Aloisse Town

To say that the sudden notification for there being a mission was a surprise would be an understatement, especially since the mission was going to be located within one of the already existing member's worlds. Due to that, the one that was obviously surprised the most was Raymond.

The mission seemed to be a simple task, but the members were all smart enough to understand that there was more to it than what the mission objective told then. The mission gave them a simple and direct objective, but that didn't mean completing it would be simple.

Anyway, Raymond was now waiting for the members to arrive here at his place, that being his ship. From what the chat group ended up explaining, the members would be teleported to where Raymond was, either voluntarily or by force.

Force meaning if they didn't click the mission on the chat group to create a portal for them in the next hour they could use for preparation, they would be automatically force here by the chat group. As the members were preparing back in their worlds, Raymond was thinking over the mission.

He had never heard of Lames Praya before, he didn't recall that being a location in the One Piece world. Though, that wasn't too surprising considering One Piece was far from being over and the world was incredibly vast, so he obviously wouldn't know of every single place that made it up.

As of right now, Raymond was chucking the Eternal Pose he had been given by the chat group up and down in his hand while staring towards the ocean. At the current time, the compass was pointing towards the direction of the Grand Line, the reason why was pretty obvious.

'Reverse Mountain is close by, that means we should just head straight on over after I resupply myself at Aloisse.' Raymond thought to himself as he stopped juggling the compass. 'I should definitely get a new better ship too, or at least reinforce this one...'

As Raymond was pondering over all of this, the strange sound that reminded him of a whirlpool caught his attention. Turning his head, he saw what appeared to be a human-sized spinning portal of sorts form at the centre area of his ship.

Soon after, a young male soon walked out from the portal. The person appearing to be somewhere in his early or mid-twenties, along with having black smooth hair along with donning a fancy attire alongside a dark red scarf.

Raymond smiled when he saw him, he instantly knew that this was Adol, he looked just like how he remembered. With his current appearance, from what he remembered, this was Adol in disguise during the newest instalment of the Ys Series. He didn't know much about that game since he hadn't played, but he could at least tell he was definitely Adol.

The male seemed to look around with interest before noticing Raymond looking down at him from the front of the ship with a smile on his face. Seeing that, the scarfed male returned the smile and began walking over. "I assume that you're Raymond?"

"Yep, nice to officially meet you."

"It's a pleasure, you already know my name from the chat, but since we haven't met face to face, I'm Adol Christin." Adol introduced himself before shaking hands with Raymond. Adol then looked around curiously. "So, we're currently on the ocean, huh? Have the others arrived yet?

"Not yet, you're the first one to arrive actually." Raymond chuckled as both he and Adol walked back down towards the main deck area, Raymond then offered him a jug of beer, which the scarfed male accepted gratefully. "I'll explain our next course of actions when the others arrive."

"Sounds good to me." Adol nodded before taking a gulp. "Oh~, this taste great!"

"Glad you like it."

As if on cue, two more portals opened up almost simultaneously, surprising both Adol and Raymond a bit as they turned to look at said portals. Soon enough, two figures walked out before the portals behind them closed afterward.

The first one to completely walk out was another young man, this one looked to be around Raymond's age and had brown hair and blue eyes. The male's attire consisting of a fancy white uniform, along with having a sword sheathed on the left side of his waist.

The other person appeared to be a female that was the same age, having long brown hair that reached down to her hips, along with a pair of light blue eyes. Similar to those of nobility, she wore a rather fancy blue and white dress, as well as donning brown tall boots as well as white sleeve-gloves.

"A-Are you perhaps one of the chat members?"

"Yes...I'm Katarina Claes."

"I see, my name is Asbel Lhant, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Asbel smiled upon hearing the familiar name, to which he extended his hand for a shake, which Katarina smiled before accepting wholeheartedly. "Crazy, to think we've actually arrived in another world..."

"Good to see that you've both arrived safely." Both Asbel and Katarina turned their heads their heads upon hearing the new voice. When they did, they saw both Adol and Raymond walking over. "Blackwood D Raymond, nice to meet you two."

"Adol Christin, a pleasure."

Just like that, the four members that were currently present began talking with each other to get to know one another better. Until Yuna arrived, Raymond wanted to hold back on explaining what they'll be doing for the mission, he didn't want to explain it more than once if he didn't need to.

As the members conversed, each of them had their own thoughts. Raymond was still kind of wrapping his mind around the fact that he was talking with people who he previously knew as nothing more than fictional characters, but seeing as he was born into One Piece, those thoughts quickly went away.

