The straw hats looked at the obsidian dragon with varied awe and terror.
He was huge, dwarfing the Going Merry, with red streaks that coursed through his entire scaly body, massive black wings with a red underside, and a long black, razor sharp, tail.
Familiar red and purple slits stared at the crew, as the dragon got closer to them and Usopp couldn't stop his shaking.
"S-S-Scary…" He muttered. What if he really pissed Rosan off and the redhead just chose to eat them...? His teeth looked so sharp, he was sure the dragon could chew steel with no problems.
"Holy shit," Sanji gaped. He didn't know the redhead could turn into a dragon of all things... He was only aware of his angelic wings when donning his disguise!
"W-Wow," Nami stammered, unconsciously taking a step back and failing to hide her tremors from the massive creature that could very well swallow them all whole. Rosan told her he could transform into a dragon but she hadn't been expecting it to look so… dangerous and big!
Zoro simply whistled, impressed by the sight of the dragon and wondering why the redhead didn't opt to use it more.
Luffy stretched out his hands and began petting the massive dragon. "Thanks, Rosan!" The rubber boy beamed.
Nami and Usopp both squeaked at the low rumble of the Dragon. They felt that growl in their bones and a primal surge went through them at the magnificent creature.
The group watched the creature slowly get replaced by their scout and the only thing that remained of the dragon, were those massive scaly wings.
He slowly flew over to the crew and landed on the deck gently before dispersing his wings and staring at them all with an unimpressed gaze.
One minute later, all 5 of them were crouched on the floor nursing the bruise on their heads with comical tears and groans of misery.
They didn't expect the redhead to hit them but damn did it hurt really bad!
"Don't be so stupid next time. You guys are lucky I've sailed through the Calm Belt before," Rosan informed them, drinking a cup of lemonade as he reprimanded them. "I knew what to expect so I knew I had to get us out of there as soon as possible."
"I've never seen you hit someone for doing something stupid," Mod laughed. Her son was normally much more tolerable but it seems even he had his limits and this crew was checking all the marks.
"Imagine if I didn't save them. What a stupid way to die," Rosan replied. They were so lucky that he had been alerted while in his mindscape.
"You've sailed through the Calm Belt before?!" Nami asked in surprise. That... but how? He said sail so it couldn't have been with his dragon!
Was it his nice ship? She noticed that it always moved at the same speed no matter the strength of the winds.
"Yeah, to get to the North Blue. I was born in the South Blue and wanted a change of scenery," he explained.
"You were?!"
Rosan was born in the South Blue?! They didn't know that! The crew never really thought to deeply about it but they just assumed everyone on the ship was born in the East!
How did he end up in the East Blue then? Considering the redhead mentioned knowing Luffy for 10 years... he must have traveled through the seas at an incredibly young age...
"Rosan… what exactly is your Devil Fruit?" Sanji asked slowly. It was impossible to pinpoint just what it was because of how versatile it seemed to be. Was he a shapeshifter? He could transform himself and his weapon into various things so maybe that was it?
The blonde thought his Devil Fruit was being able to transform into an Angel but it seemed like transformation was just one of the core concepts of his actual ability...
It seemed like the only one who was also curious was Usopp, which probably meant the redhead already told his other crewmates.
This was only proven to him, as Rosan said, "I'll tell you but I need to stress the importance of leaving the name of my fruit secret."
Sanji nodded without hesitation but Rosan wasn't even glancing at him. The scout's dual gaze were piercing Usopp like the liar had stolen something from him.
"Usopp, I don't really trust you to keep a secret but just understand, if you tell a Marine the name of my fruit, you will all probably die and I'll get captured," the redhead stressed.
Usopp was about to protest mid sentence, but went ashen at Rosan's blunt warning. He nodded shakily and the redhead took that as his sign to continue.
He still honestly didn't trust the coward but well, If he told anyone then Rosan would make sure all of his crewmates but Usopp escaped.
"My Devil Fruit is called the Mod Mod no mi," Rosan began, explaining to them exactly what his fruit could do and why it needed to be kept secret.
Mod-chan must have been beaming with joy right now, considering every one of his crewmates would now know about her fruit. She sure did want him to put trust in more people and it was adorable how naive she had become over the years.
