"The entire world is sinking into the ocean, and you want to know how I'm doing!?!"
"Ok. And?"
Drake just gaped at Alex with his nonchalance at the bomb he had just dropped, which had completely floored him when he first figured it out.
For years Drake has been sailing around the world investigating it's secrets before Luffy and his crew set sail, even acquiring a skill from the shop specifically to let him read poneglyphs(though the actual skill was just a universal understanding of all written languages). There were still so many unanswered questions due to One Piece still being published even after they all died, and he wanted to learn as many of them as he could.
Even as far as going to Laugh Tale in secret, the same island Gol D. Roger visited to become the Pirate King, Drake had finally learned the greatest secret in the entire world. It was slowly sinking, which would doom the entirety of it's population, except for those who resided at it's highest elevations. The Celestial Dragons.
Drake had originally planned to keep to the original story of One Piece due to not knowing the end point of the series. But now, he desperately wanted to keep things on track so that Luffy, who Drake heavily suspected was Joyboy, could fulfill the role he was destined to play. The world itself and all of it's inhabitants depended on it.
And for the last several years that specifically meant dealing with any other reincarnators who tried to screw things up. At least, he had been until this damned Dragon Emperor appeared that threatened to undo everything he had been working towards.
"'And'? 'AND'?!?! Do you not realize what this means!?!" Drake practically roared at Alex in frustration.
"More or less, but it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things." Alex said, not at all understanding what Drake was freaking out about. After all, he had already raised Water 7 up out of the ocean right after entering this world. It wouldn't be too much of a chore to do the same with the other islands.
"How can you say that?" Drake asked in disbelief.
"Alex just shrugged as he replied, "I've dealt with worse. The biggest issue would be knowing exactly when it'll happen, but I suppose we can just use Shia for that..."
"And right after you were telling us not to rely on things like precognition." Nami remarked as she and Robin peeked into the room.
"I know, right? But there's diffferent circumstances. At the very least, I know we have two years until things go to shit." Alex said while shrugging his shoulders again, not really concerned with the contradiction in his earlier statement. Plus Shia would only be a last resort, as Azazel and Hajime would both probably be able to predict when everything was going to go to shit with some time.
"So, is that all?" Alex asked while turning back to Drake, who was gaping at Nami and Robin in disbelief.
"Just how much have you screwed things up...?" He asked in resignation.
"Well, I AM screwing both Nami and Robin here, along with Viola, Hancock, the entirety of Amazon Lily, and a few former Marines as well..." Alex replied as he ticked them all off on his fingers, before adding as an afterthought, "Oh yeah, I also declared war on the World Government, subdued both Charlotte Lin Lin and Whitebeard, orchestrated the defeat of Doflamingo, Kaido and Moria, along with instigating nearly every single nation turning against the World Government, AND I also destroyed Impel Down."
By the time Alex finished listing off everythng he had done since arriving in this world, with a few exceptions, Drake looked as he'd been handed his death sentence as he turned pale, and all of the life seemingly drained from his body.
"Stop acting like it's the end of the world. I also managed to prevent Ace and Whitebeard's deaths, along with all of the lives and damage that would be caused in the battle Blackbeard would cause. Oh yeah! I almost forgot, I also killed Blackbeard!"
What little life Drake had left seemed to drain out of him when he heard that, making Alex feel as if any further discussion with him was pointless for now. So he decided to remodel the cell since he'd leave Drake awake for the time being to give him time to think.
Several shelves of books, a tv, gaming systems, and all the necessities that one required for several months, just in case.
"Well that was weird." Nami said as they walked away.
"Right? He is absolutely obsessed with keeping to the original story." Alex said while shaking his head.
"Just out of curiosity, what WAS supposed to happen originally?" Robin asked curiously.
"Well, Luffy and the others would beat CP9 in their mission of rescuing you, before escaping the Buster Call that Spandam would accidentally trigger. After that, Franky would build a new ship after you all say goodbye to the Going Merry, which he is still doing. After that he would join the crew, and you all would depart for the next island. After that..."
Alex then explained to the two girls the differences between the original timeline, and the changes he had made to their lives.
***
As morning dawned in Orario there was quite the commotion at the base of the tower Babel as all of the adventurers who were trying to enter the Dungeon were turned away.
*BANG!*
"What is the meaning of this!?!" Demanded a brute of a dwarven man as he banged his fist on the counter.
"I'm very sorry about the inconvenience, but the order came from higher up!" A cute woman with elvish features said as she tried to placate the group of rowdy men and women.
