Chapter 27

Hearing Garp say that they needed to talk sent a shiver down Markus's spine. Still, he wouldn't back down and nodded at Garp. As Luffy and the others caught up, Garp looked at Markus and spoke in a tone low enough for only him to hear, "You... are a dangerous man." His face scrunched up before he continued, "Still, as much as I would like to, I can't thank you for stopping the Buster Call even if the government has become afraid of using them as long as you are around."

Garp's eyes narrowed at Markus, "Your bounty is about to become monstrous and you will bring danger to those around you. If something happens to my grandson..."

Garp left the threat unsaid but Markus understood the implications. Markus nodded while replying, "As much as it hurts me to do so, soon I will need to leave his crew."

Garp looked a little relieved before he asked, "Is your name really Silvers D. Markus?"

Markus just nodded, "That's what my old man always told me. Why? Do you know anything about my family? I've never met any of them."

Garp eyed Markus looking for any signs of deceit. Markus didn't really lie though. He always called his system as his 'old man' and he really had never met Silvers Rayleigh. Seeing no signs of a lie, Garp sighed and shook his head, "I'm sure you'll find out someday. It's not my place to tell you."

Markus put on a disappointed face that was promptly ignored by Garp. Markus knew of the only other member of the Silvers family and couldn't help wondering if they had some connection. Still, he had an act to keep up so he nodded toward Garp, "Thanks anyways old man, at least now..."

Markus was instantly cut off as a fist slammed into the top of his head and knocked him to the ground, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING OLD MAN?! SHOW SOME RESPECT TO YOUR ELDERS!!"

Markus didn't reply as he was too busy rolling on the ground holding his head in pain. For once, it was not an act. Garp's 'Fist of Love' really fucking hurt! He could feel a large bump on his head slowly swelling as he fought back the pain. Nothing seemed to help, even the pain reduction of his Physical Resistance skill didn't seem to help with the throbbing!

He could have dodged Garp's fist, it was always an option when he could move at 1,222 miles per second thanks to his level 2 Lightning Speed skill. But... he didn't detect any malicious intent from Garp and he really wanted to experience Garp's 'Fist of Love' at least once! His curiosity over it got the better of him and now he was paying for it. Everyone else looked at Markus in shock. The only other person they'd ever seen 'hurt' Markus was Nami but he'd always instantly recovered from the 'damage' she dealt. Well, aside from when he weakened himself to spar with Zoro but that didn't count since he was doing it on purpose.

While Markus writhed in pain, Garp turned to his subordinates, "Alright guys. Go fix the wall."

"How can you be so selfish?!"

"Why did you break it in the first place if we'll end up fixing it?!"

"Because it's cool to enter the scene like that!"

"Don't break things for such ridiculous reasons!"

"We'll fix it but you better help us!"

"Eeeeeh?! ... Okay... I'll help."

True to his word, Garp grabbed a hammer and some nails to help repair the large hole he'd punched in the wall. While Garp and some marines worked on the repairs, Garp spoke to Luffy, "By the way, Luffy. I heard you crossed paths with your dad."

"Eh? Dad? I have a dad?"

Garp picked his nose as he continued, "He didn't introduce himself? I heard he saw you off at Logue Town!"

Markus tuned out of the conversation and found a comfortable spot to sit down. He was already fully recovered from Garp's blow and didn't care to listen about Monkey D. Dragon, Luffy's father. He already knew about Dragon being his father and that Dragon led the revolutionary army. He was probably the most wanted man in the world since he was directly declaring war against the world government and trying to usurp their control.

Markus didn't care about the Revolutionary Army one bit. If he had his way, they wouldn't even have much of a reason to fight anymore. He absolutely loathed the World Nobles and all of them were on his shit-list. Once he was certain he had enough power, he planned to wipe Mary Geoise off the face of the planet in one fell swoop. After that, he would hunt down every last survivor and wipe out all of the Celestial Dragons. Forget a slow revolutionary war, he'd end it nearly instantly.

Soon enough, Garp and most of the marines left leaving only Coby and Helmeppo behind to chat with Luffy. Peace, temporarily, returned to the crew. Markus sat at a table with Robin and Chopper while Sanji served tea and snacks. Robin kept glancing at him every now and then but didn't speak directly to him. Instead, she chatted with Chopper. When Robin explained that Nami had gone to the swimming pool, Sanji instantly entered 'love-struck' mode and wanted to head to the pool to see her in her swimsuit. Markus felt the undeniable urge to punch Sanji through a wall.

Eventually, Coby and Helmeppo left while declaring that everyone would meet again in 'The New World', the second half of the Grand Line. Markus smiled at that idea. He planned to visit the New World while everyone else was off training. It was only there that he might find people strong enough to fight as well as getting his hands on some powerful Devil Fruits. He wanted Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi but he needed to prepare for the possibility that he couldn't use it.