But he supposed she had a fair point. At the end of the day, he didn't care if he trusted a person or not but this was... his crew and perhaps he should put a bit more trust in people that Luffy acknowledged.
"The government is hunting your fruit down?" Zoro asked in surprise. His fruit was very useful but he hadn't known that was the reason he wanted it secret.
"I had no idea..." Nami muttered. No wonder he was so hesitant to share the information. If someone leaked his fruit to the World Government, who knows who'd they send after him!
"Yes. If they capture me, it's likely that they'll try and brainwash me to be their dog, experiment heavily on me, or they could even use me as a breeding tool to keep Mod-chan in check. I'd rather that one in particular not happen," Rosan replied calmly. "Though, it's quite difficult to capture me if I want to escape."
They balked in horror at his bleak statement. All those things sounded, really... really bad. The last one especially...
Rosan told Luffy long ago that they might not be together if he told people and his little brother, not wanting to be separated from his scout, actually managed to keep it a secret to the best of his abilities.
You just needed to not ask him because he might accidentally reveal it but that was better then nothing.
"You mentioned a Mod-chan... is she the silver haired beauty?" Sanji asked. If the World Government dared to try and control her using the redhead... there'd be hell to pay.
"Beauty?" Ram repeated curiously, raising a brow. Maro had made it clear that she was hot since the first time they met and the few times she was out in public proved the Queen's point but still... she didn't think anyone ever called her a beauty.
It was gross.
Surprisingly, Nami was the one who answered.
"Mod-chan and Ram are two completely different people," the navigator explained, getting looks of surprise from them.
Did she meet them both?! When did that happen...
The redhead nodded in confirmation. "That's right. Ram is my weapon, Mod-chan is my Devil Fruit…" Rosan explained, tapering off with a hum before nodding to himself.
Their confusion at watching Rosan's eyes burn brightly, lasted only a split second as shock very quickly replaced it.
Before the entire crews very eyes, they watched as Rosan's body swiftly morphed into that of a purple haired woman and their jaws dropped to the floor.
The woman was downright gorgeous with a bronze hue of skin similar to Rosan's and piercing red eyes that lacked pupils.
She smiled warmly at them, practically glowing in happiness, before glancing down in dissatisfaction at the size of her clothing. The clothes were too big on her and it looked like she were wearing her older brother's outfit...
Mod shook her head and decided against changing its size since she wouldn't be out for long. Rosan was still too tall for his own good and the long sleeved purple shirt, looked more akin to a sweater.
Don't even get her started on his pants and sneakers...
"We should get you more wardrobe. All those black dresses must be tired," Rosan hummed.
"Shut up. I would never cheat on my black dresses."
"Aren't you just the most faithful? That dress does nothing to protect your curves you know?"
She hated him so much sometimes. That's not even why she wore it but he was so willingly ignorant and it was so infuriating.
"Once I find a way to coexist with you, that black dress is going in the trash. I refuse to have anyone think my mother is broke and lacks style."
"S-SHUT UP, ROSAN! YOU ARE NOT GETTING RID OF MY DRESSES!" Mod scowled, before quickly wiping it off her face at the worried looks shot her way.
Did she say she hated him sometimes? She meant all the time. He was so terrible.
Well, there was no point dwelling on her insufferable son...
"I'm so glad to finally be able to meet you all! I wanted you guys to know about me for a long time now but someone is very overprotective of me," the woman greeted with a soft mature voice. It was deeper then Ram's but not by much and she spoke as if she were filled with a wealth of knowledge.
Opening up her arms, the Devil Fruit easily accepted the flying missile known as Luffy, not even moving from the impact.
"Hi Modi!" The captain greeted happily.
"Hello Luffy," she said warmly, snuggling the rubber boy.
"Mod-chan! You can take over Rosan's body?!" Nami asked in surprise, stepping up to the woman in glee and joining the hug.
The Devil Fruit graciously accepted the second body attached to her person, smiling all the while. "Yes, that's right. I do it on occasion when I want to enjoy the real world."
Sanji's jaw dropped to the floor at the sight of the beautiful woman and his eyes bugged out of their skull. The clothing that fit Rosan's larger frame, did nothing to hide her curves despite how much larger he was then her and the gentle smile she was directing towards them all, made his jaw drop further.