Asbel was still finding it hard to believe that he was in an entirely new world, and also meeting the new friends he made through that chat group. He felt pretty overwhelmed by it all. Adol was more excited than he was in disbelief, meeting his new allies as well as now being in a new world for him to have even more exciting adventures.

Finally, Katarina was pretty damn excited to know that she was really in the One Piece world, one of her favourite anime back when she was her old self. Though, she was obviously also pretty scared considering how scary some of the individuals in this world could be, along with how powerful they were.

Though, aside from the dangers of this world, there were many wonders for her to experience. Along with all that, she was pretty surprised when she took the time to look at the three males of the chat group. Each of them could be described in one word, and that was handsome.

Each of them had their own personal charms and had looks that any woman would swoon over, at least that was what her opinion was. If she was so bold to say, she would definitely consider all three of them to be even more charming than the boys back home in her world.

"Looks like our final member is here."

Raymond's voice got all of their attention as they looked towards where he was staring, only to see another portal appearing near the same area where the other portals had formed. Soon enough, the final member of their group walked out.

When the person revealed themselves, they saw a young female the same age as the others, excluding Adol. If it weren't for the rather bizarre black bear costume she was wearing, you could see that she was quite the beautiful girl with green hair and a pair of red eyes.

Though, seeing the costume, the members could only look at her in silence.

"Hey there, guys!"

"..."

"It's the bear costume, isn't it?"

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After all the members chatted for a bit longer to get comfortable with speaking to each other face to face, they all now decided was the right time to discuss their plans for the future. So, they were all now sitting down on the main deck area of the ship, a map flat on the ground in front of them.

"Alright, first things first. We're currently sailing towards this island town here, it's called Aloisse Town. That's where we will be getting supplies." Raymond explained as he pointed at one spot on the map. "That's where I will also try to either get us a better ship or reinforce this one, that'll be better for us in the long run when we get to the Grand Line."

As Raymond explained this particular part, only both Yuna and Katarina seemed to nod in understanding at the choice in action. Both Adol and Asbel were a bit more confused though, the current ship looked to be a pretty good quality ship to them.

"Isn't this ship good enough?" Asbel asked curiously. "Also, what exactly is the Grand Line?"

"The Grand Line is, in the simplest of words, the greatest yet most dangerous ocean in this entire world." Raymond explained as he pointed at the massive area on the map that was labelled 'The Grand Line', though the map obviously didn't have any details regarding places in the Grand line. "We'll need a better ship just to be safe."

"Regarding the ship, it's definitely big enough for our small group, so we're fine when it comes to that department." Yuna chimed in as she looked around at the ship they were on. "Getting a new one is definitely pretty expensive, so maybe just strengthening it would be best. Do you have enough money to do that?"

"Yeah, money isn't a problem. I'll each give you guys some to buy some stuff when we get to town." The members all nodded their heads in understanding before Raymond pointed towards the centre of the map. "After we get our supplies, we'll immediately head towards Reverse Mountain. That's where we'll be able to enter the Grand Line."

"Wait..." Adol tilted his head before pointing towards the area around the Grand Line. "Wouldn't it be simpler to just sail upwards here? That way we could easily just sail right on through towards the Grand Line, wouldn't that be faster than going to this mountain?"

"On the contrary, that would be the worst decision." Raymond chuckled, confusing both Adol and Asbel. "There's a reason here why the area around the Grand Line is called the Calm Belt. It has no wind or currents, so you'll be stuck in the middle of the ocean. Since it's way bigger than this map shows, who knows how many days you could find yourself swimming."

Katarina then sweatdropped. "Not to mention Sea Kings..."

"You mean those apparently massive fish?" Adol voiced with curiosity."

"Massive is an incredible understatement." Yuna deadpanned. "From what I know, the Calm Belt is the nesting ground of this world's biggest Sea Kings, and probably the most populated with them. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be eaten by an army of fish bigger than massive islands."

Both Raymond and Katarina chuckled and sweatdropped at the thought, with both Asbel and Adol paling a bit when hearing the explanation. Though, Adol was a weird guy, and the others couldn't help but stare at him oddly when they saw the 'hidden' excited look on his face.

"It would be pretty bad if we go through there then."

"Then why are you smiling...?"

"Anyway..." Raymond voiced as he stopped deadpanning at Adol, the others included as they looked back towards Raymond. He then held up the Eternal Pose. "Once we arrive in the Grand Line, we'll use this Eternal Pose that I was given by the chat group. It'll guide us towards this Lames Praya place."

