Chapter 6

Markus didn't keep the boat going full speed for long, he only intended to make a point to Bonney before slowing down to a more comfortable pace. As the boat slowed down, Bonney finally recovered and glared at Markus, "You almost threw me off the boat you asshole!"

Markus laughed at her anger, "I warned you! I even suggested sitting down to be safe."

Bonney crossed her arms underneath her chest, causing her assets to become more pronounced, "Don't do it again, asshole."

Markus just smirked and didn't say anything else. He used his world map to keep track of which direction he was going in. He could use the map to get anywhere he had been before. Getting the Eternal Poses was more for Bonney. He didn't intend to drive all the way to the other islands himself. He'd teach her how to use the Jet Dials on the boat so she could drive it as well.

The short trip to Sabaody was peaceful and Bonney seemed to be getting used to the weirdness that was Markus's boat. She even seemed to be enjoying the breeze blowing her long pink hair back. He had to admit that when she wasn't yelling at him or eating like a caveman, Bonney was beautiful. He shook off that thought as the mangrove island came into sight.

He drove the boat to the nearest grove and came to a stop, "Alright, we're not going to stay here long but while we're here..." He pulled half a million Belly out of his inventory as thick stacks of large bills, "You probably need to get some new clothing."

Bonney unhesitantly snatched the money out of his hands. It wasn't until she saw it was thick stacks of ten thousand Belly bills that she froze. She flipped through the money before turning to look at Markus, "How much is this?"

"Half a million. Not enough?"

Hearing the amount, Bonney tightened her grip on the money and held it close, as if guarding it against him, "It's just barely enough."

She leveled a suspicious gaze on him, "All this stuff and this boat, are you rich or what?"

Markus just laughed instead of answering her. If she knew that he considered that half a million as chump change, she'd probably lose her mind. Generally speaking, pirates were not the richest of folks. Only the top dogs like the Yonko could claim to be wealthy. Most pirates just managed to get by. Luffy and the others were actually pretty lucky with how much they'd managed to gather on their adventures. They'd be pretty wealthy, for pirates, if Luffy's food bill was normal.

After both of them exited the boat, Markus stored it away once again. He wasn't about to leave it out in the open where any jackass could come by and steal it from him. It had zero security features to protect it. With that out of the way, he looked over at Bonney, "Go buy whatever you need. I'll see if I can find some Eternal Poses for our trip. If anything happens, I'll come running. You don't need to worry about anyone on the island while under my protection."

"You're pretty cocky, aren't you? Guess you got reason to be though."

"I'll come find you after I finish shopping. Later."

After he finished talking, Markus vanished in a shower of sparks. He could cover the whole island with his Haki easily so keeping an eye on Bonney was a cakewalk. He also couldn't sense anyone really powerful on the island so he had nothing to worry about. After arriving in a shopping district he started looking around until he found a small shop selling Log and Eternal Poses. As he stepped inside, the old lady behind the sales counter looked up, "Whatchya need?"

Markus looked around a little. He'd never been inside a shop like this before. It was rather tiny and filled with tons of different styles of Log Poses and a large collection of Eternal Poses. After getting his fill he addressed the old lady, "I need Eternal Poses for Water 7 and the Drum Kingdom."

The old lady pointed to one shelf, "Got a couple for Water 7 there. I've never heard of the Drum Kingdom though."

Markus wasn't surprised. Compared to other kingdoms, the Drum Kingdom was nothing. Just a small winter island that had nothing great to offer the rest of the world. With no major exports or anything of interest, no one was taking the time to go there deliberately.

With the old lady's guidance, he found a few Eternal Poses pointing toward Water 7 and selected one. Having them wasn't too much of a surprise. Unlike the Drum Kingdom, Water 7 was an important island not too far away where the biggest shipbuilding company, along with many smaller ones, existed. It had a good reputation and was sought by many people so finding Eternal Poses for it was easy enough.

After getting the Eternal Pose for Water 7, he also selected a nice bracelet style Log Pose to use later. He could only use his World Map to guide himself to places he had been before. Everything he'd never seen with his own eyes was covered in a black 'fog of war' that was pretty standard. Once they re-entered the New World, he would need the Log Pose to find his way around.

Once both items were purchased, he left the shop and stored the Poses away in his inventory where they would be safe. With them secured, he went around and bought carts worth of food supplies. His cooking skill had grown and he wanted to keep practicing it. He also got his hands on several more fruits and vegetables to go into his crates for reincarnating Devil Fruits.

Throughout his shopping, he kept a close eye on Bonney to make sure no one gave her any trouble. So far, no one even paid attention to her while she bought clothing, makeup, and other things she would need to be comfortable. She really wasn't the least bit shy about spending his money on whatever caught her eye. Not that he really cared about that.

He continued to observe her until something happened. Seeing the situation, Markus rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh, "So cliche!!"

