On The Road Again

Outback and a reasonable distance away from the lighthouse, I groaned as I stretched my stiff joints and ligaments. The year sleeping on a table had taken his toll, but my body already started to regenerate new cells to replace the old, weakened ones.

I was pretty tall after all my changes for eighteen years old, 6 feet, and even though my body looked trim, I clocked out at a whopping 235 pounds or 107 Kilograms.

I built my body like a tank reinforced bone, but my increased muscle density made sure I didn't lose any speed with my increased weight.

Another feature of my new specs was the coil inside my legs, it was one of the trickier operations, but I could safely fall from a height of fifty feet and survive without injury. They also acted as a spring so I could go from 0 to 30 in the blink of an eye.

"You sure about this boy? This might hurt."

"Do it already, old man. I'm not scared of a little bit of pain."

Crocus shrugged as he lit the fuse to the cannon and pointed the barrel at me. After a second, the fuse reached the gunpowder, and the cannonball came flying at me.

I grunted as the ball of iron struck my chest and exploded. When the dust settled, I was still standing with a small scorch mark where the cannonball exploded.

"You okay boy, should I go to the second phase." I nodded, and Crocus marked something down on a piece of paper, then he picked up a harpoon launcher.

"Brace for impact." This time I didn't escape without injury. The harpoon embedded itself in my leg, drawing blood.

I pulled out the metal piece and stopped the blood flow by closing one of the sphincter muscles around the artery leading to my right leg.

"So piercing weapons will still harm me, but I can take a cannonball to the face and survive. Good to know."

After my physical examination, Crocus did about every medical examination I could think of. Blood pressure, cholesterol, muscle to fat ratio, all of it.

"I have to say your the healthiest person I've ever met, you almost have no fat and your resting heart rate is forty," Crocus said, handing me a clipboard with my test results.

"Okay, it's been fun, but I need to get going," I said, changing out of the hospital gown into my regular clothing.

"What I look after you for a year, and you're gone just like that," Crocus said as he helped me pack.

"Oh, don't tell me that you're sorry to see me go."

"Don't get me started. It's just that Laboon is going to miss you."

"The work we did on Laboon took a year, and you watched over me for a year, so my two-year apprenticeship is over."

Crocus sighed, "It was good having you here, but I can't hold you back. But before you go, I want to give something to you."

Crocus walked up the stairs and returned, holding a small treasure box. Placing the chest on the table, Crocus opened the lid revealing a velvet cushioned inside, and resting on top of a pillow, sat a small seed.

"What is this? I don't recognize it from the book you gave me." Crocus smiled, "Of course not, that's the seed of a plant only found on Laugh Tale, the last island in the new world."

"So what does it do," I asked, closing the chest.

"If you plant that seed, it will grow into a vine. And if you grind its leaves into a paste, it will provide a grown man three days of food. With your devil fruit powers, it might prove useful."

"Thanks, Crocus-san, thanks for watching over my unresponsive body for a year."

I waved to Laboon and Crocus as I set sail. With my haki and devil fruit powers all but mastered, I set my sights on a pirate crew I could align myself with.

"Now I just have to find him and some good sake." On my lonesome again, I practiced my swordplay, focusing on my draw speed as my entire offense focused around that one motion.

Another six months passed before I arrived back in Sabaody Archipelago, Shakky and Rayleigh were happy to see me, and I told them of my plan.

Rayleigh coated my ship in a few weeks, and I exchanged my log pose for a new world version. Then it was off to Fish-Man Island. I made sure to keep my head low and entered the legal way to avoid any trouble.

I bought a large bottle of high-quality sake, and I was on my way again. I started my search for that man, hoping I could win him over.

After weeks of sailing through unnatural weather, I woke up to a clear sky and a large galleon on the horizon.

-On Board the Ship-

"Hey, captain their a ship heading towards us."

"Eh, is it flying a jolly roger?"

"No, sir, and I only see one man on deck. What should we do?"

"Blow it out of the goddamn water. I don't feel like dealing with any rookie bounty hunter."

"Prepare the Cannon, ship at the starboard fire at will!!"

Narrowing my eyes, I looked at the ports opening up on the side of the ship, "Those are cannon, well shit."

A second later, the ship fired, sending hot balls of steel flying my way. Jumping into the air, I sent out a compressed air blade from my sword, cutting the cannonballs in half before they exploded.

[Body Art: Tsubasa]

Gliding over on my wings, I dropped onto the deck of the galleon, and immediately I was surrounded by pirates.

"What do you think you're doing, Boy." I looked up at the mountain of a man sitting on a large cushioned chair with medical equipment around him—one of the four pirate emperors Edward Newgate, better known as Whitebeard.

"I want to join the Whitebeard Pirates!"

My exclamation was met with laughter by the rest of the crew. Whitebeard laughed, wiping tears from his eyes, "And what do you think makes you qualified to join my ranks."

"First, I brought a tribute," I said before tossing him the bottle of sake, "and for the second one, I think it's better if I show you."

I slowly started to exert my Emperors Haki, and some of the pirates began to drop like flies, unable to stand against me.

Then Whitebeard released his own Haki, pushing mine back, but I stood my ground. After our standoff, Whitebeard grinned, "What's your name, boy."

"Soren D. Arvil! Musician, swordsman, devil fruit user, Haki master, and doctor. Captain!." I snapped a solute and Whitebeard chuckled.

"Your not a part of my crew just yet boy, Marco see this one to his quarters and retrieve his ship while I polish off this bottle."