9

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"I never seen anything like this before," Max said looking over the radio device that's attached to the radio that's already connected to Bart the Den Den Mushi. "Where did you find it?"

"I found it when I was searching a sunken ship," Vampire said.

"Well that means it could had come from anywhere then," Max said as she turned it on like how Vampire showed her.

Vampire had been playing around with the device for months now and gotten some idea how it works. But she is still discovering new things about it as she does. Like it's also a camera like those baby Den Den Mushis camekos, another is that it lights up like a lamp. Some of the things that it does is completely useless like making different color backgrounds of pictures of her. It didn't help that there are nothing but pictures to tell you what's happening and letters below the pictures that's in a different language. (1)

"Ok so it makes recordings like those big mushi projectors?" Max ask Vampire remembering what Vampire told her about what she discovered so far.

"Yes and I already showed you how I connected to all the other mushis so don't do it," Vampire said.

"It was strange having that happen," Max said.

"Tell me about it. I have to be careful that no one steals it," Vampire said.

"I'm surprise that the World Government hasn't tried," Max said.

"Well I did agree to turn it in to Vegapunk when I get to him. He's the only one who can figure it out," Vampire said.

"Tell me about it. This is so advance I'm willing to bet this is some advance alien technology you stumbled across," Max said.

"Like in those sci-fi books?" Vampire ask.

"That's the only thing I can think of that can explain what I'm seeing. This thing doesn't even have parts. Its more like a die cast or like a mold you just pour liquid metal into and wait for it to harden. I'll never be able to figure it out," Max said before looking at the screen. "The only thing I can do is figure out what it does."

"Well good luck with that," Vampire said leaving Max to play with the radio thing in the radio room.

Vampire went down to the lower floors where she headed for the small kitchen. Now that she's traveling with people who really do need to eat and drink to live, she's been making sure there be enough supplies for them. Thanks to the boiler of the steam engine, they can collect water but collecting the steam coming out of it.

"We really should find a cook," Silk said who is in the kitchen as it's her turn to cook. She's preparing a stew of chop pork ribs and onions.

"Well we all know how to cook," Vampire pointed out.

"Yes but a cook would know how to make use of what's in the pantry. The cooks do help keep the morals of the crew up," Silk said.

"Well that's not a problem. If you're feeling low on moral, you can join me and Max when we have sex," Vampire said.

"No... I'm not ready for that," Silk said blushing. "And do you two really need to do it all the time?"

"I don't see a reason why not," Vampire said.

"There is also something you should know. There's maggots in that barrel of biscuits," Silk said pointing to the barrel.

"Well there's only one thing to do. Get a plate and put a large dead fish on it. The maggots will crawl out to eat it. When the maggots cover the fish you toss it into the sea and repeat. Don't stop till there aren't anymore maggots," Vampire said. (2)

"You mean you want to keep it?" Silk ask turning green.

"Don't worry we'll only eat the biscuits if we have to. But when we get to another port you can empty out the barrel. Don't throw the barrel, we can still use it," Vampire said.

"Do we really need to eat biscuits full of maggots?" Silk ask.

"Only if we're starving," Vampire said as she looks through the fridge for an old dead fish but didn't see one. So, she looked at the small fish tank where some fishes are kept, keeping them alive so that they be fresh when cook. Vampire seeing one of the fishes had died grab it out of the tank and place it on a plate then placed it on top of the barrel of biscuits.

"Where did you learn that?" Silk ask, wondering how long it will take for the maggots to start appearing.

"Learned it from grandma. It's something that sailors did before the fridge was invented and not to mention canning food became better. It comes from the era where you never guess that the food was one of the attractions of joining the navy. Meals included rotting, stinking meat, biscuits riddled with maggots, and cheese so tough that sailors carved it into buttons for their uniforms. The drink was just as bad. The 'fresh' water soon turned to green slime, and the beer kept little better. It was the era where food was very hard to keep fresh. Voyages could last years, and there was no refrigeration. The ship usually carried live animals for food, but their meat, milk, and eggs were mostly reserved for the officers. Meat for the seamen was stored in salt, which made it dry and very tough. Bread went stale or moldy, so instead the navy issued hard biscuits made of flour and water. Despite all this, shipboard food was probably better than the food sailors enjoyed with their families at home," Vampire explains.

"How you know all that?" Silk asked.

"I read lots of history books and logbooks kept at the Marine HQ," Vampire said.

"I'm glad that we're living in an age were food preservation is much better," Silk said.

"Well for some places," Vampire said as there are places and ship that didn't had fridges. (2)

"Hey, I figured out how to connect the device to my baby den den," Max said coming into the kitchen.

"Really?" Vampire ask.

"Yes, it seems that the device allows other devices to connect with it. I just wish I can read the words, so I know what it means," Max said.

"Well don't look at me," Silk said.

"I never seen anything like it before," Vampire said.

