Extra 13: We are Pirates ~! (49)

"Well, I guess we'll be leaving, there's still a lot we have to do, such as going where King Neptune is" - Kurama said as he retreated together with his family.

"King Neptune?" - Luffy asked as he tilted his head, only to feel another punch - "Ouch! Stop hitting me!"

"You idiot! How do you not know who we're talking about!" - Mei exclaimed as she crossed her arms.

"But I haven't the slightest idea" - replied Luffy with a frown.

"King Neptune, he's the ruler of [Gyojin Island], the place you'll be going now" - replied Rayleigh while shaking his head - "He's a Merfolk and Shirahoshi's father."

"Huh, doesn't that make Shirahoshi a mermaid-like Camie-chan?" - Sanji asked in surprise, only to frown as he remembered another detail - "Wait, she looks too young to be 30 years old."

"It's because she's just in her 16's, but mermaids mature much faster than humans, and keep their youth for a longer time" - replied Rayleigh calmly - "As for why she has that appearance, it's because Kurama-dono used one of his abilities to make her capable of walking in the world of humans"

"I see, that makes sense" - nodded Nami curiously, only to shake her head - "I would like to have that man in our crew because then not only would our expenses be non-existent, but we would get enough treasures to have the best life we could ask for"

"He could also train us" - Zoro answered seriously - "The person who trained me these two years, told me that he wasn't even 1% of Kurama-san's power"

"Who trained you?" - Sanji asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Mihawk" - Zoro replied as his companions froze at his words - "I fell on his island I was in such a bad state that I was unconscious until he came back from [Marineford]"

"And who took care of you?" - Robin asked curiously because it was obvious he hadn't been responsible.

"The ghost girl from [Thriller Bark]" - Zoro replied as he shook his head - "She took care of me until her vacation was over, according to her, Moriah decided to use his gloomy ship as a horror amusement park."

"Interesting turn of events, Yojojo" - said a skeleton with Afro hairstyle - "It gladdens my heart to know that someone is trying to get back on the right track, right, I don't have a heart, Yojojo."

"Anyway, we'd better go and see the [Thousand Sunny]" - said Franky seriously - "I still have to do the last checks on her"

"Right, your ship has already been coated, and is ready to leave whenever you want" - said Rayleigh with a smile.

"We'll depart tomorrow, we'll hold our reunion today!" - Luffy exclaimed with a huge smile as his friends started laughing and telling what they had done during these last two years.

* * * * *

"It feels strange to be back home after two years" - said Shirahoshi, who was swimming around in his mermaid mode - "And without anyone looking at me strangely now that I'm a normal size."

"Let's go to the palace, I'm sure your family has to be excited to meet you again" - said Kurama while stroking the girl's blue hair.

Shirahoshi smiled when she felt this, as her tail wagged happily.

"Everything is so pretty ~!" - Rei exclaimed as she looked around with a huge smile, after all, this was the first time she had seen such a picturesque place like [Gyojin Island].

"Come on, Rei-chan, I'll show you the underwater forest" - said Shirahoshi as he carefully took the snake princess and swam slowly towards one of the most beautiful places in the place.

Kurama kept his smile until he saw the two disappear, only to frown.

"Is something wrong, Kurama?" - Kalifa asked as he noticed the drastic change in the albino's expression.

"This town seems too depressing" - said Kurama seriously as he looked around and saw how people were watching them with vigilance, even when they had come with a siren - "I don't know what has happened, but things are getting a little strange in this place, so we'd better keep an eye on Shirahoshi and Rei-chan."

"Ok, I'll go right away, you guys better go to Neptune's to talk about this" - Kalifa said as he disappeared from the place.

"How serious is everything?" - Hancock asked as she looked worriedly at her husband.

"Not to the point of attempting our lives, but I can feel how the negative emotions are starting to grow at an accelerated pace" - answered Kurama as he started to think - "It's obvious that someone is trying to make the inhabitants of [Gyojin Island], do something that they will regret later on"

Ten minutes later, Kurama stood in front of Neptune's palace with the others with a serious expression on his face.

After 5 minutes after Shirahoshi and the others left, they returned with an expression of fear.

Kalifa explained to them that halfway there, they had been attacked by a group of hostile Gyojin that she was quick to dispatch.

Kurama was furious, but after Hancock calmed him down, they decided to leave immediately to the King of the place and seek answers.

"I'm sorry things were like this, Kurama-dono, Jamon" - Neptune said as he sighed regretfully.

He could more or less understand what had happened, after all, it wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

The royal family had been attacked multiple times by hostile inhabitants, for no reason, after all, with the return of Otohime, many of the problems had been solved and the life of the inhabitants was much more comfortable.

"I don't want apologies, I want to know the reason" - Kurama said with a frown.

"I have heard rumors about a strange and growing force of Gyojin who wish to overthrow Nep-chan's rule" - Otohime replied as she sighed regretfully - "They have started to launch hate campaigns against humans, using my death as their strongest argument."

Kurama clicked his tongue as this brought back memories of what happened with Danzo in his past, only to close his eyes.

After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and disappeared from the place, only to reappear after a few more seconds while wiping his hands - "There, with this, there will be no more trouble, and before you ask, no, I didn't kill them, I left them in charge of their soldiers after peacefully "conversing" with them inside my time seal"

"I'm a little afraid to ask what kind of "conversation" you had, so for now I'm going to stay off the subject" - Ryuboshi said while shaking his head.

"For now let's better put that aside, after all, Kurama-dono already took care of the problem, now it's up to us to fix the situation" - Fukaboshi said seriously as the others nodded.

"Fuka-chan is right, not to mention that we can't always see our little princess" - said Otohime as she hugged her daughter - "Come, tell me in more detail how your life has been."

"OK" - nodded Shirahoshi as the two women left.

"It's good to see that my daughter is in perfect condition, Jamon" - said Neptune with a huge smile - "Come on, we need to talk, Kurama-dono. My sons will take care of keeping the other members of your family entertained."

"Ok, we still have to wait for [Shirohige's] representatives" - said Kurama while telling him to relax a little - "For now go and see your daughter, she has missed you."

Neptune was silent for a few seconds before nodding.

* * * * *

A few hours later, Kurama was standing in front of Marco, who was working as his father's manager.

Neptune was in the middle of the table, serving as a moderator between the two, which the two involved agreed to without a second thought, after all, he had a relationship between the two sides.

Edward Newgate was a friend of [Gyojin Island], after all, he had protected the kingdom of Neptune for years. As for Kurama, it was obvious why they were related, and there was no need to delve further into the subject.

The two quickly entered into a heated debate as they laid what arguments they had on the table.

Kurama quickly decided that he would accept the proposal to become a [Yonko] for one year in exchange for the cooperation of [Shirohige]'s forces.

Marco was unsure about accepting this because he, like his brothers, wanted to spend the rest of his time with his father, who was at death's door.

Kurama was adamant about this, so Marco had no choice but to accept after 15 minutes of dialogue to no avail.

After this, all was quiet, with the only exception that Kurama wanted to train Ace as his heir when he retired as [Yonko].

Marco was surprised at this, though he quickly nodded because this was good for them.

With Ace as [Yonko], they could say that his father's will would stand firm even after his death, not to mention that it was also good for Ace, not only because he was Edward Newgate's adopted son, but also Gol D. Roger's biological son.