Chapter 6 The Aftermath Of Barrels

"On this day we bury Diez Dory, the most foolish member of our crew we've ever had or ever will, though his body was never found we still offer him a proper burial" I said mildly plastered, pouring out a third of the bottle and throwing my half-smoked cig into the sea in honor of my 'fallen' crew member.

"I said I was sorry, you drunk asshole!" An orange-haired young man yelled, still dripping with seawater.

"GUHAHAH, boss I think his ghost is haunting us because we couldn't save em in time."Mori laughed equally as drunk as me.

"Yes, if only he didn't decide to practice flying on the sea, Huhahaha" I reply back continuing the joke.

"Dammit what the hell did I sign up for" Dory said looking over the ocean in resignation.

"OH! looky there, LAND HOEEE!" Mori yelled, pointing out Embassa city appearing over a cliff.

"You fucking idiots, we've been near the land this whole time" Dory replied still angry about us making fun of him for over 3 hours. 'Hey I had to jump in the damn sea and dive down about 40 meters to grab him, I didn't even know I could hold my breath that long. Of course I was 'mildly' irritated.'

"Don't ruin the fun Flyboy, it's a custom" Mori replied smacking the back of his head.

"Hey guys we removed the pirate flag, right? Because it would be really shitty to be shot down by the hundreds of marines on the island…." I said slowly looking up, seeing a black flag and a skull seemingly staring right back at me.

"Shit" Mori said before going full panda and jumping up onto the mass and ripping the flag off quickly, I hurriedly threw up a white shirt I had in my inventory for him to tie up there to replace it.

"Jeez you guys are rookies," Dory said.

"Fuck you, you didn't think of it either.'' I replied back with a scowl.

"I think we got lucky, I don't see them deploying any ships or a group of them gathering," Mori said, removing the spyglass from his eye.

"Phew, finally it's been a long ass day" I said while we slowly pulled into port. Going into my inventory and taking out about 3 million berries I hand it to Mori, noticing his confused look I elaborate.

"That's your cut for this job, 10%. The extra is for you to get you and Dory a room at the tavern and a bounty License of your own. You should probably head to a blacksmith first to get a good large weapon for your Zoan form, maybe the biggest great sword for sale?" I said as we descended back onto port.

"Thanks boss, what are you going to be up to while we get everything ready?"Mori asked getting ready to head off.

"Got to turn in this bounty and a few errands to run. Might do a little window shopping now that I'm mildly well off, huhahaha" I said with a laugh staggering off while throwing both of them a wave.

It's only five minutes later I make my way into the bounty office ready to reap my well-deserved rewards, walking in as usual James does his hat tilt in greeting.

"Ah, kid another bust huh? Don't ye worry it was a high bounty, I was a little worried ye wouldn't make it back" He said with relief giving my ragged appearance a once over.

"Yeah ha ha, so where do you want this?" I asked, pulling out Barrel's head and holding it out to him. He looks surprised that I pulled a cutoff head out of nowhere before beginning to scrutinize the face, with no care at all for the blood dripping onto his floor.

"Well YEE-HA" I'll be damned kid you did it, just leave it on the counter there I'll go get the reward money." He said with an approving smile before heading into the back. 'Son of a bitch, I knew he would say it sooner or later' I thought with a strained smile marking this interaction.

"Alrighty Silver, 22 million straight cash. Oh did ye end up ordering yer ship?" He asked curiously, handing over a large briefcase.

"Yeah thanks for recommending them, ended up only spending 5.5mil on a brand new Caravel" I said with excitement.

"That's a decent price, so how was yer first real hunt?"

"Eye-opening to put it mildly, let's just say I wasn't even close to as strong as I thought I was." I said with a sigh rubbing my still bruised abdomen from when I let my guard down.

"Eh, don't let it get ye down. You took down a twenty million Berrie man! Hell, I can't name thirty hunters in the blues that could do that, JURAHAHA" James finished with an odd laugh.

"Hey, I was wondering if I could buy some information?" I asked knowing this guy has some decent intel even here in the North Blue.