"How are we supposed to make our livings!?" One woman snarled angrily, followed by numerous cries of agreement.
As adventurers belonging to different Familias in Orario, many of them made their entire living off of the spoils and money they made delving into the Dungeon. So being denied entrance was like being denied their own livelihood.
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" One voice roared over the rest, bringing silence to the area as everyone focused on the speaker, none other than Gareth of the Loki Familia. And accompanying him were the rest of the high class adventurers from their Familia, Riveria, Ais, Tione and Tiona, Bete, and especially Finn, the Captain of the Familia.
Not only that, but the longer the people looked the more high profile people they noticed were present, like the various gods in charge of exploration type Familias and their Captains, along with other high profile gods and goddesses in Orario like Hephaestus, and the Captain of her Familia, Tsubaki.
They then proceeded to herd the entire group out into the plaza, and once everyone was calm Loki stepped forward with her hands raised as she declared, "Everyone, I understand many of you are upset at the closing of the Dungeon. However we are doing this for good reason! The Dragon Emperor intends to delve into the Dungeon himself to discover what lays at the bottom!"
The second everyone heard that they erupted into a buzz of chatter and discussion, as no one had ever delved to the bottom of the Dungeon since it's discovery. Loki allowed the chatter for a moment before motioning for quiet once again as she continued,
"The reason the Dragon Emperor has ordered the closure of the Dungeon is because we do not know what lies at the bottom of the Dungeon, or what will happen once it is reached. So rather than risk the lives of everyone who enters it on a daily basis, he has ordered it closed for all of your safety! We have also sent messengers ahead to Rivira to retrieve the people residing there as well, and anyone he passes on his way through will be sent back to the surface. ADDITIONALLY, he also intends to reimburse whatever projected profits everyone would have made today as well, based off of their records with the guild of course."
When Loki finished everyone began talking yet again, but this time the tone was completely different from before since everyone learned that they would basically be getting paid for taking the day off.
They were all still talking when Alex himself arrived with his own entourage, Shizuku in her casual clothes, Erza in her armored breastplate and skirt, Mirajane in a simple dress like the ones she wore around the guild, Lucy in a tank top and short skirt, Kurumu in a school-girl's uniform, and San in a simple sundress.
Awe descended upon the plaza as everyone stared at the beautiful girls accompanying Alex, before their gazes centered on the man himself. Though dressed in a simple pair of shorts, the aura radiating off of Alex demanded respect from everyone around him. To say nothing of Erza, who was taking her duty as one of Alex's peerage members, and as a Knight of Asora, with complete seriousness as her eyes swept the crowds.
To say nothing of Erza, all of the adventurers could tell that each of the girls accompanying Alex were more powerful than all of them were, even if they didn't look or act like it.
Arriving at the top of the stairs leading to Babel's entrance, Alex turned towards the crowds and said, "I apologoze for any inconvenience the sudden closure of the Dungeon has caused, but please be patient and wait until we return from exploring it's depths. As Loki stated before, I will personally reimburse those who's livelihoods would be negatively impacted by the sudden closure. Thank you all for your understanding."
His piece said, Alex then entered Babel along with the women accompanying him, as well as the various gods, goddesses, and their Captains.
"Are you sure about this? Not even I know whats down there waiting for you." Hermes said once the doors closed behind them.
"Yeah, I'm not too concerned." Alex said with a wry smile as he glanced at the women gathered behind him. To call their presence 'overkill' would probably be the overstatement of the century, but Alex decided to use this chance to get to spend some time with them. Plus there was the unknown of how the Dungeon would react to his presence with his divine power.
"I see..." Hermes replied, glancing at each of the women who accompanied Alex as well. "Well regardless, we have a slight condition if you'd allow."
As Hermes said that, several women stepped forward alongside the ones Alex planned to take with him to begin with, Riveria, Ais, Tione, Tiona, and Lefiya(Cara was still dealing with the Xenos).
Though he recognized Tsubaki, obviously, two other women were present that Alex knew of, but had yet to actually meet.
"Shakti and Asfi I assume." Alex said in greetings to the two women, who bowed their heads respectively.
"Greetings lord Dragon Emperor. Though it may be presumptuous of us, we would like to accompany your journey to the bottom of the Dungeon."
"We will work to ensure we do not become a liability." They said one after the other, while Tsubaki simply walked up to Alex.
"Yo! You mind if we tag along? I may not hold a candle to the Sword Princess or the others from Loki Familia, but I would love the chance to explore the bottom floors and whatever materials may be down there before anyone else." She asked him earnestly.