"Does anyone actually know much about this mission?"

"Not really, we weren't given much..." Asbel frowned as he crossed his arms. "From what the chat group told us, we're supposed to help this place by getting rid of some kind of government corruption. From that alone we can say that this Lames Praya might not be such a good place..."

"Agreed." Adol nodded. "I'm curious what it means by a forced questionable life-style. Any ideas?"

"It could mean many things." Raymond sighed as he rolled back up the map before cracking his neck. "There are all kinds of different life-styles people live that would be considered questionable, the question is what kind are we dealing with for this mission. The only way to know is to wait until we get there."

All the others could do was nod at that.

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After Raymond finished explaining the general plan to the members, they all just split up to do their own things while they waited for the ship to arrive at the town. Raymond also gave them some Sea King meat he cooked up, they all thankfully loved the taste of it. Compared to normal fish, Sea Kings were just in another league when it came to taste.

Time flew by rather quickly as two or so hours passed on the boat, which they mostly spent either resting or just getting to know one another better. Raymond was honestly glad that the members in the group weren't intolerable, he wasn't sure how well he'd be able to deal with someone who either narcissistic or arrogant and the like.

"So, this is Aloisse?" Adol asked as he stared at the large town in front of him. The others were in the same vote as they all stared at the beautiful white city that seemed to have buildings made of smooth white marble, it was a beautiful sight. "So, I assume that we're splitting up?"

"Yep, it would be the most time effective thing to do." Raymond responded as he jumped off from the boat and landed on the dock beside the others. "We're going to need to split into groups, each group focuses on buying certain things. One group will buy food supplies, another will get general essentials, and the last will deal with the ship reinforcement. After we're done, meet up back here in two hours or so."

"I'll be a part of the food group." Yuna raised her hand before saying this. "I'd like to say that I know my way around the kitchen, so just leave this part to me."

"I'll go with you then." Katarina was the one that spoke up next as Yuna merely nodded her head. Raymond nodded his head at that before handing them a good amount of money, which should be more than enough for them to buy enough food to last them. Both the females then made their way into town as Raymond looked at the other two males.

"Adol, Asbel. I'd like you guys to go around and buy basic essentials, things like repair tools, medical supplies and the like. Can I leave that to you both?"

"No problem, leave it to us."

"Yep, no worries."

Just like with Yuna and Katarina, the two males seemed more than comfortable with their given task. Raymond handed them the needed funds before both males walked on off into the town just like the other two, Raymond waving them off before looking around the deck.

'Probably best to ask one of the sailors here, perhaps they know a craftsmen or something...' Raymond thought to himself as he took notice of the numerous sailors and fishermen who were either tending to their ships or were just hanging around. 'God, I hope they don't recognise me and get scared...'

Raymond honestly wasn't sure just how fast the news about him becoming wanted had spread, and it could be trouble if they recognise him and call the Marines. Now that he thought about it, it probably would be smart for him to look for a mask or something. Either that, or he embraces his newfound bounty, probably the latter.

"Excuse me."

"Hm? Can I help you, kid?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if there was a place I could go to around here that would be able to help with reinforcing my ship." Raymond explained as he gestured towards the ship that was docked not too far away. "Perhaps a craftsmen or someone similar."

"A craftsmen? No problem, just head on over towards the street near the end and you'll be able to find a ship seller there." The sailor pointed towards one of the street entrances located near the end area of the docks. "The owner there also provides ship repair services, so you should be able to them for help."

"I see, thanks for the info."

Without another word, Raymond quickly jogged towards the area that the sailor pointed towards. Raymond was honestly a bit concerned about the time it would take for them to reinforce the ship, he wanted to leave as soon as possible before people recognised him.

As long as the price wasn't too big, he'd probably just buy another ship.

Anyway, it didn't take long before Raymond found the place that the sailor was talking about. If the sign above the shop that literally shouted out 'SHIPS FOR SALE' was anything to go by, then he wasn't sure what was. Without wasting time, Raymond made his way inside.

"Hello there, young man. How can I help you today?" When Raymond entered the building, he looked towards the front desk to see an old man who gave him a friendly smile upon seeing him enter the building. Despite his age, the old man looked to be relatively well-built if his muscles were anything to go by.

"Hi, I'd like to talk about either buying or having my shipped reinforced."

"Certainly, please come with me to the back to check our stock." The old man stood up from his chair before gesturing Raymond to follow him. Raymond nodded before quickly following behind the man, and once they walked through the back, Raymond was greeted with a rather amazing sight.

