53 Chapter 17

Seeing the bumps and bruises on Zoro's head, Markus almost felt sorry for him. Almost. But it was a rare instance of Nami actually physically assaulting Zoro so instead of feeling bad he filed the image away inside of his mental library and smiled. He started putting on the blindfold once again, "Remember, Hold back dammit! I don't wanna die at the hands of a fellow crewmember! Ah, but if you do kill me, be sure to take my bracelet off as soon as possible!"

Zoro looked utterly confused at Markus's rambling. Eventually, he just shrugged his shoulders and gripped the wooden stick again. This time the entire crew was paying close attention to the two of them. Markus slipped on the blindfold and sighed, "Alright, let's go."

With nothing but darkness, his still severely weakened Observation Haki, and drastically lowered attributes, Markus found it almost impossible to dodge Zoro's swift strikes. Markus felt his stress levels rising with every strong blow Zoro landed on the majority of his body. Thankfully, the brute had lowered his strength so he wasn't nearly killing Markus with every blow. Still, they hurt and slowly began to eat at his HP.

Whenever his HP would get too low, he would call for a break to remove the bracelet and recover what he'd lost. He was also smiling from ear to ear. There was an unexpected boon from getting his ass beaten by Zoro. He was gaining attribute points! Mostly Vitality and Agility but it was something! His Physical Resistance skill was also gaining experience and had already leveled up once. If this continued he could get a fair bit more out of this training than just increasing his Seastone Resistance skill.

The two men kept training for the next couple of hours. One beating, the other being beaten. Zoro thoroughly enjoyed slapping Markus around as payback for all the time Markus had slapped him around. Markus wasn't the only one who got to enjoy a bit of schadenfreude that day.

Even with the training finished, Markus kept the seastone against his skin. As long as he was touching it, his resistance skill continued to gain experience points and would continue to level up over time, even when he was sleeping. He knew it would take time but once the skill reached level 100 he would be able to use 100% of his physical skills even if he was covered in seastone. If he could get enough strength to break seastone with his bare hands... Well, it didn't need much imagination to know that would be broken as hell. Not that he technically needed to since he could just store it in his inventory, but still!

Speaking of broken as hell. Markus had spent some time thinking about how he should use the Skill Creation Token he'd gotten. He'd had tons of ideas, many broken beyond belief. Eventually, he settled on a concept and decided to give it a try. If it worked, he would make the marines cry tears of blood from stress. He found a nice spot to be alone below deck and pulled out the token to use it.

Once activated a system screen appeared with the words, "Describe your skill." on it. He took a moment to organize his thoughts, "I want a skill that will allow me to fuse any of my other skills together into a more powerful skill without losing the skills I pick permanently."

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Processing request...

Processing complete.

Skill created.

Displaying skill.

New Skill!

Skill Fusion

[Active/Passive, Level 1, 0.0% Experience]

This skill allows the user to combine two skills together flawlessly and thereby increase their effectiveness when used together. The fusion doesn't prevent the user from using the skills separately or leveling them up. At level one the user may choose two skills to derive a fusion skill and again at level ten and every ten levels thereafter.

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Markus was both happy and unhappy about the skill. It wasn't quite what he hoped it would be and was far more limited than he wanted. At level 100 the skill would only let him make 11 combinations. Right now he could only create one fusion and he knew exactly which two skills he wanted to combine. He activated the skill and received another message telling him to state which skills he wanted to combine, "Pussyfoot Maneuver and Lightning Speed."

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Processing...

Processing complete!

New Subskill created.

Subskills:

(Level 1)

Raiju

[Active]

A combination of the Pussyfoot Maneuver and Lightning Speed skills allowing the movement speed of both skills to work simultaneously.

Cost: 250 Willpower/Second

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He looked over the skill as a smile slowly crept across his face. His new skill had let him break the rules! Well, technically he wasn't. Lightning Speed said that it couldn't be used with any other movement technique but now he had a new movement technique instead! The Raiju subskill would let him move at an astounding speed of 5,682 miles per second! Why did he do all of this? For one simple reason, to counter Kizaru's Pika Pika no Mi. That's not to say that he was now faster than Kizaru automatically, far from it. He still needed to level up his Lightning Speed and Pussyfoot Maneuver more but he now had the potential to be as fast as, if not faster, than Kizaru.

He decided to ignore the existential questions like "Is it even possible to go faster than the speed of light?". He didn't care. As long as he could reach the same speed as Kizaru, that would be enough. As for the cost of the skill? It was high, but fuck it. He didn't plan to use it very often. It was just another wonderful 'Oh Shit!' button on his skill list. He dismissed all the screens and returned to hanging out with the rest of the crew.