"Of course! The more the merrier!" Alex stated without any concern, both to her and the duo behind her. "As long as you know what you're signing up for." He added with a pointed look and smirk at both Asfi and Shakti.
Both women looked away pointedly in response, but neither backed down in the slightest. Shakti specifically wanted to go since there would be monsters the likes of which no one had ever seen before at the bottom of the Dungeon, which she fully intended to catalog as the Captain of the Ganesha Familia, which was famous for it's tamers. Asfi on the other hand had been directly ordered by Hermes to go along with Alex, as he himself desperately wanted to know what was down there as the god of travelers.
Seeing their determination to go with him, Alex shrugged as he turned towards the entrance to the Dungeon.
"Alright! No time like the present, so everyone who's coming along, with me!"
Without another look back, Alex led the way into the Dungeon via the large spiral staircase in the middle of the ground before them, followed by quite the entourage of beautiful women. It would be considered the ultimate expedition party of any other harem isekai series.
The second Alex stepped off the bottom step he was immediately greeted by a blast of hostility and malicious intent that could have sent chills down even a god's spine, though for him it was basically just another Tuesday. But what followed that was a scene similar to that of the HOTD world.
Accompanying the malice and hostility, hundreds of black skin and fur monsters began to emerge from the walls, floor and ceiling that felt significantly stronger than what one would find on the first floor of a Dungeon.
"Shizuku." Alex calmly called, and his Knight responded.
Moving faster than anyone aside from Alex could see, Shizuku disappeared from her spot for several seconds, before returning with complete calmness.
"I dealt with all of the monsters, and explored the entirety of this floor while I was at it." She coolly reported to Alex, before every single monster that had spawned on the entire floor exploded into ash and dust.
"""..."""
Asfi, Shakti and Tsubaki all blinked in disbelief as they watched Shizuku casually kill hundreds of monsters within a matter of seconds.
True, they were all goblins and kobolds that were considered amongst the weakest of monsters, but each of these were significantly stronger than usual due to Alex's presence.
Plus there was the fact that she claimed to have explored the ENTIRE first floor, in a matter of seconds...
If the three of them thought that was surprising though, then they were going to be in for a hard time the further down they go.
"Ok. Want to record everything she learned Lucy?"
"On it!"
Following her proclamation, Lucy then activated the first skill she obatined after becoming one of Alex's Pawns, Archive.
As a translucent screen appeared before her, Lucy's finger flew over the matching keyboard before a small bar appeared above Shizuku's head. The bar then filled up to indicate she was downloading something, before the screen shifted to map of the entire first floor.
"Now just let me adjust this to real time..." Lucy muttered, before several symbols appeared scattered throughout the map.
Most notably was the numerous green dots that indicated them, while there were also several dozen red dots forming throughout the map as monsters rapidly respawned. There were even icons showing where the stairs were, along with some drop items from Shizuku's slaughter.
As he scrutinized the map, Alex frowned when he noticed that several walls were disappearing and forming, or just flat out MOVING so that the entire first floor was constantly rearranging itself.
"I didn't recall the Dungeon doing THAT." Alex said as he pointed out the phenomenon to the others.
"It doesn't.... This must be in response to your presence as well." Riveria responded after she too scrutinized the map, already being used to all the strangeness of Alex and his wives after spending a few nights in the space-time orb.
"Well, it's certainly not going to make things be easy for us." Alex commented wryly. Instead of feeling annoyed, he found the situation humorous.
And unfortunately for whatever force was behind the will of the Dungeon, Alex had no intention to take it the least bit seriously.
Despite their intention to not keep being surprised by everything Alex and his wives did, they were all dumbfounded when a massive 'carriage' unlike anything any of them had ever seen before appeared in the corridor.
"What...is that?" Asfi asked in amazement of the mysterious object.
"An SUV." Alex responded, as if that completely explained it.
Then, without another word, he opened the door and entered the vehicle to change the settings, turning it from a regular car interior to one that more resembled a mobile home. Aside from the captain-like command center to drive it from, there was also a kitchen, several plush and comfty chairs, a massive canopy bed, and even a bath/shower.
Once the interior had been changed the girls all began to pile into the car without a single care, with Mirajane immediately going to the kitchen to prepare some refreshments, while Lucy took her seat at the captains chair to synchronize her Archive with the recently added AI.
"Hello Onii-Chan!" Cried out the holographic figure that appeared, a young looking girl with green hair tied into bushy twin-tails, who was also completely naked.
