Chapter 47: First Mate

After everything happened Luffy, Sanji and Usopp went to get some supplies. On the ship, Nami, Zoro, Robin, Chopper and Kai were doing nothing when a giant sky fish that looked like a shrimp grabbed the Merry and took the ship and its passengers to the Upper Yard.

When they arrived at the altar Kai looked around and said. "Cool! I've never been sacrificed to god before! Sounds like fun!"

Robin giggled. "Neither have I. I wonder what it's like?"

The other three looked at the two like they were insane. Maybe they were?

Anyway!

Kai just chuckled to himself and whistled as he said. "So this is the other half of Jaya."

Nami froze and her eyes turned to $ signs. "The city of gold is here! Alright everyone let's get going! Look for the gold! NOW!" As she started forcing everyone to search for the gold city.

They decided to split up before Kai stopped them. "No way. We can't let Mosshead go alone. He'll end up in fucking Wano somehow."

Everyone but Zoro nodded in agreement and Kai volunteered. "I'll go with him."

Zoro was shocked. "Why do I need a babysitter? You guys are the ones who always get lost!"

Chopper almost passed out in shock. "You're the one who always gets lost!!" He yelled out.

Zoro shook his head at the idiots who always get lost and blame him. What fools.

Chopper decided to stay at the ship and everyone else went to search for clues. Kai and Zoro walked off together looking around. Zoro almost got lost multiple times, if Kai's kenbunshoku wasn't so advanced he very well might have ended up at Wano.

Zoro was walking in the opposite direction of Kai once again at the moment and Kai just sighed. He turned around and grabbed Zoro's arm before spinning him the right way so they could walk side by side.

Kai lit a cigarette and said. "You still don't trust devil-chan, right?" Zoro got serious as he nodded.

Kai continued on. "Good. Everyone else on the crew is an idiot for just accepting her like they did without knowing anything about her."

Zoro thought for a second. "What makes you any different? You aren't wary of her at all. I'd say you actually trust her more than anyone else on this ship does."

Kai thought for a moment. "Hmmm. I probably do. I trust her a lot actually, I probably would have been fine with showing her my face if she was really on the crew."

Zoro was intrigued by the last part. "What do you mean if she was 'really on the crew'?"

"Didn't notice? She hasn't called one of you by name. Not even once. Hell she's only called me by 'name' once or twice. She may be on the crew physically, but she isn't mentally. At least not yet." Kai responded.

Zoro thought back and realized that Kai was right. "You never answered me earlier. What makes you different from the crew when you trust her as well."

Kai laughed a little. "When I said that, I didn't mean it was wrong to trust her. She's actually one of the most trustworthy people in the world, I meant it was stupid for them to trust someone they don't know, no matter who it is. But I'm different. I know about her, and I know who she is. I didn't trust someone randomly, I chose her as someone I could trust. See the difference?"

Zoro nodded seriously at Kai's words. Kai already knew Robin and chose her as someone to make a bet with to join the crew, whereas everyone else just accepted that because they trust Kai and she seemed nice.

Zoro was lost in thought until Kai said. "The crew needs someone who can think rationally, Luffy might be the captain but you being the first mate is just as important. If neither of you two think logically and just do things on a whim then only disaster awaits. I'm not saying you need to babysit Luffy or that your position is the same as his. He is still the captain and you're still the first mate. His decision is final, but he still needs to listen to your opinion before he makes the final decision. What you need to stop, is him making dumb decisions without thinking about it first." Kai and Zoro walked in silence for a bit as Zoro digested what Kai just said.

"You're right. I need to be a pillar for the crew, but where do you fit in?" Zoro asked.

Kai took a long drag at Zoro's question. "I'm not on this crew. I may hang out with you guys but I'm not a crewmate, and I don't want to be. I have other things to do with my life and I have a goal I wish to accomplish as well. It just happens to align with helping you guys right now."

Kai paused for a second to think before continuing, "Just think of me like a guardian angel for now, I won't babysit you but I can step in sometimes to stop you from dying if something unexpected happens."

Zoro nodded at Kai's answer before asking. "So what are your goals?"

Kai thought about what to say for a moment. "Hmm, I have a few, some are personal so I won't tell you. The others are too grand for you to fully understand yet. You're all still frogs in a well, you will understand what I mean soon. Anyway, the end goal is to fix this rotten world."

Kai dropped his cigarette and stomped on it digging his foot into the ground aggressively. "I'm going to crush the bastards who need to be crushed, and bring together the people who fight for freedom."

Zoro nodded in understanding before Kai stopped him. "Don't nod yet, you don't know what I'm talking about. Remember you're a frog in a well, I'm not talking about the games you play with small time pirates like Croc or the people in the East Blue, I'm talking about a whole new world of people you don't even know about yet. You guys don't even know what the scariest part about Croc was."

Zoro was thinking all of this over. "Then what's the scariest part of Croc?"

Kai laughed like a maniac. "Wahahaha! It was devil-chan! He was just a weakling in this world, the only real threat he posed was using devil-chan to get an ancient weapon."

Zoro still couldn't understand everything Kai was saying.

Kai didn't bother going into further detail as he lit another cigarette. "Don't get it right? Don't worry you weren't supposed to. This stuff is way too complicated for you guys right now."

Zoro thought for a moment. "Then why us? Why are you with us?"

Kai answered mysteriously. "Many reasons. None I can tell you. But let me ask you something that can answer this for you. Do any of you even know who gave Luffy that hat?"

Zoro thought for a bit. "Only the shit cook knew who he was." He answered.

Kai nodded. "Exactly, you guys don't even know who HE is. How can you expect to understand what I would be doing, or why?"

Zoro started to understand Kai's point about being frogs in a well. Apparently this guy who gave Luffy his hat was a big shot but no one even heard about him.

"Then why do you trust Robin? Didn't Smoker call her a 'devil child'?" Zoro asked Kai as he decided to focus on the issue at hand that he could control.

Kai hummed and kicked a rock. "Can't tell you. Too many secrets about too many people, including myself. You'll have to figure it out yourself." The second Kai finished his sentence he froze. "One sec."

He disappeared from Zoro's sight before Zoro could even respond. Making him wonder how strong Kai really was, he decided to train more.