Once the goodbyes were finished, the remainder of the crew went to the poolside where Sanji began to barbeque for everyone. Markus had to admit, he may have become addicted to Sanji's cooking. Perhaps he would rescue Sanji from the island Kuma sent him too... He glanced at Sanji flirting with Nami and Robin... Then again, maybe he would just leave Sanji there and improve his own cooking.

As they were eating, the Franky Family showed up and, with an invite from Luffy, began to chow down and joined in on the fun. Within minutes it went from the Strawhat crew just hanging out at the pool to a full-blown party with the entire city showing up to join in. Markus watched while Luffy raided Nami's little safe and spent almost every last Belly on food and drinks for the party. He left just a single stack of bills. Though Markus looked forward to seeing the beating Nami would have given Luffy for that, he slipped over to the safe and stuffed another hundred million Belly into it.

The party became more raucous as the sun began to set on the horizon. Almost the entire city had shown up. Singing, dancing, eating, drinking, even a few friendly brawls, everything was chaos and joy. Markus happily joined in on the fun. He danced with Nami and even managed to convince Robin to dance with him once. When fireworks started going off, Markus tossed sparkling balls of electricity into the air and detonated them into bright patterns in the sky. He even drew crude pictures of his friends with the bursts of lightning earning loud cheers from everyone.

The one thing Markus noted was that Aokiji never showed up to chat with Robin. The canon story had deviated a fair amount because of Markus's actions at Enies Lobby. He couldn't wait to see what his new bounty would become! Until then, he partied with everyone until people began to pass out or go home to get some rest.

The following morning everyone was sitting around enjoying breakfast and reading the newspaper. Markus had hoped his new bounty would be included with it but he was disappointed. However, there was a story about Enies Lobby. Due to his interference, the story had changed a bit. Instead of the Strawhats being blamed for razing the entire island to the ground, they were being blamed for the sinking of ten marine ships and declaring war against the government.

All of the guys were excited and looking forward to their new bounties. Nami was a little worried but that was about it. When they finished breakfast, Nami opened the safe and smiled seeing the piles of money, "Now I can buy some gorgeous furniture for our new ship!"

Luffy looked at the pile of money and was confused but didn't make a fuss about it. More money was good, "Nami! Gimme some money to go shopping!"

Nami gave a little money to everyone, except Markus who declined, and they all went out to do their shopping. Markus went out as well and made his way to where Usopp was. When he arrived, he saw Usopp talking to himself while trying to decide the best way to get himself back into the crew. Markus ignored that and called out, "Usopp!"

Usopp's entire body became rigid as he slowly turned around to look at Markus, "Ah... M-Markus, how long have you been there?"

Markus grinned mischievously, "Long enough. Anyway, I didn't come here about that. I need your help with something."

Usopp's ego instantly inflated as he pats his chest, "Of course! The great Captain Usopp will show you his benevolence!"

Markus felt the urge to slap him but held back. There were two people on the ship who could draw but they had different benefits. Nami was excellent with technical drawings as that was the skill required to draw maps. They needed to be precise and measured perfectly to be accurate and reliable. Usopp, on the other hand, was more of an artist who could be counted on for something good looking like their Jolly Roger. That's why he'd looked for the annoying long-nosed man today. He needed something artistic and less technical.

Markus walked over to Usopp with a smile, "I need you to draw something for me."

Usopp deflated a little when he heard that, but instantly reinflated, "Of course! You have come to the right place! My art is known throughout the world as the best!"

Markus rolled his eyes but started to explain what he wanted Usopp to create for him. Usopp listened intently then pulled a piece of paper and some paint out of the bag he always wore. Markus eyed the bag and honestly wondered if it was some sort of space bag, like a bag of holding. It seemed like anything Usopp could want resided within the bag, even things that were bigger than the opening.

The two of them worked together for about an hour before Markus was completely satisfied with the painting he had Usopp make. When it was finished, Markus pulled out a few thousand Belly and held them out to Usopp. Usopp looked at the money and frowned. Markus explained, "Usopp, right now you're not a member of the crew. It would be wrong for me to ask you to do something like this without proper compensation." Markus stuffed the money into Usopp's hands, "So, take this money."

Usopp had a complicated look on his face as he looked between the crumpled bills in his hand and Markus's departing back. As he walked, Markus called out over his shoulder, "Oh yeah, you don't need a complicated plan or anything if you want to come back to the crew. Just be honest with Luffy. We're friends aren't we, Sogeking?"

Markus didn't stick around to watch the tears drip from Usopp's face. He was more interested in the piece of paper in his hands. The image he'd had Usopp paint looked a lot like the standard Jolly Roger for the Strawhats. The same skull and crossbones wearing Luffy's trademark straw hat. However, he'd had Usopp add additional details. The usually black sockets had been filled in with purple while stylized bolts of lightning came out of them. In the background were more bolts of lightning striking down from the sky and surrounding the skull.