"..."
Alex had no idea what to say as he beheld the AI for the first time, which was installed by Lala just the other day.
"Hello... And you are?"
"Humph! Onii-Chan, you meanie! How can you forget Toya!?!"
"..."
'Lala definitely used Spirit magic to make this...' Alex thought to himself, as he could feel a form of life coming from it compared to a typical AI program.
"Sorry about that Toya, but you do realize that this is the first time we've met, right?"
"Yep~!"
Alex just shook his head at Toya's attitude, before asking her, "Can you go help Lucy over there? She has a map of this entire floor, so can I leave our path and maneuverability to you?"
"YES! Toya will help Onii-Chan with whatever you want!" Toya responded, before blushing slightly. "Toya just needs magic power from Onii-Chan to move..."
"Alright." Alex answered plainly, before he put a hand on her holographic head and channeled enough magic power to last for several hours.
"HYAAN!" Toya cried in an unlady-like noise, her body squirming and wiggling suggestively as Alex channeled energy into her.
'As expected of Lala...' He mentally commented to himself, as only she could turn his car into something perverted.
By the time Alex finished channeling magic power into Toya, she atually appeared weak in the knees with a crimson face while refusing to make eye contact with him.
"Pervert Onii-Chan..."
"..."
Alex just shook his head at the accusation from the little exhibitionist as she turned to help Lucy, before turning his attention to the others as they cautiously boarded the car.
"It's so spatious in here." Asfi mused curiously.
"Yeah, the interior is expanded with Spatial magic. It's also filled with all sorts of weapons and other surprises." Alex stated while collapsing into the largest of the chairs present.
"Who knew a dive into the Dungeon could be so...comfortable." Shakti muttered as she looked around curiously.
"Yeah, it's easier if you try to stop being surprised by everything these people do." Riveria said as she too took a seat, smothering the hundreds of questions she too had. She could just learn more herself later, especially since Apocrypha contained information on EVERYTHING.
Once everyone was settled, and Toya had plotted their route through the first floor, they shot forward at speeds ulike anything the Danmachi girls had ever experienced before. Which was basically the same way they could describe the next hour or so.
Despite the Dungeon doing everything in it's power to prevent Alex's adavnce into it's depths, they rapidly shot down while relaxing in complete comfort.
Even as thousands of mutated killer ants poured out of the walls, floor and ceiling at them, Mirajane merely served them drinks as the vehicle plowed right through them.
When massive orcs charged them as a group to bowl the vehicle over, Alex was relaxing in his chair with San lounging on his lap.
And even when armies of hellhounds, minotaurs, ligerfangs, and dungeon worms tried to swarm them, Kurumu decided to use a pole to put on an erotic show for her husband.
Their descent only slowed when they reached the spawning point for the monster rex, Goliath.
This was the first 'boss' monster of the Dungeon, which was also the last one that would need to be defeated before advancing to the 18th floor, which was also a safe zone. However it only respawned once every two weeks after being killed, so it shouldn't have been present at all.
SHOULDN'T.
Of course, due to Alex's presence, the Dungeon spawned not just one, but TWO hulking black Goliaths to stop them. And of course, Alex and his wives weren't the least bit concerned about them spawning.
"I'll go take care of this!" Kurumu declared, departing the car despite being dressed only in shoes, knee-high socks, and a cute little bowtie around her neck.
"Just hurry." Alex replied while waving her off, prompting Asfi and Shakti to both give him incredulous looks.
Anything they might have said was silenced though as Kurumu walked right up to the feet of the mutated Goliaths. The next thing they knew there was a massive golden fured ape that towered over both of them standing there behind her, which focused it's glowing red eyes on the two Goliath before it.
"What is THAT!?!" Shakti exclaimed, before realizing something. "Kurumu is a tamer?!"
"Nope, she's not." Alex immediately denied, before pointing to Lucy. "Lucy is, as well as a summoner. But I doubt there's any monsters that'll catch her eye until we get to the lower floors."
Shakti just gaped while alternating between Alex and Lucy, the latter of which was making a 'cutesy' pose as if to say 'oops~!' But the rumbling of the ground brought her attention back to the battle that was about to take place.
The two black Goliaths roared in rage at the appearance of the golden ape, before charging it as they seperated to attack it from either side. Only, the golden ape never so much as moved or tried to either avoid or defend against the attack in any way.
Instead, both of the Goliaths phased right through it as if the ape wasn't there at all, making Asfi blink in realization as she muttered, "Illusions..." But, even if she figured out what the ape that had appeared was, that didn't make them any closer to defeating the black Goliaths.
