The Underworld
Many mythologies have their own versions of it.
And in the One Piece world, the only knowledge of the Underworld comes from Brook.
But he doesn't really say it exists or maybe he doesn't know the details.
But his devil fruits abilities definitely hinted at its existence.
I have now confirmed its existence.
Unfortunately or fortunately I was not able to enter.
This knowledge gave me alot of things to consider.
I wasn't concerned about Liz, the goddess, getting involved. She was strange since I met her and I could tell she is only interested in things that keep her boredom at bay.
If I went into the underworld and my journey ended there, then so would her entertainment.
I was more concerned with the implications of an actual Underworld.
How I could use this to my advantage later on...
I left that place behind and swam to the surface back to my yacht.
I now had 6 devil fruits with 5 being unknown. This was a problem I was keen to solve.
I could either use my next wish to get a item that can identify all devil fruits or try my luck buying a devil fruit encyclopedia.
I might as well try and get the book and if that doesn't pan out, wish the problem away. Right?
I put the newest fruit into my satchel and had Gyarados pull the yacht towards our next destination.
There is a naval base on the coast of a kingdom nearby.
I'll turn in Arlongs head and then visit the kingdom.
The waves gently caressed the yacht as we surfed leisurely toward our goal.
*bloop*
A watery blob emerged next to the boat. A visitor I hadn't seen for a few weeks.
The spirit of the sea.
"Hey! Long time no see."
The blob nodded and then played charades with me.
"You want me to do something?"
The blob nodded and even gestured towards my satchel.
"The devil fruits? No way, I need these. Why do you hate them so much anyway?"
The sea turned its body, not answering my question.
"You won't say, huh... well I won't help you."
The sea glowed with a tinge of red and began using charades aggressively.
I just picked my ear waiting for it to calm itself.
"Well, I understand you hate them even if you cant tell me why. But instead I have a compromise or better yet a deal."
The sea gestured as if saying, "Go on."
"So it's like this. You want all the devil fruits sealed away. And I can do that. But not by myself. I'll need powerful allies to collect them all. So my deal is this..."
The sea listened to my proposal and seemed to be in deep thought before finally accepting.
"Then our deal is made." I said with a smile.
The sea lifted itself closer to me and a watery tendril touched my chest just above my heart.
A tattoo etched itself there to symbolize the contract we just made.
Over my heart was a circle with symbol that looked like waves in the center.
With the accord struck, the sea departed. Or whatever... the sea is always there, just not the blob.
*ahem*
The contract between us will help me greatly in the future. It's a 500 year contract so I have plenty of time uphold my end of the deal.
For the sea that is as old as the world itself, 500 years is nothing.
The terms were as follows-
I, Maui, demi-god of the wind and waves, will collect and seal all the devil fruits in the world away so they will not have another user. Time limit 500 years.
The Sea, will recind the curse of the devil fruits for all of Maui's allies and subordinates until the 500 year deadline.
Only Maui's people will keep thier devil fruit at the end of contract with a limit of 10 people.
If I fail to seal them all except the ones my people use, the I will gain the sea curse for eternity.
I wasn't sure the sea would go for that. But it did and I'm stoked.
The people close to me in the future will not be weak to the sea element. That includes sea stones and sea clouds.
Today has been a very good day.
I see a news coo and wave it down to purchase a newspaper.
As I flip through the pages, I smirk.
"Seems I was right. The bounty isnt as high though."
Luffy got a bounty of 10 million for taking out the mouse captain and all his men.
But that's not all. Nami got a bounty too...
I wonder what happened.
Her charges are piracy and theft of government property and the bounty is 5 million.
The newspaper is biased unfortunately so I cant know the real truth without going back and finding out.
But I dont really need to know.
That butterfly effect changed the smaller details but Nami still ended up as a Straw Hat pirate anyway so it looks like the important stuff stayed the same.
The crew should be in Louguetown now. I wonder how that will go since Alvida didn't get the Smooth fruit.
I read the other articles as I sit and relax.
A few hours pass and a small island that holds a naval base appears in the distance.
I tell Gyarados to remain underwater while I sail the yacht to the docks.
After answering the port authority, I make my way over to the bounty claim office and turn in Arlong's head.
20 million bellies richer now, I go back to the yacht and sail a few minutes to reach the southern port of Frauce Kingdom.
I disembarked at the port and went through answering the port authority again, then make my way into the city of Pierre.
The Frauce kingdom architecture is built in a similiar style to renaissance era France.
The clothing worn is similiar as well.
The city of Pierre is a decent sized coastal city and is the country's main port.
I walked along the cobbled street while passing food stalls and boutiques selling food and items that are locally produced.
I got directions from an vagrant and gave him some bellies out of charity.
I found myself in a back alley entering a storefront that was kind of shady looking.
This was the place the vagrant told me I could find an info broker.
The devil fruit encyclopedia isnt likely to be found in a used book store, and I was hoping this info broker can tell me where I can purchase it, as well as other things I want to know.