Chapter LVI: Cheating the System

On Zenku, an Island in the Grand Line, on Route to Sabaody

Jewelry Bonney hummed in thought as she stared down at the newspaper in front of her. The Straw Hat Pirates had made the headlines again. Although they had previously distinguished themselves apart from, and perhaps ahead of, this generation's rookies previously, their most recent endeavors were nothing short of outrageous. Her own recently heightened bounty of ฿140 million didn't even compare. None of the other rookies did, either. Really, she should have realized this would happen when their captain had defeated her while barely lifting a finger, using powers that she was only just beginning to tap the surface of even now. But this? This was some next level shit.

The rumors circulating around Paradise had started out as just that—rumors. Despite Water 7's position among Marines and pirates alike, despite Iceburg's ultimate credibility, the World Government had been quick to dispel any of the wild rumors originating from the Water metropolis.

Or at least, they had been quick to try.

Because no one, not even the Five Elder Stars, could convince the world that the sea freezing over from Water 7 all the way to Pucci and San Faldo was a rumor. Especially not with the sea train out of commission for an estimated two weeks.

As Bonney shouted for more food, she couldn't help but grin. There was no way around it. The Straw Hat Pirates had clashed with a Marine Admiral and lived to tell the tale. Or more accurately, for everyone else to tell the tale. The higher-ups of the World Government were probably shitting themselves and eating it right about now.

She continued to grin at the imagery. Straw Hat is an annoying brat…but I can't help but admire him. He's got some serious guts. Of course, the fact that he was Ace's brother didn't help put him out of her inquisitive mind.

Speaking of Ace, she wondered how his search was going…

"Hey, bartender! Give me 50 of your best apple pies!"

Bonney ignored the obnoxiously loud pirates that had just trudged into the bar in favor of contemplating what changes this would bring to the Great Pirate Era.

"Hey, Captain," came a calm, contemplative voice. "It looks like you were right to avoid those pirates that caught your attention earlier."

"Huh? What are you talking about, Auger?" the first voice asked. In response, the sniper handed him a newspaper. As the pirate captain began to read, his face gradually started to pale, before he suddenly started laughing. "Zehahahaha! That damn brat! To think he was that strong! We're lucky we backed off from his trail."

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Van Auger replied. "Fate simply had other plans for us."

"Yeah, you're right about that. I can't say the adventure we had instead wasn't damn amazing, even if some freak lightning storm kind of ruined it in the end."

Bonney was now listening attentively. Had these guys been after the Straw Hats? They didn't look anything like bounty hunters. Perhaps they were just looking to take down a rival crew.

"Still, this ruins our plans, Captain," Jesus Burgess pointed out. "Who are we going to turn in instead?"

"Who knows. I'm sure an opportunity will present itself. I briefly considered turning in Ace, but he seems to have stopped following me…"

The glass Bonney was holding shattered in her grip.

"Oh, well. Like I said, we'll think of something. A toast to the glory of the Blackbeard Pirates! Zehahahahaha!"

Wood creaked against wood as Bonney slowly backed her chair away from the table. She rose to her feet and walked over to the newcomer, catching the crew's attention.

"You…" she whispered, bangs covering her eyes as she shook with poorly suppressed rage. "So, you're Blackbeard?"

"Gomu Gomu no…Keep Away!"

"Hey Luffy, no fair!" Usopp shouted in protest, trying in vain to reach the dish that was suspended out of his reach by Luffy's rubber arms. "Let me try it too!"

"No way! I caught this one, so it's mine!" Luffy insisted.

"Hey, you two! Don't wreck the aquarium!" Franky chastised. "If you're gonna fight over fish, do it on deck!"

"OK!" Luffy agreed easily, running up the stairs as Usopp followed behind, still shouting complaints.

Meanwhile, on deck, Nami and Robin were both lying back in lawn chairs next to the garden. "This is the life!" Nami sighed in content. "Not only is the bigger deck great for sunbathing, but there's so much more room for my tangerine groves!"

"Indeed. I quite enjoyed the bigger library as well," Robin replied, before giggling. "And I can't help but feel as if Chopper agrees with me."

