Chapter 5

Tanzo then looked at the pirates, who obviously didn't know what it meant and just didn't like the name. One pirate shouted "I think we should name the crew Dragon pirates. It sounds more pirate-like."

Tanzo ignored him and the previous captain also didn't mind the name. Tanzo then said "Start introducing yourself." and the captain first introduced himself "I am Alors Rocko and this is my wife Kushina Rocko. We have 24 members in our crew and our total bounty is 362 million."

The extra characters then continued introducing themselves and their bounty. Although they are weak, they are a well balanced team, with everyone capable of fighting. Tanzo then said "Nice to meet you all. I will not disturb your goals and your adventure. You can do whatever you want, but remember that you still carry the flag of Alpenglow pirates."

The crew felt very happy after they learnt that they don't have to abandon their goals and their freedom. Tanzo said "We have enough food for three weeks. I should be able to finish my work here by then. You guys can continue on your journey after that."

Alors then brought out two sake cups and poured sake into it. He handed out the bigger one to Tanzo and said "I would like to share the Father-son sake with you. We will be under your pirate group from now on." Tanzo accepted the cup and drank it along with Alors. With this, Tanzo became their captain and Alors became the commander of the ship. The whole pirate crew cheered and one pirate shouted "This calls for a celebration. Start the banquet."

They had two cooks, who got to work immediately and started preparing food for the banquet. Tanzo and the crew all had a blast that day. Everyone had forgotten that they tried attacking Tanzo and he almost wiped out everyone. Tanzo also immediately got close to the crew, which is weird because he doesn't usually trust anyone so easily.

The next day, Tanzo walked out of his room, which was previously Bunzio's room. He was yawning and had dark circles around his eyes. "I was a fool to give the couple Rencer's room. I couldn't even sleep well last night." Tanzo said in a low voice.

Last night, Tanzo gave Alors and Kushina Rencer's room, which is right next to Tanzo's room. Kushina's moans and the sounds from their room made it impossible for Tanzo to go to sleep. It took a lot of time to get to sleep.

Tanzo, with his dark circles, walked to the deck and the other pirates immediately understood what had happened. One pirate said "I knew this was going to happen when our captain gave that room to our commander. Now pay up." and a few pirates started giving him cash. Tanzo walked up to him and asked "So, you already knew about this?" and he nodded with a smile. At that time, the door to Alors' room opened and he walked out, completely fresh and active. Tanzo glared at him and Alors asked confused "What happened?"

A few pirates wanted to burst out in laughter, but held back and just enjoyed the moment. Tanzo then sighed and went to train. He was seeing a lot of progress in his Geppo training. Tanzo didn't know if it was due to the devil fruit, or the knowledge from Earth.

Alors also started working out, focusing mainly on strength. He had huge weights like Zoro and would constantly raise the difficulty of the exercise by using only one hand/leg/finger. The crew also did what they wanted to. The doctors were tending to the injured while the cooks were preparing their breakfast. The navigator made sure the ship moved along the Red Line.

The mermaid slaves were using their powers to call all the fishes they could and sent them to the search for the snails. Tanzo had to find Reiju, who could suck out the poison from him. Tanzo had created a temporary medicine to keep the poison from spreading to other body parts. His whole right arm is paralysed. If the poison had spread to his lungs and his heart, he could kiss goodbye to his new life. That's the reason it is very important for Tanzo to find the Germa Kingdom as soon as possible.

Tanzo was training his Geppo when Alors came to him and said "I want to spar with you." Tanzo smiled and said "Fine. It is time you find out how strong your captain is." When Tanzo agreed, Alors immediately came running at Tanzo and used all his strength to throw a punch, aiming at Tanzo's face.

Tanzo used soru to kick the ground rapidly and move at blinding speeds to escape from the punch. Tanzo used soru, but didn't move far enough. Alors immediately stopped his punch and Tanzo was suddenly pushed back a bit. Tanzo was totally confused while Alors had a wide smile on his face.

Alors didn't give time and immediately rushed to Tanzo intending to throw another punch. Since the distance was close, Tanzo knew that he couldn't use soru to move far away. So, he used Tekkai to harden his body and also used Kami-e to dodge the punch. Again, he avoided the punch, but got hit by something. This time however, he didn't take damage at all.

Using the time he had, he used Geppo and jumped into the sky and asked Alors "What the fuck was that?" and Alors replied "I will tell you if you win this spar. I might even teach you this." Tanzo smiled and came down pushing the air and when he got close enough, he did a 360 in the air and slammed his leg on Alors' shoulder.

Although he looked hurt, he didn't flinch and instead caught Tanzo's leg. Alors pulled him down and slammed his first on Tanzo's chest. Even though Tanzo had his body hardened by Tekkai, he took a lot of damage. Tanzo immediately swung his other leg at Alors, releasing a slash from his foot. This technique is called Rankyaku and it took a lot of time for Tanzo to learn this move.