"What on? Can't give ye a price without knowing" James asked.

"Have you ever heard of somebody using the Mera Mera no mi? The fire Logia" I asked.

"Hmmmm, already devil fruit hunting huh?" He said before opening a cabinet and rifling through it for about five minutes.

"Here we are, 'FLAME EMPEROR' KARA D ROJIN 3.5 Billion . Killed by 'THE HERO' Garp about 11 years ago after he burned down several islands in the East Blue for some unknown reason, no new user as of now." James said, flipping over a bounty poster with a giant X marked over the blonde-haired man's face.' That's ironic, Garp killed him and his surrogate grandson got his fruit. Still, this proves that it has to be on Sixis!' I thought with a smile.

"Thanks man, how much do I owe you?"

"Eh don't worry about it, consider it a gift for your first successful hunt," he said waving off the payment.

"Thanks, oh, and can I have a copy of every bounty over 5 million in the North Blue? Sorry for all the extra work today" I asked him with a smile.

"Ha! Already acting like a big shot huh? Just messing witcha hold on I'll be right back sonny" He said before heading to the back to print out some copies. Realizing it's probably going to take him a while I decide to accept my rewards on all the recently completed quests.

QUESTLINE COMPLETED

ALL THE TREASURES I

OBJECTIVE: ACCUMULATE 1,000,000 BERRIES FROM BOUNTIES

REWARDS:20 GACHA COINS,20,000XP,(PERFECT)RARE-GRADE SKILL ORB

QUESTLINE COMPLETED

ALL THE TREASURE II

OBJECTIVE: ACCUMULATE 5,000,000 BERRIES FROM BOUNTIES

REWARDS:150 GACHA COINS,30 STAT POINTS,100,000XP

QUESTLINE COMPLETED

ALL FOR A COIN I

OBJECTIVE: TURN IN ONE BOUNTY

REWARDS:10 GACHA COINS,5 STATS POINTS,40,000XP

LVL UP…. +5 STAT POINTS ADDED

'How many damn coins do I have now?' I can't stop the rising excitement for my first Guaranteed rare draw. Catching the deep red orb before it hits the ground I can't help but feel it's kind of odd compared to the one I got Tekai from.

(PERFECT) RARE GRADE SKILL ORB

CRUSH TO RECEIVE A RARE GRADE SKILL

'Huh? What does it mean by 'perfect'?' I thought before the 'GACHA SHOP' opened up on its own.

NEW GACHA FUNCTION DISCOVERED!

CERTAIN SKILL ORBS REFERRED TO AS 'PERFECT' GUARANTEES THE HOST WHAT THE SHOP DEEMS THE BEST DROPS, THERE ARE A FEW IN EACH TIER THAT SHARE THIS RANKING SO IT IS STILL NOT A GUARANTEE TO GET THE EXACT SKILL DESIRED.

GOOD LUCK!

'Sick, I wonder what it could be? Probably Kami-e, it's honestly the most broken of the 'base' six powers' I thought to myself before crushing the orb into dust.

NEW SKILL GAINED

OBSERVATION HAKI(NOVICE) LVL 1/50-USING YOUR WILLPOWER YOU CAN OPEN A SIXTH SENSE TO THE WORLD AROUND YOU, SENSING ATTACKS AND EVEN GAINING AN UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR THREAT LEVEL OR INTENT.

CURRENT RANGE:10 METERS.

As a switch flipped somewhere deep in my subconscious I gained a new sense, turning to the back of the office I can feel James pressing down on a printer machine copying a load of bounties onto fresh paper.

'OBSERVATION HAKI IS CONSIDERED A MERE RARE ABILITY!' I yelled internally in disbelief. 'I guess it is the most shown in the series, introduced super early in the Skypiea arc. Maybe 'future sight' and 'Souls voice' are considered a subclass ability that you'd have to draw for, It's the only way the ranking could make sense' I thought to myself in excitement of everything that I just got. Quickly turning towards the door as I can literally feel James walk back to me with about 100 ish papers in his hands. 'Damn this is the great age of the pirates after all"

"Alrighty Silver, here's everyone. Though I left these three separate, I recommend staying as far away from these three as ye can, Pirates worth over 100,000,000 are a different breed. Especially this one, run at all cost sonny" James said, placing the three posters on the counter with his main focus on the one on the far right. Starting from the left I'm surprised to see the power sitting in the North Blue.

