell-mere is that you?!"
"Hahaha... Yeah, it seems like I will go on a journey on my own as well..." Bell-mere smiled wryly seeing Kuina enter and act so surprised about her appearance. She is probably still a bit sensitive about her age.
"You are? But Sid, what happened to that of no going around with our original appearances...?"
"Bell-mere will be going back to her hometown as she is no longer required to follow that rule. Also, it is not that important right now either... Since almost everything that I wanted to avoid from happening has already been avoided. So if you want I can also take off your Kushina appearance"
"... It's okay, I won't be using that appearance until I meet with my father. So for now it's not necessary" Kuina stayed silent for a moment, but soon ended up shaking her head while smiling gently at me.
"Fine, but you can always ask me to change your appearance right away. Also, you are free to go and meet your father right when this mission ends, as for now, we still need to go and defeat that Anomaly before it starts moving..."
"Then I will accompany both of you to the door" Bell-mere stood up and followed us to the exit with a smile on her face.
"Remember to take care of Kuina, Sid" Bell-mere, who was looking at me and Kuina with a satisfied smile, said before turning to glance at me with a serious expression on her face.
"Yeah, don't worry. Not even an Admiral will be able to touch her"
Because I will kill him before such a thing happens.
As both of us bade farewell to Bell-mere, we started walking in direction of a certain abandoned building at the outskirts of Loguetown.
Kuina, who until now looked to be sightly nervous about something since we parted ways with Bell-mere, turned to look at me before she started speaking.
"Why are we going so far away from the town, Sid?"
"We are going to look for my biggest creation so far. The very own ship that I created with my own hands..."
"You had something like that in this place?"
"Yes"
As we arrived right in front of the giant warehouse, which was by the way heavily hidden and guarded against any kind of intruders, to the point that even a Vice-admiral could find it incredibly hard to enter without losing an arm or two, I then placed my hand on a recognition device and the doors opened and let us inside.
"That is the ship?! It looks...!"
"Awesome? Impressive? Majestic? Glorious?"
"... So simple... Isn't that just a normal ship for traveling that you can find anywhere?"
"Tsk tsk... you have no taste for ships. And no, it's completely made by me and it has actually quite some special functions that differentiate it from the rest by quite a lot..."
Yeah, something like incredibly powerful turbines that allow it to travel at an enormous speed through the sea, incredibly powerful canons and Gatling guns hidden within the interiors of the ship, an incredibly thick layer of Sea-stone within the walls of wood that protects it from any attack from the outside, laser canons that can burn down most wooden ships, the capacity of turning into a submarine, and also-
"Does it have a name?" Kuina suddenly asked me while I was busy boasting about this baby inside my mind to none in particular.
"Yeah, it's....."
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The ship has quite a lot more special features than the ones mentioned right now, but I will reveal them later on in the story.
Also, I came up with the name of Depths Devourer for the Ship, but I don't know if you guys have any other idea, I could like to hear it!
That's all for today anyways.
Goodbye