A moment later, Markus arrived at where Bonney currently was. It was a busier section of the district with plenty of shops selling everything from souvenirs to furniture. Bonney was currently standing outside of a women's clothing store holding several bags in her hands. Surrounding her were four people, three buff dudes, and one buff woman. All four were eyeing Bonney like she was a delicious piece of candy. Markus was a bit surprised at the buff woman but the men... Come on!

"Come on pretty lady, let's have some fun!"

"Yeah! You know you wanna hang with us for some 'fun' sis!"

Even the woman was heckling Bonney. Her deep mannish voice sent a shiver down his spine. Unable to take it anymore, Markus stepped up behind the four of them, "Could you four be more cliche? I mean... Okay, a butch woman in the gang is slightly more original but... Just..."

He couldn't even finish talking as he let out a defeated sounding sigh. The four people surrounding Bonney turned to look at Markus with fierce glares. He didn't even pay attention to them as he rubbed his forehead in frustration. It was just such a cliche that it actually made his brain physically hurt.

"Who are you, little kid?"

"Go away, she's more woman than you can handle!"

"I dunno, he's kinda cute. How about I play with him while you three play with her?"

"Really Tina? He's so... scrawny!"

The butch woman, apparently named Tiny, licked her lips in a 'seductive' manner, "I like 'em scrawny! Makes their struggles more entertaining."

Markus felt a shudder run down his spine while his face turned green. Did he want to lose his virginity? Of course! Did he want to lose it to a gorilla woman named Tina? FUCK NO! Markus couldn't take it anymore. He clenched his fist while sparks of electricity started to crack and pop around it. Before the four could react, he punched each of them in the stomach and electrocuted them.

He didn't want to kill them. They might be skeevy jerks, but he didn't know if they were murders or just assholes. Since he couldn't confirm if they crossed his bottom line, he just flooded their nervous systems with high voltage electricity and knocked them out cold. Four unconscious bodies fell to the ground with smoking frizzy hair. Markus wiped his fist off on his shirt as if there was some invisible filth on it from touching them.

Bonney looked at the four on the ground before turning her pink eyes on him and glaring, "I could have handled that just fine! You didn't need to come 'rescue' me, asshole."

Markus taking out the four didn't draw any attention but Bonney yelling at him drew looks and giggles from women along with eye-rolls from men. Markus nodded at her words, "There is a big difference between people seeing someone knock four people out with a punch and seeing them turn into toddlers. I didn't want you to use your ability in public and draw unwanted attention. We're too close to the marines right now. I don't feel like fighting another war right now."

Bonney's glare reduced a little, just a little, "I'm not some damsel in distress that you need to save."

Markus gave her a knowing look that caused her to blush and shout, "That time doesn't count!"

Markus just looked away with a smug smirk on his face. Seeing that pissed Bonney off even more. Without even thinking about it, she swung her leg at Markus in an attempt to, literally, kick his ass. Seeing it coming, he quickly dodged to the side. He didn't move to protect himself, but to protect her. If the kick had landed she would have been fried automatically by his lightning. He didn't want that.

Bonney's full glare returned after her kick missed. Before she could say anything, Markus warned her, "Hitting me will hurt you a lot more than it hurts me. Logia, remember?"

While he could control his phasing at will, as shown from the times he let Nami clobber him, he wasn't that close to Bonney. It also didn't help that there was no one else in the crew to witness the incident. Letting Nami clobber him as a warning to the others was funny to him. Letting Bonney clobber him in public was not. That's what it boiled down to.

Bonney froze for a moment before letting out a sigh. She'd seen how devastating his lightning could be. She'd never been so glad she'd failed to kick someone before. Markus turned back to face her once more as he asked, "Did you get everything you need or is there still more?"

Bonney lifted the dozen or so bags from different stores in her hands, "I think I got what I need. If there's anything missing I can pick it up later. Did you get what you needed?"

"Partially. I got the Eternal Pose for Water 7. We'll head there first. Hopefully, I can find an Eternal Pose to the Drum Kingdom there."

With both of them done with their shopping, Markus led the way to the nearest waterway. When they got there, he pulled out the boat once more so they could board it. Bonney looked around a bit, "So where do I store my stuff?"

He walked to the door to the cabin and opened it. She might have ridden on the boat for a couple of hours but he hadn't shown her a thing about it. It wasn't her fault she didn't know there was a full cabin built into the front of the boat. When she walked down the steps into the cabin, her eyes widened. While the cabin wasn't as luxurious as a five-star hotel, it was still very nice. It contained everything needed to live but a shower. This bugged her so after she finished looking at everything she faced him, "How are we supposed to clean ourselves? There's no shower or bath!"