Markus decided to wear the seastone bracelet at all hours of the day. The only time he removed it is when he entered his Image Training to practice his Goro Goro no Mi skills. He was working on a new one as a surprise for Enies Lobby and he felt he was close to getting it just right. Other than that, he continued to train in his weakened state with Zoro and hang out with the rest of the crew when he was resting. Just like that a couple of more days passed.

During the third day since they'd left Long Ring Long Island, Markus was getting his ass handed to him by Zoro when he heard Luffy shout, "It's a frog! A giant frog swimming freestyle!"

Soon the Going Merry was bustling with commotion as Luffy ordered everyone to take the paddles out and chance the frog. Markus laughed and joined in, he still wore his Seastone bracelet but thanks to his training he could now use 25% of his full strength even with it on. That made him the weakest out of the four main fighters, but only when wearing it.

After the ship changed direction, Nami came out of the cabin, "Hey! Why are we changing direction?!"

"Nami! We found a huge frog! We have to catch him for barbeque no matter what?!"

Zoro and Chopper synced up, "We're going to eat it?!"

Markus wasn't sure why Zoro seemed so surprised, wasn't he the one catching snakes and frogs for dinner back in Skypiea? Nami shook her head but noticed something on the horizon. She pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked through them for a better view, "Is that... a lighthouse? Why is there a lighthouse in the middle of nowhere?"

"Did you find an island?"

"No, just a lighthouse. But the log pose isn't pointing to it!"

"What about the frog?! Where is it?!"

Robin chimed in, "The frog is going in the direction of the lighthouse as well."

"First you wash the frog in white wine. Then you coat it with flour and fry it."

"Wait, Robin! Sanji!!"

As they continued to row at full speed, a sound the others weren't familiar with sounded repeatedly. Everyone looked around asking what the sound was while the giant frog leaped out of the water and landed on something just below the surface. Markus stored the seastone bracelet in his inventory to return himself to full strength and immediately used that strength to start rowing in the opposite direction. This caused the Merry to suddenly turn.

Luffy screamed, "Ah! Markus! What are you doing?!"

Just an instant later the whole crew understood what Markus had done as a large train puffing out thick clouds of smoke suddenly came barreling down the tracks just below the waterline. Everyone was shocked by the train as they'd never seen something like it before. They didn't know if it was some sort of weird ship or what. As they watched, the giant frog growled and braced himself in front of the oncoming train. Luffy tried to shout a warning but the frog just croaked furiously... before immediately being smacked off the tracks without slowing the train in the least.

Markus watched the frog fly through the air while the train barreled by at high speed. It was in impressive sight to see a train running on the ocean. Silence filled the ship as everyone stared in shock at the scene that had unfolded before them. Markus was just wondering about fate. Even though he'd interfered with the battle against Aokiji, they'd still stayed on the Long Ring Long Island just long enough to meet up with the frog.

As everything calmed down, they sailed the ship closer to the lighthouse, which was really just a station for the train, and were spotted by a little girl. She was small with greenish-blond hair braided into pigtails that stuck up in defiance of gravity. After spotting their pirate flag, she ran to the door of the small building on the tiny island and shouted, "It's terrible! Granny! Granny! Pirates!"

The door to the building opened and a short old woman with a round body stumbled out while slurring, "What?! Really Chiminie?! Hold on!"

With wobbling steps, the old woman pulled out a Den Den Mushi and called someone, "Ah... Who are you? Why am I calling... I forgot."

"YOU'RE TOO DAMN DRUNK!!"

Markus started laughing while Sanji bribed the three beings on the station. As they were eating the little girl introduced everyone, "I'm Chiminie, this is Gonbe, the cat."

When introducing the 'cat' she gestured to a small blue rabbit, which meowed confusing everyone. Finally, she gestured to the old woman, "That's my granny Kokoro!"

Kokoro was an old woman with curly hair that was the same color of greenish-blond that Chiminie's was. She had a somewhat offputting countenance as her mouth was far too big for her head, her nose was large and triangular, while her dark eyes were tiny while her face was shaped like a pear, thinner on the top and much wider on the bottom. She laughed and took a swig from a bottle of wine, "I thought you were train robbers! Kakakakaka!"

Markus stayed on the ship and listened as his friends and the old lady talked about the train and the frog, Yokojina. After how the train worked was explained, Kokoro also told them the various locations it made stops at including Water 7, St. Poplar, San Faldo, and Pucci. She didn't mention Enies Lobby but Markus knew it could go there as well.