'THE GHOUL' KORO RISER

CAPTAIN OF THE GHOST-HAND PIRATES WITH AN ACCUMULATED CREW BOUNTY OF 155,000,000 BERRIES

105,000,000 BERRIES

WANTED DEAD

'THE SWORD' LIONEL D SURASSHU

CAPTAIN OF THE LIONEL PIRATES WITH AN ACCUMULATED CREW BOUNTY OF 210,000,000 BERRIES.

155,000,000 BERRIES

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

'FALLEN GOD' DONQUIXOTE DOFLAMINGO

CAPTAIN OF THE DONQUIXOTE PIRATES WITH AN ACCUMULATED CREW BOUNTY OF 330,000,000 BERRIES.

250,000,000 BERRIES

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE.

'Yeah that's about what I expected from Doflamingo but these other two are interesting, especially Riser. Wanted dead at 100 million is crazy, I wonder who he pissed off, plus his crew's name and moniker are badass.' I thought, eyeing his poster with curiosity.

"Ye he was the most interesting to me too, being wanted dead for only 100mil is almost unheard of, you want his info? Only 20,000" he said with a smirk, I sighed as my curiosity got the best of me so I handed over the money.

"Word is he stole some national treasure from the Whiteland kingdom, it's located in the farthest northern region of this sea. My guess is it was a Devil Fruit. But he must have really pissed the king off because he put forth all the money for the bounty. His Vice-Captain and swordsman Tora is worth 40 million. He's been spotted a lot around Swallow island towards the east of us." James finished giving me the info I burned into my mind for the future.

QUEST ACCEPTED

HOW TO KILL A GHOUL

OBJECTIVE: DESTROY THE GHOST-HAND PIRATES

REWARDS:1,000,000XP,300 GACHA COINS,???,???

'Phew, thank god there's no time limit on this one, I don't even want to mess with it for at least a couple of months' I thought with a thankful sigh.

"sorry one last question, I stole the Barrels ship, can I sell it?" I asked unsure of whether theres procedures or not.

"Ehh, I'd say just let the Marines confiscate it, you'd only make chump change from a pirate owned vessel, not to mention the annoyance it would be to sell" James answered with what I suspected would be the case.

"Alright James thanks for everything today, I really need to go to sleep." I bid him goodbye with a tired smile.

"Alrighty then Silver," He said with a wave.

Finally making it back to the inn I notice both of my new subordinates sitting and sharing a meal, walking up and sitting next to them, smiling as I see the 2-meter-long great sword sitting against the counter. Turning to the waiting Kai I order a small meal that only takes about 5 minutes to arrive. Finishing my meal in between talking with the crew I decided to turn in for the night.

"Alright guys, be up by 5:30 a.m we're going to be training for a minimum of 12 hours daily from now until the ships finished. Make sure you guys get a good night's sleep" I tell them both receiving nods in return.

Heading to my room with a content sigh, 'Honestly, I've been lucky to get 2 good fighters. I know towards the final fight with Kaido, X Drake was about Vice-Admiral level and considering Mori's young age and good weapon proficiency I could see him reaching that level in like 5-10 years. Now what the hell I'm I going to do about this?' I think to myself pulling out a beautiful heart-shaped fruit.

