The Plan

In the laboratory of the Freed house

Fred at great speed, but without making mistakes, used all the useful ingredients at his disposal to transform them into [Sleeping Beauty] his favourite non-deadly poison so far and some other products of interest

'I'm glad I stored so much for future experiments...

It's a shame not to have been so farsighted with other types of medical material' Fred lamented as he deposited several vials full of his poison in a box and then returned to his seat to produce more, without being distracted in the least

Not even when certain scumbags entered the lab

"Hi sir...

We've already loaded those boxes on the ship…" Said one of the pirates that Fred was forcing to work hard.

"Carry these other boxes too, and when you're done coming back again, you'll still have four more to carry, not to mention what Stephen will made you carry...

And don't worry, I still have many uses for you" Fred said as he held back his urge to throw something at their heads, after all he needed them as little injured as possible.

"YES SIR!" The two pirates shout affirmatively as they took the boxes that Fred pointed and went down the stairs as they did the other times while internally complaining, since Fred had forbidden them to express their complaints.

'How the hell is he forcing me to do and say this?

Is this demonic child an Akuma No Mi user?' Thought one of the pirates, who was futilely trying to find some way to get rid of that mind control and be free again.

'Fuck...

Am I really destined to always be the useless and mistreated lackey of a tyrant?

I shouldn't have dropped out of drama school...' Thought the other pirate, who couldn't help but reflect on the bad decisions he had made in his life until now… bad decisions that had caused him to end up being mind controlled by a child on a nearly abandoned island

Regrets that didn't matter at all to Fred, the more they suffered the better for him and for the world. His only concern now was to make the necessary preparations to make his plan and after-plan a success, keeping an eye out in case any of his patients took a turn for the worse while he was here and going over and over in his head his strategies and the risks involved in the event that something went wrong

Plus...

"Meaawwww!!!"

He takes care of his cat, who had just come in through the window like every night at this time after a long day of hunting rodents and sleeping.

"Hello Schrödi, I see that you have had more luck than yesterday with your hunt...

Here's some fresh tuna caught this morning by Mrs. Brush.

Enjoy, this is probab... no, it's definitely the last one..." Said Fred as he put his work on hold for a moment to give his cat his well-deserved reward, but also bad news.

"Meaw?"

"While you and I were out of the village, some pirates came and took young women like Roxanne, left a lot of people in critical condition, like Grandma Brush, who I don't think will survive tonight... and they also killed to many people including dad...

Now I am preparing everything necessary to go to avenge them and rescue Roxanne and the others" Said Fred as he took off the backpacks in which he carried his new lab rats... which he wouldn't use that night for obvious reasons... and sat back in his chair to continue working against the clock

And Schrödinger, like every cat does when watching his master work, especially when he was in a hurry, climbed onto his lap. However, unlike other cats, Schrödinger didn't do it to demand attention, but to comfort Fred after seeing him so sad and lack of pampering

"Meawww...

Grung..." Schrödinger meowed and purred as he snuggled into Fred's lap, rubbing his fur against his face, licking and petting him almost as if he were a dog

"I'm fine Schrödi...

Thanks for wanting to cheer me up...

How about you go downstairs with the kids?

I am sure that Tania and Sara need your healing power more than I do" Said Fred as he (metaphorically) split his body and brain to pet his faithful kitten while working

"MEAW!"

"Ok, Ok... you can stay with me...

...

...

Thank you for staying with me ..." Fred said as he continued with his work a little less sad than before having Schrödinger by his side

---

Minutes passed and finally everyone had finished with their preparations.

Fred had picked up a sword and pistol that he found on the ground...probably from some dead pirate...and filled all the pockets and compartments of his jacket, pants, bags and other places with his blowpipes, needles of different sizes, throwing knives and small impact-resistant plastic bottles that contained anaesthesia, medicines, stimulants, poisons and antidotes among other things

Stephen had also finished his preparations. He had assembled and made all the weapons that he could create in the time that Fred had given and obviously also the order made mostly of wood, which was being transported to the ship by the detestable cargo pirates right now

And the other children, unable even to dissuade Fred from embarking on a mission they considered suicidal, did the only thing they could, which is to say goodbye to Fred on the dock, wishing him the best of luck.

"Well, it seems that this is all...

It's just as I imagined it, but...

Why are there two? I only told you to make one" Fred said as he inspected the giant barrels with false padded floors that he had requested

"Why? One for you and one for me, obviously...