Illusions couldnt be used to directly attack after all, so that meant that all Kurumu could do was try and get the black Goliaths to take each other out. Right?
Kurumu had a smirk on her face as the golden ape finally moved for the first time since she created it, grabbing the heads of the two black Goliaths and smashing them together with enough force that they were smashed into gory bits of grey matter and skull.
The ape then proceeded to plunge it's massive hands into both of their chests, and rip out the giant magic stones embedded within. Kurumu then turned back towards the car while storing the magic stones in her inventory, strutting towards them in a way that made her hips sway and naked breasts jiggle.
"""..."""
Alex smirked as no one seemed to notice the illusionary Oozaru fading, or the black Goliaths turning to ash and dust behind her. Instead, Shakti, Asfia, Tsubaki, Riveria and Lefiya all had to suppress a gulp as their eyes stayed glued to Kurumu.
Now that the danger had passed, all of them were looking at Kurmu and being drawn into her passive beauty and allure, which was now so powerful that she could turn the straightest of women into raging lesbians within minutes of meeting them. Seconds if she actively wanted to seduce them.
Alex also knew that they had only just barely been able to resist her allure during her stripshow and pole-dance earlier since they were pointedly trying to focus on other things. Now however, they were entirely focused on her.
"If anyone is curious about what Kurumu did just then..." Alex began with a smirk, before he explained the basics of her technique of turning illusions into reality temporarily. His words fell on deaf ears though as Kurumu entered the car, and hurriedly approached him.
"Kyaaaaaa~! I was SOOOOOOO scared darling!" Kurumu declared in what was so obviously an act as she snuggled up to his side, but no one called her out on it as Alex gave her the attention she was obviously trying to get.
No one noticed as Toya moved the car forward through the passage that had opened with the defeat of the black Goliaths, bringing them into Rivira.
The safe zone on the 18th floor appeared just like the surface in that there seemed to be sunlight present, along wih grass, trees and rivers. And since no monsters ever came to this floor, it was the perfect place for the guild to establish a base to launch deep dive operations from.
However, with all the supplies they needed in their storages and storage rings, the group had no reason to stop other than to send all of the inhabitants to the surface, and to pick up Cara.
"It's about time." Cara stated as they pulled up to her, though she eyed the car when she first saw it.
"Isn't this cheating?"
"Would you rather we teleport directly to the bottom? I CAN do that you know."
"..."
Cara fell silent at Alex's retort as she too climmbed aboard the car, where she admired the expansive space within it.
"The Xenos are safely in Asora, and I sent all of the adventurers ahead out of the Dungeon when I first got here. The entire floor should be cleared already." She said as she too too a seat, before noticing the naked Kurumu in Alex's lap.
"Alright then. From this point on there shouldn't be a single person left aside from us in the Dungeon. So you all know what that means." Alex said in a deathly serious tone, surprising the girls as they all leaned forward to hear what he had to say.
"That means, that from here on out, IT'S A NAKED PARTY!"
*SNAP!*
"""!!!"""
None of them even had a chance to react to his declaration before Alex snapped his fingers, and every single scrap of clothing disappeared from the bodies of everyone present in the car.
To Shizuku, Erza, Mirajane, San and Lucy this was nothing new, so none of them them really reacted aside from some head shaking. Or the shaking of various OTHER body parts.
The same could be said of Ais, Tione, Tiona, Tsubaki, and Cara, who were all quickly learning that there was no such thing as a sense of shame around Alex and his wives. And though she rarely got on it, almost every time Tsubaki had entered the chatroom since obtaining it she was greeted by hundreds of naked pictures of the other women on it, as well as several of Alex himself. Taken by his various wives and lovers of course.
On the other hand...
"""KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!"""
Shakti, Asfi and Lefiya all screamed at their sudden nakedness while simultaniously trying to cover their bodies. And while she was equally embarrassed, Riveria had a notably tamer reaction as she merely tried to cover herself up from Alex's leering eyes.
"Alright! Time to truly get this expedition under way! Toya, forward!"
"YES, Onii-Chan!"
And with several screaming women, they dove down to the deep depths to see what lay in the very bottom of the Dungeon.
***
"I sense..... a god in my domain... How arrogant...they are...."
(A.N. Sorry for the delay, I've been busy for the last couple weeks. I already announced on my other series, but this is my busy season so I may not be able to post chapters as regularly as I'd like. I will TRY to, but I make no promises.
Thank you for you understanding.)