'My first Mythical grade item, the only problem is I don't like the passive Mage-like fighting style of this fruit. Yes, I'm sure I could make it work but from the series, we see its absolute dominance in long-range combat not to mention if you need actual medical knowledge to use it to its full potential. I'm more of a mid to close-range fighter at least that's what I've been training for and I definitely don't want my swordsmanship to become a third or fourth option. Honestly, I don't even like Paramecias that much, the only ones I'd eat without a second thought would be the Quake and Gravity fruits. Call me childish but turning into a mythical monster or becoming the Avatar of a literal element just sounds so badass'

'So with that in mind, it would make sense to use the fruit to get Law on the crew, A man with Yonko potential would be the perfect Vice-Captain. The problem is I have no way to contact him and I'll be damned if I go anywhere near 'Spider Miles' the hub of the Donquixote Pirates. I'm sure I could try and send a cryptic message hinting at nothing to hopefully get the desperate kid to take the chance but still, it's risky' I finished the thought before literally face-planting into the bed. Continuing the thought for a few moments I realize something I can't believe I overlooked for this long.

"How many coins do I have!" I said sitting back up with impressive speed.

LVL 9 (119,900/128,000XP)

TITLE:

NAME: FATE D. KAL

STR-83

END-108

WILL-127

INT-5

DEX-86

STAT POINTS:75

GACHA COINS:210

(NEW)BERRIE COUNTER:23,210,000

'Dammit, there goes my sleep, draw draw draw!'

WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO A 100-COIN GUARANTEED RARE DRAW

Y/N…..DRAWING…..

A 1.5-meter-long Bastard sword fell into my lap, it had a black and gold handle with a basic gray cross guard. Removing the blade from its scabbard I can't help but stare in awe at the detail.

"It's beautiful," I said out loud, looking at the dark grey blade with a multitude of gold accents above the hilt.

EPIC SKILLFUL-GRADE SWORD

TENGOKO

EFFECT:1.5X DEXTERITY BOOST, DAMAGE +100% WHEN WIELDING,

'Awesome! The difference between just one sword grade is crazy. This is kind of sad though, I really wanted to stick to the One-sword style. Looks like Shigure is retiring' I thought with a sad smile as I grabbed Old faithful and deposited it into my inventory. 'Now should I go for another epic draw or 10 uncommons? Fuck it'

WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO A 100-COINS GUARANTEED RARE DRAW

Y/N…..DRAWING…..

'YES!' I thought in excitement as a dark red Orange with the iconic swirls falls into my hand.

LEGENDARY-GRADE PARAMECIA FRUIT

CHI CHI NO MI (BLOOD BLOOD FRUIT)

EFFECT: CONTROL ALL FORMS OF BLOOD, PERMANENT +600 DEXTERITY AND +200 ENDURANCE.

'That sounds broken as shit, I bet you could even copy Luffys gear second and maybe even take it a different route than he did in the later stages. The blood-bender fruit' I thought with a smirk before dropping it in the inventory.

'Damn 200 coins gone just like that' I thought before sinking into the bed.

NEXT MORNING….

"This sucks," I said looking out of the window to greet darkness. 'Why the hell did I say to get up this early' I thought before lighting a smoke. 'Probably because I need to train Observation Haki, Tekai, boxing, and hopefully evolve my Swordsmanship to the next level.' I finished the thought while throwing my red cloak on and strapping Tengoku over my left shoulder as I head out to see if the guys are up.

Heading down to the tavern I see them both sitting their drinking a glass of milk, smiling at them for following my orders I quickly went to join them to talk over plans.

"Morning guys"

"Morning boss"

"Yeah yeah" Drake said discontent with how early it is.

(A/N Dory officially changed his name yesterday)

"Ah come on, how do you expect us to aim for stronger pirates if we don't train more than them" I replied with a smirk.

"So what's the plan for today?" Mori asked.

"Alright guys follow me, we'll talk while we walk to the training area." I told them hopping off the seat. Both of them followed me towards the training area I've been using since I got here.

"So the plan for you two is to focus on your Zoans, right now I'd say you both could last fighting at full power for like 10 minutes. I want you guys to focus completely on your transformations and creating techniques with them. When you run out of stamina for your transformations I have separate training plans for both of you. Mori I want you to focus on your entire body, get used to flexing all your muscles."

"Why my muscles?" Mori asked confused.

"Do you remember when I was fighting Barrels, just standing there and letting him hit me a few times instead of dodging?"