Did you really think I'd stay here while you're going to risk your life to save my mother and make those pirates pay for everything they've done?

Whatever your plan was, reformulate it to include me" Stephen said with unexpected seriousness and determination as he boarded the ship armed with his new warhammer and favourite crossbow, fitted with slightly heavy chain mail for added protection and like Fred he also carried various thrown weapons, though no poison.

Stephen had prepared for war both mentally and logistically just like his friend!

"Is there any chance of changing your mind?

It's a dangerous mission in which we have the possibility of losing our lives..." Asked Fred, warning Stephen of the danger of participating in this pirate hunt, the almost ten-year-old boy who, until a few hours ago, refused to be a bounty hunter with him precisely to avoid putting himself in danger.

"If you already know what the answer is, why are you asking?" Stephen replied without hesitation as he looked into Fred's eyes without even blinking, proving that not only his hammer and his last name were made of steel, but also his balls...

A manly value that Fred foresaw 'I knew this would happen... what a great tessitura'

Counting the years that Fred had lived either alone in his previous life or adding both, Fred was mentally an adult, as well as an adult responsible, cautious and even paranoid enough not to endanger himself, much less a child who was a few weeks short of his tenth birthday

As an adult, he should by all means prevent Stephen from embarking with him on this dangerous mission, even if he used force in case reasoning and emotional blackmail didn't work.

However… right now he was officially ten years old!

It would be incredibly strange and hypocritical of him to deny that Stephen accompanied him for those reasons, especially when his mother's life was in danger.

Shinichi Kudo would never have allowed elementary school kids like Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta to help them in some of his dangerous cases involving assassins... but as Conan Edogawa those dilemmas disappeared...

Besides, he needed all the help he could get and Stephen was someone he could trust.

"...

...

Anyway...

You made the ship, I can't forbid you to ride on it..." Fred replied giving his grudging approval and then forced the others to get in "You scumbags, get on the ship too!

You will finally be able to be of real use to the world for the first time in your vomitive and unnecessary life!"

Hard, although certain words made quite a dent in them

'He's right...

I haven't done anything of value in my whole life...' Thought one of the pirates, who didn't stop getting depressed in this depressing situation

'No, it cannot be...

You want us to betray the Captain in his island?!

THAT WASN'T THE DEAL! THE DEAL WAS...

Oh god... it was to obey him in everything…

EVEN WITH THIS!!!" The other pirate despaired, finally realizing that his deal wouldn't end by revealing information and making sure it was correct.

However, those words also motivated the wrong person.

"WAIT!

I'm going too!" Said little six-year-old Edu, who, following Stephen's example, but without any preparation, tried to board the ship

"EDU!" Tania and especially Sara screamed upon see her brother also wanted to go on that suicide mission, so she ran to stop him and make him see reason.

However, it wasn't necessary, Fred stopped him before he could step on his property by grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and lifting him into the air like a cat "Edu...

Stop talking nonsense and go back with your sister..."

"WHY!?

Those pirates have killed my father as well as you!

And my mother has been kidnapped as well as Stephen's!

Why can he go I can't!?" Edu protested as he tried to wriggle out of Fred's grasp… but failing… he just convulsed pathetically in the air.

"Because his abilities are adequate to be useful in this operation and because I fully trust him

However, you would only be a burden in absolutely every possible facet...

You will screw it up at any time exposing your position and possibly ours, they will catch you, you will be unable to avoid being caught, they will use you as a hostage and that could put us in a bad position as well as your mothers and probably other kidnapped people.

Have you already forgotten what happened to Marlon when they took hostages?" Fred replied reminding Edu of the harsh reality as he brought him close to his serious and scary face to show him how angry he was. As if he were scolding a puppy that had chewed and scratched the furniture while his master was away from home

But far from accepting reality, Edu… like many other immature human beings… sought to make excuses and point out to others that didn't need them "But... but...

That can also happen with Stephen!

What happens if Stephen is taken hostage!?"

"You're misunderstanding me...

In the event that you were caught and used as a hostage you would only endanger Stephen

Since he's extremely kind, cheerful, warm and sentimental, he would surely try to save you even at the cost of his own life and the mission...

However, this is not my case, I am as cold as your father's corpse...

In the hypothetical event that any of you were taken hostage, it could even be beneficial for me in certain situations. After all, a useless human shield creates a lot of vulnerabilities, but you probably wouldn't even be useful for that..." Fred answered in an extremely cruel way and lacking any empathy as he put Edu even closer to his face, leaving him completely stunned.