As the group continued to talk, Kokoro realized their next destination was Water 7. This brought up talk about fixing the Going Merry, which was in pretty poor condition after all of the damage she'd taken. Markus had managed to prevent some of the damage but not the majority of it. Luffy hoped to find a shipwright at Water 7 along with everyone else. They couldn't just keep half-assing the patches on Merry and expect her to remain functional.

After listening to them, Kokoro wrote a simple note and offered it to them while explaining, "Take this. It's a simple map o the island and a letter of recommendation. Let these guys restore your ship to top shape. Also, Water 7 is big so be careful not to get lost."

The groups continued to talk for a while longer before bidding each other goodbye with a promise to meet once again in Water 7. As they sailed on the open sea once again, the crew began to discuss their impending new crewmate. Naturally, Sanji wanted to find a beautiful woman. Luffy, on the other hand, wanted a super big and strong man that was at least five meters tall. Zoro was more realistic and only wanted someone competent at their job and wouldn't care about being a pirate. Chopper was excited about making a new friend.

Nami decided to take a look at Kokoro's map. The moment she opened it and saw the child-like drawing that looked as if it was done in crayon, she nodded in a sage-like fashion, "Ah, I see."

The next moment she crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it on the deck while shouting, "It's completely useless!!"

While the others discussed repairs and possible upgrades for the Going Merry, Markus kept his attention on Robin. He didn't stare on her but focused on her with his Observation Haki. Even though Aokiji hadn't been able to worm his way into her head, she was still negatively affected by seeing a major part of her childhood trauma in person again. Seeing her now, he was certain that when CP9 showed up in front of her she would end up following them and becoming a prisoner just as in the canon story.

Markus knew he could stop it, easily, none of the members of CP9 could use Armament Haki, not even the strongest member, Rob Lucci, could. That meant he was completely invincible against them. He could also single them out on the island of Water 7 and kill them all without them even knowing, if he wanted.

That was the thing. He didn't want to. The fights against CP9 were good for the crew. It would make them stronger and was even when Luffy started to develop his 'Gears', specifically Gears 2 and 3, and represented a major evolution for him. Markus wanted to witness that but his friends getting stronger wasn't the only reason. He'd already sent a message to the Marines by sending Aokiji packing but he wanted to send a much, much bigger, and more public message to not just them but the whole world. Enies Lobby would be the perfect stage.

As he was plotting, the island of Water 7 finally came into view. Seeing it with his Haki and seeing it with his own eyes were two completely different experiences. Water 7 was a large island that constantly rose higher as you moved toward the center. In the very center at the top of the city was a gigantic water fountain that was constantly pouring out water that rushed down thick lanes and turned the entire city into one massive water fountain. It was stunning and elicited explanations of appreciation from the entire crew. It had to be the single most beautiful island they had come across so far.

Everyone remained in awe as they sailed closer. The spell was only really broken when a man fishing on a small boat yelled at them, "Hey! You there!"

Luffy, sitting on the figurehead of the Merry, looked over at the fisherman, "Yeah?"

"Pirates can't go in from the front like that. Go from the back!"

"Oh, Okay!"

Markus chuckled. Water 7 was one of the stranger islands when it came to pirates. They didn't really fear them and any pirate stupid enough to try to do something while at Water 7 would regret it soon after. They started to sail through a section of the city. The buildings were sitting on foundations built on sunken sections of the island. It reminded Markus of his memories of Venice in Italy back in his old world.

As they sailed, another local man yelled at them, "You can't anchor your ship there! What are you here for? Robbery?"

"No. We just want to fix our ship!"

"Did he just ask if we want to rob him?"

The man yelled again while pointing, "Head that way until you see a small peninsula. You can anchor there!"

The crew was a little weirded out by the attitude presented by the local residents but followed the directions they were given. As they sailed they spotted the place they were guided to and dropped anchor. Zoro grabbed a rope to pull up the sail and as he tugged on it there was a loud crack as the mast snapped. He ended up getting yelled out while he was trying to hold the mast in place but it really wasn't his fault. Frankly, Luffy should have had the shit beaten out of him after he personally ripped the mast off of the ship to stab Laboon with it. Back when they first entered the Grand Line.

After a short discussion, Luffy and Usopp hopped off of the ship to run into the city but were stopped by Nami, "Hold on you two! You're going to follow me!" She turned to Markus, "You should come too."

Markus shook his head and held up the plans for his small boat that he drew up with Nami, "I'm going to see if I can find someone to help me make this."

Nami sighed but nodded in understanding. It would be nearly impossible for him to find someone to make the boat without some sort of incident happening, if he hung out with them. Markus just grinned and hopped off of the ship. The four of them walked together until they arrived at a place called the 'Rental Bull Shop'. Markus split up with them and went in a different direction. The three of them could go on their adventure while Markus prepared his first step toward traveling alone.