Chopper, for his part, didn't even respond at first, as he was buried, fur and all, in a large collection of medical texts.

"Huh?" he said. "Oh, sorry, Robin! You're right! And the shelves were already stocked with books! I haven't even heard of this one before…"

"Well, while you all enjoy your books and crap, I'm going to try out the training room. Cook, you wanna come?"

"In a little bit," Sanji replied. "I have to finish serving snacks to the ladies first!"

Zoro snorted. "Suit yourself, Love Cook." He made his way up to the training room. Truthfully, this was his first time using it since they'd set sail. Chopper had insisted under threat of painful dissection that he had to let his injuries heal.

That dissection bit may have been his own perspective on the matter, but damn if that scalpel didn't gleam menacingly in the light.

He was eager to begin training again. The fight with Aokiji had revealed that he still had a long way to go before he gained his old strength back.

"Still, the bigger training room is really a nice touch," he said aloud to the seemingly empty room.

"Yeah, Franky really outdid himself. He even threw in seastone weights!" said a voice from behind him.

Zoro turned around with a smirk. "You're right. I'm sure Luffy's resistance could benefit from those…uh…"

He stood looking down on a little girl that he'd never seen before. She was grinning up at him innocently, but Zoro was pretty sure he wasn't imagining the hint of mischief in her eyes.

"…Who are you again?" he asked, rubbing his head in confusion. The girl just snickered in response. Frowning, he did what he was used to doing by now when he didn't recognize someone with their appearance, and reached out with his Observation Haki. Upon sensing her aura, his features went blank.

"Everyone! Get up here now!"

The Straw Hat crew stood in a circle around a young girl with crimson red hair and brown eyes, who was looking back and forth between them all with cheerful wonder.

Luffy was staring at her with wide eyes.

"So, who is this?" Nami asked curiously. "A stowaway? She's so young…"

"She's not a stowaway," Zoro sighed. "We would have sensed her earlier if she was."

Nami raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying she just teleported on board? Some kind of Devil Fruit maybe?"

"Why don't we ask her?" Robin said, kneeling down to the girl's level. "Hello, there. How exactly did you get on our ship, Miss?"

The girl smiled widely. "Hi, Robin! I just woke up, realized I was back, and then manifested myself like before. It was easy!"

That threw the crew for a loop. Suddenly, Usopp gasped.

"Merry," he breathed, causing everyone to turn to him in surprise. "You're…Merry, aren't you?"

The girl snickered again. "Nope! Take another guess!"

"This makes no sense," Zoro grumbled. "Her aura feels like a combination of all of ours. I've never sensed anything like it."

"Sunny." The voice came from Luffy, who until now, had yet to speak. His face was pale.

The girl pointed at Luffy triumphantly. "He got it! Captain got it!"

"What!?" Franky shouted. "You're…You're the Sunny's Klabautermann?" There was panic in his voice. "But that's impossible. She's in perfect shape!" The Straw Hats collectively stiffened upon hearing this, remembering the incident in Skypiea vividly.

"No, no, don't worry!" Sunny smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine!"

Franky faltered. "But…the legends say…"

"That a ship's spirit manifests once it's damaged beyond repair. That was true, in my case. But now I'm fine, see?"

Nami gave a strained smile. "Um, sorry, but you're not making that much sense, Sunny." God, it was kind of weird talking to their ship. But she'd done stranger things before.

The girl huffed in response, before Luffy suddenly shouted in realization.

"The parts we used!" he shouted, a smile stretching wide across his face.

Nami frowned. "What?"

Slowly, realization dawned. First with Franky, followed by Usopp and Robin.

"I suppose that could explain it," the archaeologist said in awe. The shipwright and sniper both had tears in their eyes.

"We used parts from the Merry to build this ship!" Luffy said gleefully. "That means you're…!"

"Yep! I'm Merry's reincarnation! I knew you'd get it!"

Nami's jaw dropped.

Sanji's cigarette fell from his mouth.

Chopper dropped the book he was carrying.

Zoro just stared.