Tanzo made sure not to put a lot of force into this, so the slash wasn't that powerful. Tanzo thought that Alors would either take the attack and suffer damage, letting him go, or let go of his leg to dodge the attack. Instead, Alors again punched the slash and actually managed to cancel out the slash.

With no other option, Tanzo used Shigan, moved his finger fast enough to pierce Alors' forearm. This forced him to let go of Tanzo's leg. Tanzo then immediately used soru, got behind Alors, and used all his strength to punch Alors' back. This sent him sliding into the mast. Luckily, Alors managed to slow down the slide using his feet or else, the mast would have definitely broken.

Alors decided to stop the spar and said "I give up. Are you trying to kill me? What was the last punch? I felt like I was hit by 10 raging bulls at a time." Tanzo replied "Says the person who punched with all his strength and also used his devil fruit." Alors smiled and said "This is not the power of a devil fruit. This is a power I obtained after training everyday for 10 years."

Tanzo asked "What is that power?" and he replied "I am from Kano country in West blue. We have a special martial art in our country called Hasshoken. This allows the user to produce shockwaves from various parts of the body. These shockwaves can pass through anything, unblockable and reverberating.

There is a story in our country about the first person who created and used Hasshoken. It is said that he created this martial art after he lost to someone that used the Gura Gura no Mi before Whitebeard. We don't know if this is true as it happened years ago, but people say that you can produce shockwaves strong enough to cancel out Whitebeard's devil fruit and also be able to do the same things he can do."

"How did the government allow this technique to exist? They usually tend to wipe out anyone that is a threat to them." Tanzo asked and Alors replied "As I said, it is only a story. Some say, even the one who invented this technique couldn't reach that level. So, people consider this story a lie people tell to promote the dojo teaching Hasshoken."

"You got my hopes up for nothing. I thought I could use Whitebeard's moves without eating his devil fruit." Tanzo said. Alors replied "It's not like you can eat his devil fruit now. You already ate one." Tanzo then said "Still, it is a good technique. I want you to teach me this Hasshoken. I might be able to use this."

Tanzo decided to learn this technique because he felt that it had a few similarities to the Rokuogan Rob Lucci uses. Alors was happy that people wanted to learn his technique, because he tried to teach his crew, but they were not strong enough to learn it. Seeing Tanzo's strength, he was confident that he would be able to learn it.

Tanzo said to Alors "We will take a break and start training after breakfast. Get your wounds treated by then." Alors looked at the hole in his forearm and nodded. Tanzo then went to the mermaids, who were still calling out for any other fishes they could call. They were far from the crew, talking to the fishes in the sea. Tanzo asked "So, how much time will it take?" and one mermaid with pink hair replied "The Red Line is huge. We might need more than three weeks to do this."

Tanzo asked "What is your name?" and she replied "Hiramera" Tanzo then asked the other mermaid and she replied "Mero" Tanzo said "Look here Hiramera, Mero. You both don't have any other choice. I am trying to help you here. We don't have a lot of food. We must leave for the next island in three weeks. If you can't find the snails by then, I will have to leave you here with them. You will become their slave all your life."

Both seemed to understand what he said. Mero then said "Sir, we can make the search faster if you can get us something to increase our voice, but there is a risk of Fish-men hearing us too. Still, this would make it easier to communicate with a large number of fishes at a time, decreasing the time."

"Nice. The musician should have a speaker with him. Remember to not notify the Fish-men about us. Pirates are known to hold grudges, so they will kill you even when they are dying. Just help me and you can live your life as you want." Tanzo said and left them to do their job.

When he headed back to the deck, Kushina stopped Tanzo and asked "Why are you doing this? Why are you making us look bad while you try to act kind?" Tanzo asked in return "Isn't it rude to eavesdrop on someone and also question your captain?"

"I think it isn't rude when the said captain is in charge of our lives." Kushina replied. Tanzo smiled and said "I am playing the 'good cop, bad cop' move." Kushina looked confused, so he continued "It is where a person scares the victim, acting as a bad person while the other acts as their benefactor, promising the victim rewards for doing something favourable. Now they think that I am their benefactor, so they will help me without thinking about betraying me. We don't have to worry about Fish-men and they will help us in the future."

Kushina looked at her captain and said "You really are cunning. We did the right thing by joining your crew." Tanzo said "Please, you didn't choose to join my crew. You didn't have any other way to survive." Kushina said in return "We could have at least put up a fight and died taking you down with us." Tanzo said "One attack in my dragon form was enough to sink your ship. What gives you that confidence?"

A friendly quarrel started between them, which went on till they got to the dining table. The crew had their breakfast and Alors started teaching Hasshoken to Tanzo while the mermaids were calling out for fishes to help them search.