The forcefulness of his words, terrifying face and the hostile aura he emitted had left his mind totally blank and without the ability to complain... him and almost everyone who had listened to him, especially Stephen "Fred. .."

"AND NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Fred yelled as he dropped Edu to the ground like he was dead weight.

CHAF!

At that moment Edu finally reacted and either because of Fred's cruel words, because of the pain when he fell to the ground or because of both at the same time... he began to cry like the little boy he is "Mmfff... mmmfff. ...

BUAAHHHHH!!!"

And Fred, completely ignoring Edu's crying and Tania and Sara's expressions of fear and sadness, turned his back on them and returned to the boat, the opposite of what Stephen did.

"Edu...

Go back at home with your sister…

The last thing she would need is to lose you too..." Stephen said to Edu, giving him the same message as Fred but in an infinitely kinder way as he carried him, still crying, into Sara's arms, who couldn't help but cry again.

Cries that were irrelevant to Fred this time "STEPHEN!

STOP WASTING TIME!

WE'RE GOING AGAINST TIME!"

---

Aboard the Arcadia...

Fred, Stephen and the two pirates were sailing at high speed through the seas of the West Blue, targeting the island where the secret hideout of the Leech pirates was located.

From the island of Narhad a normal pirate ship pulled by sails would take four or five hours to get there. However, the Arcadia wasn't like the other boats, apart from the sails it also had a propeller driven by pedals, making the journey incredibly faster thanks to this additional mechanism...

And luckily there were two people on the boat who had volunteered to pedal

'I'M DYING! I'M DYING!

SOMEONE SHOOT ME OR SOMETHING PLEASE!' One of the pirates complained in his mind, who pedaled like a possessed man without being able to stop no matter how much he wanted.

And then it will be my turn...

I should never have left my studies! 'Thought the other pirate as he looked terrified at the tired and pained face of his companion, an expression that he would surely do in a few minutes

One replaced the other when he no longer had the strength to continue pedalling, something that didn't happen very often since Fred's energy shakes greatly improved his endurance and performance, not forgetting that Fred's Pact Magic forced them to pedal until their bodies couldn't take it anymore

In this way Fred and Stephen could reserve their energies to relax, prepare their material, prepare their strategy, mentally prepare themselves for what they were going to do next or just talk... something they hadn't done since they set sail from the island for the first time in their lives twenty minutes ago

"...

Do you want to lecture me for saying what I said?" Fred asked Stephen who was looking at him without saying anything, less than a meter away. He had never seen Stephen silent for so long and felt that he should be the one to break that silence.

As Fred suspected, Stephen had wanted to lecture him for the things he had said. He sensed why Fred had been so harsh with Edu to the point of saying things that he didn't even really think about... but he didn't think it would have been necessary to do it that way, there were other more friendly options to make him see reality and making him give up

However, Stephen knew that this was neither the time nor the place to talk about it, now they had to concentrate on what was in store for them "...

Nope... I wanted to ask you what are the chances of success and the level of danger"

"If everything goes as I hope, we won't even need to fight to defeat all the Leech pirates and rescue Roxanne" Fred replied, showing off his brilliant mind, stating that he had devised a plan worthy of appearing in the famous book by Sun Tzu

Great news that instantly made Stephen happy "Great!

Then..."

"But if something goes wrong... we may be screwed and by screwed I mean quite dead depending on the degree of failure" Fred said without softening at all the risks of his plan in case of failure

Chances of failure darkened Stephem's cheerful expression again, who said with some fear after gasping "Mmm...

Okay..."

"We can still go back if you've changed your mind..." Said Fred applying a bit of reverse psychology after seeing the almost comical change in facial expressions of his expressive friend

A reverse psychology that worked quite well.

Therefore, Stephen plucked up his courage and optimism again and crossing his fingers wishing that Fred's plan would be a resounding success he replied "No, thanks...

As you said, we're going against the clock, although I still don't know why..."

"I'll explain my plan shortly, though I suppose you've guessed something and I have also prepared notes… but before that sit here, I'll apply this red hair colorant

You have the same hair color as Roxanne, in the event that a pirate senses your relationship they could use her as a hostage against you

It's not unlikely that they'll have some red-haired woman from another island kidnapped, but even if they do take her hostage, I hope you won't be intimidated." Fred said as he took out of one of the backpacks that he had on his waist a small bottle of red dye that he had made shortly before leaving.