Markus crooked a finger telling her to follow him. They stepped out of the cabin and took a few steps to get on top of the cabin. After kneeling down, he lifted up a small hose with a shower nozzle on the end. The top of the deck was pebbled to provide stable support. As Bonney eyed the hose suspiciously he spoke, "Just use this on the deck here."

Bonney was immediately incensed, "YOU WANT ME TO SHOWER UP HERE WHERE YOU AND ANYONE ELSE CAN SEE ME?!?! ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE OR JUST A GODDAMN PERVERT?!?!"

Markus simply shrugged his shoulders as he responded, "If you can find a spot in the cabin where a shower could fit, let me know. The sea is pretty empty and if you shower at night when no one will see anything." He placed his hand over his heart, "And I swear not to peek."

Bonney was not the least bit convinced if her glaring daggers at him was anything to go by. After standing up and moving back to the captain's chair he spoke once more, "If you want I can have the second bed removed to install a shower but then we'll have to share the bed."

Bonney grimaced and muttered, "Goddamn pervert," as she walked back into the cabin to unpack her things.

He stopped paying attention to the spitfire and got the boat moving after setting the Eternal Pose for Water 7 on the dash. He moved slowly through the waterway and only picked up speed once they were in open water again. Once the boat was oriented with the pose, he picked up more speed and cruised along. The day was already half over so they wouldn't get too far. Still, it was a start.

While he was driving, Bonney came back out and looked at him, "Which bed is yours?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I've never slept in either one."

"Then the one on the port side is mine."

"Well, at least I won't be getting drunk in my sleep."

Bonney deadpanned at his 'joke,' "What are you? A dad?"

Markus grimaced, "That bad?"

Bonney nodded seriously, "That bad."

Markus sighed and hung his head in shame. He was way too young to be spouting off dad jokes... or was he? He honestly had no idea how long he'd lived in his previous life. He could have been twenty or ninety, he had no idea. The memories he had weren't clear enough to be sure. He was pretty certain that with the amount of knowledge and certain memories, that he'd gone to college and gotten a good education. After that, it was too fuzzy to be sure of anything else.

After a few hours of driving, the sun started to go down on the horizon. Markus stopped using his electricity to power the boat and switched to the Jet Dials. He explained how they worked to Bonney and left her to drive while he went into the cabin to cook himself dinner. He planned to give Bonney system food so she could eat until she was full. He, on the other hand, could eat like a normal person and wanted to continue to level his cooking skill.

Outside, Bonney was sitting in the captain's chair with her hand on the steering wheel for the boat. She had to admit, despite being small, this boat was great and easy to drive. The way it was powered was also really unique and powerful. She really wanted to try pushing its speed up, Markus had shown her how to control it. The only thing preventing her from doing so was knowing that he was currently cooking their dinner.

Even if she had nothing else nice to say about him, she was willing to admit that the food he gave her was delicious and, more importantly, filling! She hated her moniker of 'Big Eater' but she was always forced to admit that it was accurate. Before the first time she ate the food Markus provided, she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt full. It was actually a bit of a nightmare to always feel hungry. It was worse when she had to go without eating. Just skipping a meal or two felt like starving for days to her.

That feeling, that horrible feeling of her stomach gnawing away at her spine. It was the worst kind of suffering and she would do almost anything she could to keep from feeling it anymore. Now that she knew what feeling full and satisfied felt like, she wasn't sure she could go back to that suffering again. It's why she impulsively decided to join his crew. She'd do just about anything to keep from suffering like that again.

As she was thinking about that, her nose starting to twitch as a tantalizing scent drifted out of the cabin. Just that hint of smell made her stomach growl while drool started to build up in her mouth. She rubbed her arm over her mouth to wipe away some drool that escaped. As the smell grew heavier she started to become impatient and agitated. Unable to hold back, she yelled, "Are you not done yet?! I'm starving! What kind of shitty captain makes his crew member suffer and starve like this?! I DIDN'T EVEN GET ANY LUNCH!"

She knew she was being unreasonable, but hunger would do that to a person! Her thoughts were interrupted as he shouted back, "Shut up and drive! It'll be done when it's done!"

She grumbled to herself but smiled a little but only because he couldn't see her right now. At least he wasn't a total pushover that did everything she said just because she was pretty. She hated people like that the most. He was straightforward with what he wanted from her and didn't seem to have any secret motives. They were mutually using each other and she was perfectly fine with that. Though, getting used to not being the captain was going to take some getting used to.

She was once more pulled out of her thoughts when Markus shouted at her, "Dinner's done! Bring the boat to a stop and get in here!"

She wiped the smile off of her face as the boat came to a stop so she could go get her dinner. She couldn't let him see how happy she was. He couldn't be allowed to hold that over her head. Not at any cost! When she stepped into the cabin, she saw a dozen plates with different food on each. Once more she wiped away her drool and joined Markus for dinner. Yeah, this was going to be just fine for her!