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2 weeks later -

There are many strange places in the world that Vampire had seen over the years. But one of the strangest places is a huge pit that water flows into, yet the bottom is dry. It is known as the Ocean's Navel. There is a village where the citizens live by the coast and there is also a ship graveyard, full of destroyed ships. When the village ends, there is a huge mountain where the treasure of the Ocean's Navel is. (3)

After hearing about the treasure and the 3 monsters that have been scaring the people of the village. Vampire, Silk and Max went down there to check things out. And while Vampire easily took care of the 3 monsters who turned out to be guardians of the treasure, a giant squid, a lobster, and a sea urchin. Max captured all the fights with her baby den den mushi which is a cameko. Vampire had noticed a bat that had been following them as they traveled to the treasure. The bat was in reality a transformed man named Joke, who was a pirate captain who was after a treasure that allowed the holder to wish for anything they wanted. However, as he closed in on the treasure, his crew mutinied and viciously stabbed him in the back several times. However, for some reason he was turned into a bat and stayed in his body's remains, where he waited for ten years.

With each of the guardians being defeated Joke's skeleton was restored. Vampire, Max, and Silk watched as the bat that's been following them disappear and the headless body of a skeleton of a pirate rose up in front of them. A skull came falling down from the steps where the treasure laid. The headless body picked it up and place it on its head, which was engulfed in green fire. (4)

"I never felt such power," Joke said feeling power flowing through his new body.

"Well it's going to take more than that to beat me," Vampire said putting herself in front of her two crewmates.

Joke took in a deep breath and spat out a burst of atomic fire at the 3 women in front of him. Vampire using her superspeed grab Max and Silk and got them safely away out of the chamber before the flames hit them. Both Max and Silk found themselves outside of the mountain with Vampire putting both of them down before going back into the mountain.

"What was that?" Max asks.

"Have no idea," Silk said.

"You think that Vampire be ok?" Max asked.

"She'll be fine, she fought the Emperors and their crews before," Silk said.

A burst of green energy blasted its way through the mountain with Vampire flying out of it and her landing in front of her two friends.

"Run," Vampire said as she got back on her feet and shot herself at Joke as he emerged from the hole, he had blasted her out of. Vampire slammed into Joke sending both of them into the mountain. That shake and rumbled as the two fought inside of it.

Both Silk and Max ran for the elevator that they had used to get down to the dry ocean floor. As they did pieces of the mountain and green energy blasts and fire nearly hit them. Followed by a big blast of green energy that cause the top of them mountain to collapse onto itself. Which was caused by Joke unleashes a wide blast of energy after Vampire began using her superspeed on him. Unable to see her to hit her, Joke just used a wide radius energy attack that hit everywhere at once.

From what they could see as they were running was Vampire and Joke still fighting come bursting out of the mountain. Silk and Max knows how strong Vampire is and the way she's punching Joke should had taken him down, but he took the punches and gave back just as good. With Vampire showing signs of battle that she never showed before. Joke punches Vampire with his fists before blasting her with his fire breath sending her flying into a pile of rocks. Vampire leaping onto her feet, threw the rocks at Joke who blasted them out of the air before they hit him. Only to be slammed by Vampire using a large rock as a battling ram.

"Vampire is taking a beating," Max said to Silk.

"I think this is the first time in a long time she actually had to fight," Silk said not liking what is happening. She is used to Vampire just beating the foe she's fighting right away, not having to work for it.

Both Max and Silk reached the elevator that began going up taking them up. As they look down below, they could see Vampire having grabbed Joke and was swinging him around like a windmill. Before letting him go sending him flying into the wall of water that surrounded the dry sea floor. Once Joke connected to the sea water, it began to frizzle and streamed. Vampire knew that Joke was hot to the touch, so once she had her chance of throwing him, she threw him into the water to cool him off. And hopefully kill him if what's he's doing is devil fruit related. But Joke hitting the wall caused the wall to break and the water began to pour into the dry seabed filling it up.

Both Silk and Max held on to the elevator as the wooden lift floated upwards as the water level rose upwards. Vampire pop out of the water and grabbed onto the side of the lift, which both Max and Silk grabbed her and pulled her in. Both Silk and Max saw how beaten and worn Vampire was after her fight with Joke. Silk had never seen Vampire breaking a sweat was stun at what state she is in now after her fight. As for Max she continue to record with her den den to review later, which the recording would cause a great deal of alarm once it's shown that Vampire the bounty hunter was actually bruised and bleeding from a fight.

Once the hole was filled the elevator became a raft which was pulled into the village. A large crowd had gathered to watch as the great hole had filled with water and many had questions for the 3 women who had went down into it. As for Joke he laid trap under rubble and the sheer pressure of the weight of the ocean pressing down on him. But he wouldn't let this stop him, he would free himself and get his revenge on Vampire.

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Author's Notes -

1 - Like getting a smart phone for the first time and having no idea how it works and just playing around with it till you find out how it works. And it's in a different langue that you don't understand at all.

2 – Thinking about it seeing how there are refrigerators and lightbulbs on ships. It's never really shown where the power for them comes from.

3 – With how strange the world of One Piece is and that the creator wants to end the series soon. I hope it's explained how and why the world the series takes place in is like that.

4 – Joke is One Piece version of Atomic Skull. Who is strong enough to trade punches with Superman and take it. And Seeing how magic was involved in the birth of this Atomic Skull he's magical and one of the few weaknesses that Vampire has.

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