Franky started crying outright now. "That's so beautiful! The spirit of their little ship lives on through my creation! That's so damn poetic!"

"OK, we get it, you can stop crying now," Sanji muttered, though no one could deny that every single person in the room was moved by the revelation.

"Idiot! I'm not crying, idiot! Don't look at me, idiot! DON'T LOOK AT ME!"

"That's so cool!" Luffy shouted. "So, does this mean you can manifest whenever now, Sunny?"

The girl nodded. "Mhm! Once a ship spirit manifests once, the ship is sentient. It's just that none have ever had the strength to do it continuously after coming so close to death." She smirked. "But now that I'm back to full strength, I can appear whenever. We cheated the system! And it's all because you guys cared for me so much!"

Franky's sobs intensified.

"Well, that's pretty insane…" Zoro mumbled. "But I'm not complaining."

"Excuse me, Sunny," Robin interjected. "But does this mean that anyone can see you?"

Sunny shook her head. "Only people with a deep emotional connection to the ship can see me, or sense me with Observation Haki for that matter. Oh, I should also mention that I can't leave the ship, though. My spirit is tied to it, after all."

"That's amazing," Nami said. "This is like a miracle. What are the odds that it would happen to us of all people?" The rest of the crew stared at her blankly, and she blinked. "Right. Never mind…"

"Straw Hats! We're having a party!" Luffy commanded. "To celebrate our new crewmate, Sunny! Sanji, food!"

The chef smiled wistfully. "You got it, Captain."

The Straw Hats partied well into the night, eating, drinking, and generally causing havoc on the ship. The next morning, several of them woke up with hangovers. This wouldn't be so bad normally, if not for the fact that Luffy woke them up early in the morning. For haki training.

This would not go well.

"Luffy, do we really have to do this at six in the morning? My head is still aching!" Usopp complained.

"It's not our fault you're a first time drinker," Zoro said with a shrug. "You gotta keep up, Usopp."

Said sniper grumbled in discontent before accepting his fate. "Fine. But I have a question for you two before we start. It's about my Haki."

This drew the rest of the crew's attention.

"What? You think you're close to unlocking it?" Luffy asked.

Usopp frowned. "Maybe? I'm not sure, to be honest. Sanji, do you remember our fight with Rob Lucci?"

Sanji nodded, scowling. "Troublesome bastard," he muttered.

"Well, that's the thing. He was fast. Like, really fast. I couldn't even hit him unless he in a deadlock with you and standing still. At first anyway. But towards the end of the fight, I was able to see his movements a lot more clearly. I actually intercepted him with the Impact Dial at one point."

Sanji frowned. "I remember that. Even though you were under Nami-san's mirage at the time, it was still really impressive. To be honest, I didn't think you'd be able to track him that well."

"That's what I'm saying. I think I may have used Observation Haki back then. Maybe…hopefully…" he rubbed his head in embarrassment. "I mean, the Impact Dial broke in the process, but I was still able to see better than I have before. Do you think it's possible, Luffy?"

Luffy was lost in thought. "Yeah, it's possible. I've never heard of Observation Haki affecting eyesight like that, but I know it can take a lot of different forms. Since you're a sniper, I guess your battle instincts are so geared towards sight that you can see people's auras instead of feeling them." He paused. "Do you think you can do it again?"

Surprisingly, Usopp nodded. "I think so. I remember what it feels like."

"Alright, try to snipe me. I'll move slow enough that you should be able to do it, but only if you can tap into your Haki again."

Usopp nodded and fetched his Dial enhanced slingshot, before taking aim. Luffy launched into a series of relatively slow Soru around the deck as the sniper focused. Much to the surprise of Nami and Chopper, who could barely see him at all, Usopp's eyes were following him around with frightening perceptiveness. He raised his weapon, took a deep breath, and aimed. His pellet collided with a barely perceptible blur, which soon materialized into clear sight as Luffy stopped moving. His hand was in front of his face, holding the very same pellet.

"Nice, Usopp. That was the real thing," he praised.

This elicited a round of applause from the crew, and in Chopper's case, cheering.