Under other circumstances, Stephen would have told him he was paranoid, that something like this was practically impossible to happen… but not today, at least not after seeing that his idea of the false hideouts under the false hideouts might have helped.

With that in mind Stephen let Fred apply the red dye to his hair, something Fred wasn't very good at, as he had never dyed his hair or dyed anyone else's. Since the process wasn't going very fast and Fred needed to focus there wasn't much to talk about, something that Stephen took the opportunity to think a little

Moreover, from thinking so much Stephen came to a conclusion, which raised a question "This...

The fact that you had prepared this red dye is because you wanted me to come with you but you didn't want to ask me because of the danger I might be subjected to… even so, you know that I would offer to come anyway?"

"...

...

If that were so, I would have told you to make two barrels..." Fred answered, denying Stephen's hypothesis.

A very difficult hypothesis to deny, so Stephen insisted "With the measurements you gave me we could both fit inside one perfectly, in addition to our equipment"

"...Yes...but not comfortably...

Forget about that and... " Fred replied trying to avoid answering a very specific question like a professional politician... until luckily or unfortunately they changed the subject when they realized that there was someone else on their boat "Wait a minute!

What're you doing here!? When did you sneak in!?"

And that unexpected stowaway was...

"Mewww?"

"When I was scolding Edu? Pretty ironic...

Don't try to act cute Schrödinger!

You know perfectly well that we are going to a dangerous place, you unconscious cat!" Fred yelled scolding his cat, who was trying to appear as cute as possible so that Fred would soften his iron heart.

Schrödinger knew that his favorite purveyor of food and affection was headed to a dangerous place and that he, too, was going through a very painful time. He felt that he should help him even if he got angry about it. "MEAWWWW!

Mewww... grunj... mew"

"Yes, you're right, you would be a perfect spy, there's no doubt about that, but...

Have you thought for a moment what happens if they kill you, either because they're allergic to cats, for fun or to eat?

You're a fucking cat! You should be more selfish!" Fred yelled as he lifted Schrödinger by the skin of his neck just like with Edu (more or less) to scold him for his recklessness

"MEAAEEEWWW!!!"

"I'm not a racist, it's just...

Ok... it's too late to go back...

It will be better to explain the plan at once." Said Fred, who gave up this time. He couldn't turn others around at this point, plus he knew Schrödinger was a competent and intelligent cat, he could be of help too.

Meanwhile the boat engine and the spare engine watched with even more fear as their eccentric new boss approached them with a cat on his shoulder.

'This kid is totally crazy...

Is he talking to a cat?'

'In addition to hypnotism or whatever this is, he also talks to animals?

What a great aim... I had to run into the weirdest kid on the planet...'

"Both of you...

What's your name?" Fred asked the two pirates, giving them permission to speak for the first time in nearly an hour.

An occasion that they wouldn't let pass, after all they were tired of being referred to with insults and not with human names "My name is..."

"I don't give a fuck about your stupid names!

From now on you will be Scum 1 and your Scum 2

AND DON'T STOP RIDING SCUM 2!" Fred said, interrupting their attempts to be seen as human beings as he hit Scum 2 with a notebook

'Motherfucker! Motherfucker! Son of a bitch!' Cursed Scum 2 as he pedaled to the beat of Fred's notebook hits

'Well... at least I'm number 1...

Something is something...' Thought Scum 1, who was so depressed that he misinterpreted this as some kind of achievement.

And now, with the two renowned pirates and the rest of the team gathered and attentive, Fred began to share his plan while Stephen's hair dried

"Good...

Thanks to the information that Scum 1 and Scum 2 provided us about the geography of the island, the pirates that are left alive, their actual state, their personality and strength, and the details of tonight's party among a lot to things... I have drawn up a master plan in which everyone ... including the two scum... we have to work together to make it a complete success.

You will have to learn the main plan and all the possible variations and plans B, C, D, E, F... in short, all the possibilities that I have foreseen so far and how to deal with them!

So listen to me well, because I will only repeat it once... or as many times as necessary until we reach the damn secret base, which I hope will be soon Scum 1 and 2" Fred said as he showed the notebook where he had written down his strategies...

"MEW!" Schrödinger meowed energetically as he raised his right paw

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You'll be able to see 8 chapters in advance in my Pa-treon

pa-treon.com/user?u=83938371

Chatper Edited By: The_Bored_Immortal