"Yeah? I thought you were just too slow"

"No, I know a powerful defensive technique that only works when you flex all your muscles. I actually stole it from some Marines, it's called Tekai" I finished the last part in a whisper with a devious smile.

"You're a villain," Drake said with a scowl.

"Dude it's just a martial art. Get your marine boner under control Drake" I said with a laugh.

"Whatever, so what am I going to do after training my Zoan?" Drave asked.

"I have a bunch of weights at the training ground so I want you to focus solely on your leg strength and speed. I haven't mastered this move yet but from what I've seen you kick the ground 10 times in under a second, it's a speed-boosting move called Soru"

"That doesn't sound possible?" Mori said in confusion.

"Says the guy that can literally transform into a panda,haha" I replied

"Ok, good point" Mori replied with a laugh.

"But I can fly, why would I kick the ground?" Drake asked confused.

"Drake, if you can hit the ground 10 times in your base and use Soru, I'm sure with your transformation boost you'll be able to figure out a way to use it while flying. Just imagine how fast you could fly into enemy territory and drop a bundle of grenades and fly back so fast they can't shoot you down." I said with a smirk as his eyes widen in realization. 'That's at least what I'd do if I had his fruit, flying is good and all but if you're not fast enough you'll get destroyed'.

"So what'll you do?" Mori asked as we walked into the grassy clearing, patch marks and tore up ground marking it as my training ground.

"Ah don't worry about me, I have so much shit to train it isn't funny. Luckily I already have the perfect training partner" I said with a smirk spotting the Gorilla sleeping on a tree branch. My voice wakes him quickly as he jumps down creating a small dust cloud marking his entrance.

"God, what a monster. He looks like he could rip me in half" Drake said with a shiver.

"Don't worry I'll let you train with him soon, the big guy loves to fight after all" I said dropping my blade and coat on a nearby tree branch.

"What are you idiots standing around for? Go get started, daylights wasting" I told them as they both jerked transforming into their Zoans.

"Alright, I hope you're are well rested because by the end of this week you won't be able to land a blow on me!" I yelled out to the gorilla in challenge, he seemed to smile slightly before sliding into a boxing stance in preparation. 'I should really give this guy a name, hmmm, I guess Ceaser will work'

Deciding to take the initiative I dash forward throwing a quick jab once I'm in range, Caesar blocked it with a forearm before throwing one back. Turning my head slightly to the left I failed to notice the hidden uppercut, at least yesterday I would have.

{Left uppercut}

Just barely tipping my head back, I can see the surprise in Ceasers eyes as I slam a viscous hook across his jaw. 'So this is what basic Observation Haki can do, sometimes it can perceive hidden attacks.'

SKILL LEVEL UP

OBSERVATION HAKI (1-2)

Smirking as I wait for him to get his barring's I slide back into a defensive stance and wait for him to charge. With an angry growl he charges forward, throwing a powerful overhead punch that I barely sidestep. Now inside his guard I give him a few body shots before jumping away from his retaliatory hook. Feeling cocky with my new sense I charge in with reckless abandon, straight into a jab, I hit both square. Deciding to push the advantage I 'try' and go for an over head strike, at least until a meaty fist plunges deep into my sternum. 'Yep.. not even close to battle ready' I thought as I didn't get any warning of that one. Dipping my head to side as a fist slides against my cheek, with a roar I sent a powerful straight that gets blocked without much trouble.

"Alright Ceaser, lets see if you can break my defenses!" I yelled out before flexing my arms over my head leaving my chest and abdomen open. With a snarl the beast charges in unleashing a flurry of blows. About fifteen minutes later I can tell he's getting pissed, deciding to go for an unending barrage of uppercuts right into my abs. I only last another thirty seconds before I had to bat him away. 'Since when did he learn to attack the same spot to stack the damage' I thought in worry of how strong I'm making this Gorilla.

AGGREAGATED: +15 ENDURANCE +5 WILLPOWER

SKILL LEVEL UP-TEKAI (24-29)

'Phew only 5 levels after letting him beat on me for that long' I thought with a sigh while whipping the sweat from my brow.

"Alright let's keep going!"