Markus nodded in approval. This image would become his Jolly Roger in the future. He wanted to honor his time with the Strawhats but at the same time make his own statement about who he was. He planned to be a member of Luffy's fleet so sharing a similar Jolly Roger wouldn't be an issue at all.

He asked around for some directions to where he wanted to go next. As a member of the Strawhats, he was easily recognized and people were more than happy to give him directions. It wasn't long until he found himself standing outside of a small building that wasn't very busy. The building was clean and well maintained while the interior was almost sterile. The small shop was maintained by a middle-aged woman whose hair was just starting to turn gray. The most striking thing about her though was that, aside from her face and neck, every visible inch of her skin was covered with tattoos. That's right, he'd walked into a tattoo parlor.

Markus presented the piece of art he'd had Usopp draw then lay face down on a bed. He wanted the Jolly Roger tattooed on his back! He always liked how Ace had Whitebeard's Jolly Roger on his back and wanted something similar. Now he would forever have a reminder of his friends and his own independence.

To make the process possible, he wore his Seastone bracelet. He didn't know if he'd ever had a tattoo in his previous life so getting one was a novel experience. It's just... He wished he'd known how painful getting one could be about five minutes into having it done. Getting stabbed thousands of times by a needle to have the ink deposited under his skin was not a pleasant experience, especially when she was working on areas where his skin was closer to his bones.

The shop owner worked fast and efficiently making his suffering as minimal as possible. Even so, it took nearly ten hours for him to get the entire tattoo done. By the time he rejoined the rest of the crew, the sun was long down. Not much else happened for the next few days. Everyone did their own thing and relaxed while waiting for the log to store and the ship Franky was making to be finished. Markus spent most of his free time inside of his image training focusing on leveling up his skills.

Thanks to a bit of luck, he managed to purchase Kami-e from his system shop and start leveling it up. Sadly, getting it didn't give him Rokuogan instantly. He expected he needed a certain level of mastery or a bit of luck to find it in the shop later. Other than training in his Image Training and spending time with his friends, he didn't do much else, at least until that morning. Nami excitedly showed off the log pose since the log for Water 7 had finally been stored. They now had a guide to the next island!

Markus listened as Kokoro, who was already drinking, explained their next destination to Nami, Fishman Island! Of course, they had to go through the Florian Triangle first and would have to stop at Sabaody Archipelago for a bubble coating before they could actually go there. Not to mention the extra two years in between. As they were discussing ghost ships in the Florian Triangle and visiting Fishman Island, Kiwi, Mozu, Chiminie, and Gonbe came crashing into their room.

"Franky-bro asked all of you to come!"

"The 'Dream-Ship' is done!"

"It's really a great one!"

Everyone was instantly excited, even Markus, and quickly made their way outside. As they started to make their way, they heard someone shouting at them. As they looked, the entire Franky Family came charging at them. The leader shouted, "I have a favor to ask! Did you see the wanted posters?!"

Markus felt his heartbeat increase in excitement, finally, they were here! Every member of the crew now had a bounty. Zambai started pulling out the sheets and setting them out one by one.

'Strawhat' Monkey D. Luffy: 350,000,000

'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro: 125,000,000

'Devil's Child' Nico Robin: 100,000,000

'Cat Thief' Nami: 20,000,000

'King of Snipers' Sogeking: 50,000,000

'Black Leg' Sanji (Photo unavailable): 85,000,000

'Cotton Candy Lover' Chopper (pet): 50

Seeing the posters, Markus let out a whistle. With the exception of Chopper, everyone's bounties looked higher than they were in the canon story. The only one he was one hundred percent certain was higher was Luffy's. His second bounty should have been three hundred million. It was a whole fifty million higher. The crew, minus Markus, was now worth just over 730 million Belly.

He looked away from the bounties to check everyone's reactions. Luffy was excited, his bounty was now higher than Markus's, for now, and he was celebrating that. Zoro was just smirking while looking proud. Nami looked horrified. Chopper was in shock over his low bounty. Robin just smiled. And Sanji... he looked like someone had killed his pet cat. The image on his bounty poster was a terrible artist's recreation that hardly looked anything like him.

The man, Zambai, continued, "Th-that's not the biggest problem!"

He reached into his shirt and pulled out two more bounty posters. He showed one with a picture of Franky first.

'Cyborg' Franky: 44,000,000

Everyone was surprised to see his bounty poster. All the members of the Franky Family got off scot-free, but the government had still placed a bounty on Franky. He looked at everyone in the crew, "Strawhat, please! Use force if necessary! Just please take him out to sea! We know you all can be his friends and protect him!"

As if to prove his words, he flipped over the second, and last, bounty poster. On it, everyone could see Markus's face. They'd changed his picture to a new one that showed him with glowing purple eyes and sparks of electricity around his body. Markus couldn't help wondering when and how the picture was taken.

'Thunder Beast' Silvers D. Markus: 1,250,000,000

Silence.