The back door of the shop lead towards the open ocean where many different ships were docked neatly, and with a quick count, there were around ten or so ships. They all varied in size and design, and most importantly, all of them looked to be properly taken care of.

"These are the ships that I currently have for sale, please feel free to look around."

"They're very well taken care of, how much are they?"

"All of them have values bouncing between 50,000,000 to 80,000,000 Berry."

"Not bad at all..." Raymond nodded his head when he heard the prices. Considering how good the condition these ships were in, the pricing for these ships were pretty good in his opinion. From what he knew, these ships would be comparable to those ranging around 100,000,000. "If I were to trade in a ship, how much could I reduce the price?"

"Well, it entirely depends on the condition and size of the ship."

"The ship is around the same size as this one here, and it's still in good condition." Raymond voiced again as he placed his hand against the body of the ship they were standing next to. "How much is this ship selling for, and how much can I reduce the price if I were to trade in my current ship?"

"This ship here is 62,000,000 Berry, and if your words a true about your current ship, I can probably cut down the price by half the original amount."

"I see..." Raymond nodded his head as he examined the ship. Even though the ship was the same size as his current one, this one looked much stronger and well-built in comparison. 'I don't want to buy a ship any bigger than this, at least not for now. We still need to fit through Reverse Mountain after all...'

True to his words, he was pretty concerned about getting a ship that was any bigger than this one. If he bought a bigger one, he risked it being too big to fit or it being so big that being able to travel safely through without crashing was very difficult.

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After a bit more negotiation, Raymond took the old man over to look at his current ship, which he was able to trade in as well to half the price of the ship he bought. In the end, he bought the 62,000,000 Berry ship at only 30,000,000 Berry, which he was very much pleased about.

That amount wasn't too much at all for him considering he had taken down numerous wanted pirates and criminals with similar bounties, so he quite the amount of money available for him to blow off. Of course, he wasn't going to blow off his money for useless things.

Since the others haven't finished shopping yet and he still had an hour before they were going to meet back up, he decided to go walking around as well to see if there was anything that he might want to buy in the meantime. You never know, there might be something useful.

"Hm? Is that...?" Raymond eye seemed to catch onto something as he was walking through the peaceful market place. He quickly jogged up towards the small shop stand that seemed to be selling a few basic items like eye glasses, knives and other weird items. "Excuse me, how much for this?"

"For that thing? I'll give it to you for 10,000 Berry."

"Yep, that's acceptable." Raymond gave a small grin before paying the money and taking the item. What he just bought was none other than a Log Pose, which should have been priced at around 100,000, which was ten times what he just spent to buy it. 'That guy didn't even know what this was, his loss.'

It did make some sense to Raymond that people that spent their lives living here in the Blues wouldn't know as much when it came to Log Poses. After all, there was no point having a Log Pose anywhere but within the Grand Line. The original price wouldn't have been expensive at all for him, but if that shop vender was selling it for this cheap, who was he to complain?

"Hey, Raymond!"

Raymond blinked before turning his head towards the source of the voice, and when he did, he saw none other than Yuna and Katarina walking over towards him. The both of them were carrying numerous bags, which were obviously full of ingredients considering what task he asked them to do.

"Oh hey, you two. Are you guys finished shopping?"

"Yeah, we got all kinds of things. Should be enough to last all five of us for more than three months." Yuna responded with a smile as she then transferred all the bags into her pocket dimension, which didn't surprise the other two as she already explained her abilities to them. "Though, a good bit of money went to Katarina here..."

"Let me guess, did you guy a bunch of sweets?" Raymond deadpanned slightly as he looked at the brown-haired girl. Despite Katarina trying to act innocent, Raymond could see remnants of what looked to be perhaps cake around the corners of her mouth. "Whatever, let's head on back over towards the docks and wait for the other two."

"Did you get the ship reinforced?"

"Nah, I just traded in the old ship and bought a better one."

"How come?" Katarina blinked when she heard this. "Wouldn't that be expensive?"

"The price was definitely much more than if I just asked the person to make our ship better, but he said that it would take around three days or so to finish." Raymond explained as they all began making their way back. "We don't really want to stay here any longer, especially if people start to recognise who I am from my wanted posters."

"Oh yeah, almost forgot that you're a wanted person."

"With a bounty of 280,000,000 too, you're definitely not going to go unnoticed forever..."

"Exactly, so let's pick up the pace and get out of here."