"Now, this time, close your eyes," Luffy suggested.

Usopp frowned. "But won't that—"

"Just try it. I want to test something," Luffy interrupted.

Usopp closed his eyes and gasped. "No way…I can still see you! That's just weird."

"That's because what you're using isn't actually your sight," Zoro interjected. "It's like Luffy said, you're just so geared towards visual sensory that you perceive what you're sensing as part of your vision."

"That's so cool! I can snipe people with my eyes closed now! Imagine how awesome I'll look!" Usopp exclaimed.

Nami huffed. "That's the first thing you think of?"

"Well, I think you might get your chance soon," Sunny said suddenly. "Marine blockade, off the port bow!"

"WHAT?!" demanded most of the crew.

Indeed, looking in the indicated direction, the Straw Hats could see a score of Marine ships ready to fire. Soon, the whistling of cannons was easily discernable, and the crew sprung to action. Sanji began deflecting the cannonballs while Usopp shot them in midair. Luffy was surprised to see Sanji hovering by kicking the air a few times.

"Sanji! You learned how to use Geppo?" he asked.

"Yeah, I paid pretty close attention when those assassins were doing it," the chef replied. "This is the first time I've had the chance to test it out though."

"Attention, Straw Hat Pirates! This is Rear Admiral Aubranuffs! Surrender immediately, as your course has been blocked off!"

"Picking a fight with us at sea, now of all times?" Nami asked with a smirk. "I hope they're ready!" She summoned up a dense mist around the ship, making it impossible to aim at them accurately.

"A Rear Admiral and twenty ships," Robin observed dryly. "You all forced Aokiji and CP9 to retreat, and they send a Rear Admiral and twenty ships. Either the Marines are delusional, or this Rear Admiral isn't acting on orders."

"Which makes him either very brave or very stupid. My money's on the second one," Sunny said.

"Usopp, would you like to test out your newfound skills?" Nami asked sweetly.

Usopp started snickering in glee as he made his way towards the Sunny's side cannons. Franky caught him by the arm, however, and led him towards the front of the ship with a confident smirk.

"Where they going?" Chopper asked. "The cannons are the other way."

Sunny suddenly began laughing maniacally, which was actually quite the intimidating sound coming from her normally light-hearted voice. "I am Sunny, hear me roar. I am Sunny, hear me roar…"

Luffy and Zoro both grinned as well, the former in glowing eagerness and the latter in sadistic anticipation.

"Um…guys?" Nami asked nervously. "What going to happ—"

"Gaon Cannon!" Sunny suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs, as the mist around the ship parted from the sheer amount of force erupting from within it.

A blast of pressurized air hit the Marine blockade dead center, and the force from the resulting explosion ripped apart the enemy ships in seconds.

Usopp emerged from the Sunny's crown with an unreadable expression. "Don't worry," he whispered ominously. "I used the blunt side."

Zoro sweatdropped.

'What fucking blunt side…?' the crew thought as one.

"I am Sunny, hear me roar…"

The crew continued their Haki training well into the afternoon. No one had any breakthroughs after that, though Usopp managed to refine his "aura sight" a bit more. For the first time he could remember, the rest of the crew was giving him a wide berth.

He didn't know whether to be flattered or offended.

Some time after they finished, Usopp spotted a barrel floating off the ship's starboard. They quickly reeled it in, wondering if it was booze. Robin speculated that it could be a trap, but Luffy insisted they open it. A flare went up into the air the moment it did, and Nami was sure that Robin was right a that point, but Luffy dismissed her concerns, assuring them it would be fine. Some time later, they encountered a rather violent storm, but it was nothing Nami hadn't dealt with before, and they navigated safely through it, only to be met with a dense fog with no end in sight.

Usopp and Chopper were a bit creeped out by it, but it was Luffy and Zoro's reactions that were surprising.

"What's up with you two?" Nami asked, seeing the expressions on their faces. "You're not really telling me that you're scared of this fog, too, are you? I mean, you've been through it before."

"We're not scared," Zoro said quietly. "We're bracing ourselves for who we're about to run into."

Nami blinked in incomprehension, but Sanji looked up. "'After the next island we land on.' You were planning to tell us everything after whatever island we're going to end up on next. And you were waiting for that because—"

"Our last crewmate is here," Luffy confirmed, looking ahead.

Franky smirked. "I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from you. To find a crewmate in a place like this."

"A place like this?" Nami repeated. "What do you mean?"

Franky continued to smirk as he looked out at the fog. "In the Florian Triangle."

Robin smiled. "Oh, dear. What have we gotten ourselves into this time?" she asked, though it was clear she wasn't exactly dreading it.

"In these waters, over a hundred ships mysteriously vanish every year. This sea is said to be cursed," Franky explained ominously.

"C-C-Cursed!?" Usopp parroted. "Cursed how?"

"Ah, but that would be spoiling it, Usopp," Luffy teased.

Nami sighed. "So basically, only the two of you know what's coming, and you won't tell us," she bemoaned.

"That's not true!" Sunny said excitedly as she manifested in between Nami and Usopp, scaring the wits out of them both. "I know, too!"

"Oh, really? How?" Nami asked, as her heart rate went back to normal. That's gonna take some getting used to…"

Sunny pointed to Luffy and Zoro happily. "They know, so I know too!" she clarified, causing Zoro to blink and Luffy to raise an amused eyebrow.

"Wait, so you know everything we know?" Robin asked in obvious interest.

"Yep! Your favorite types of food, your deepest fears, your favorite colors, and your cup size! Everything!"

"…That last one seemed kind of thrown in there for the hell of it," Franky deadpanned.

"Yeah," Zoro smirked. "I wonder where she gets that from." As one, the crew turned toward Sanji. Nami glared at him murderously.

"Sanji-kun, I think we need to have a talk about corrupting children," she whispered dangerously.

"With all due respect, Nami-san? I didn't do shit this time," Sanji replied.

"OK, we need to test this out!" Luffy declared. "Hey, Sunny, how is Seal doing?" he asked.

Sunny blinked. "Seal? He's fine. He started a stick collection. Why?"

They all stared. "What. The. Hell," Nami said in astonishment. "That's…holy shit!"

"What about Vivi-chan herself? How is she doing?" Sanji asked.

Sunny smiled a bit sadly. "She really misses you guys. And she's worried after reading the newspaper this morning. But she's happy. Really happy."

"Vivi? Isn't she the Alabastan Princess?" Franky asked.

"Yeah," Nami said wistfully. "We helped her out a while back. She's an honorary Straw Hat if there ever was one. But this is great! Sunny will know if anything ever happens in Alabasta!"

"Along with all of our deepest, darkest secrets," Luffy said with a smirk. "Come to think of it, I wonder who has the most to hide…?" He turned to his crewmates, who all shivered at the devious look in his eyes.

Sunny's cheeks puffed out in indignation. "I can't disclose that information, Captain, short of you ordering it. And that would be really mean."

Luffy sighed. "I guess you're right. I won't ask then."

"And besides, Captain, the one with the most to hide is technically you," she said with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Luffy opened his mouth to respond, before clicking it shut and turning away. "Hey, look, a ghost ship. We should probably check that out and continue this conversation never."

Surprisingly, the distraction actually worked, as the crew was haunted by an eerie, ethereal voice echoing through the fog.

"Yohohoho…yohohoho…"

The Straw Hat Pirates turned around ever so slowly, not wanting to greet the sight that awaited them once eyes caught up with what they were hearing.

"Yohohoho…yohohoho…"

Six out of nine of the crew members present on board paled in fear as a rundown ship, over twice the size of the Thousand Sunny, slipped out of the fog and approached their vessel. Sunny giggled in delight, while Luffy and Zoro both wore mad grins on their faces.

"Gather up, no time to lose…"

"G-G-G-Gho—" Usopp's stuttering reached an all time high as the ship approached them.

"Time to round up Binks' Booze…"

"Ghost ship!" the Straw Hats shouted as one, even Luffy and Sunny joining in.

"Yohohohoooooooooo…"