How did she make just a smile look so good?!
T-This was utter bullshit! He wasn't really sure how to react right now, considering Rosan's body was being possessed by one of the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
First Ram... now Mod?! Who did this guy think he was?! Was he just the luckiest person on the planet...?! WHY WAS HE HIDING THIS FROM THEM?!
Mod had no idea Sanji was going through such inner turmoil and just pointed at herself with a motherly smile.
"I'm Modification but you can call me Mod," she introduced happily, glad that Rosan actually trusted them enough to do this.
Well, glad was an understatement. She was over the moon actually. "I've been with Rosan since he was four years old and I raised him for the whole 20 years we've known each other... You can call me his mother or sister, both are fine with me!"
"Mother...? You look younger than him," Zoro pointed out. Rosan himself at a glance, looked about 4 years younger then his actual age but this girl here looked the same age as Nami.
Mod nodded at his observation. "Well to be honest, I didn't have an appearance until Rosan demanded I get one and when I did, this is what I chose. I saw no reason to change it because Rosan loved it and I loved it but perhaps I should age myself a little bit? Angel said I look like his little sister... Maro said I look like his girlfriend..."
Perhaps she shouldn't trust Maro's judgement too much... That goblin was such a pervert honestly.
"Oh? You're going to age yourself? Try not to make it your real ag—"
"Portgas D. Rosan."
"..."
"..."
"...Regardless, maybe you should age yourself a bit. You are so reluctant to change anything about yourself. You need to be less rigid. I will always approve of what you do."
Be less rigid... Mod would keep that in mind. She really should change some things about herself.
"Maybe I'll make myself a man. Then I can be the father figure a troubling child like you needs."
"Don't overstep your boundaries."
She giggled.
Usopp didn't expect Rosan to be able to transform into a whole other person who had their own personality and name but he was beginning to learn that the redhead was full of way too many surprises.
At least that explained how he was able to so quickly give him the mask and hammer... Or why he didn't consider himself a crafter. Modification let him skip all the steps needed for that...
Cheater.
Mod coughed to get all their attention and they all stood at attention at her gentle but commanding air.
"Since I'm out here, I suppose I can help you guys make it to the Grand Line! I've actually been there before without Rosan so I'd like to warn you that it can be dangerous and that Reverse Mountain is rather tricky to navigate," the Devil Fruit explained.
Nami beamed happily at that. She wanted to speak to the wise Devil Fruit again since their first conversation and to know that she could just possess Rosan's body, was a massive boon! She'd get to speak to the Devil Fruit whenever she wanted now, Rosan be damned!
"You'll be staying out then?" Rosan asked, patting a giddy Ram.
"Yes, if you don't mind," Mod replied.
Mod-chan knew he didn't mind but she was verifying anyways because that's just how his mother was.
She smiled and rolled her eyes. "It's called being polite, Rosan. Something you should dearly learn besides your artificial kindness that does nothing to hide your rude words."
"Oh? Perhaps I should be polite to all the woman that speak to me then."
"Nevermind, please continue to be rude."
"Right..."
She grumbled to herself and sought to fix the biggest issue being out gave her.
Sanji almost went into shock, due to the woman placing a hand on her charge's expensive clothing and modifying it to perfectly fit her frame. Rosan had been wearing a purple silk shirt and long khaki pants.
It looked just as good on Mod-chan as it did on him. Seriously, it wasn't even designed to be tight but the woman was just that...
"Alright, before we make it there I want to tell you guys some things about Reverse Mountain!" Mod informed them, clapping her hands to get their attention. One mistake and they'd all die, so she would make sure that didn't happen unlike Rosan who'd just go with the flow until they were actually about to die.
"You're such a mom," Ram snorted, only to immediately squeak at the warning hum Mod shot her way.
"Woah, it really is a mystery mountain!" Luffy gaped in awe.
Reverse Mountain was massive, standing high in the sky and eclipsing the, in comparison, tiny ship beneath it.
True to Mod and Nami's words, the rivers from the Blue Seas flowed up the mountain in a bizarre display that looked unnatural to witness.
"The water actually does flow up the mountain," Zoro gawked. He hadn't believed them when they were saying it, but it was actually true! Even though he was looking at it, the swordsman still found it hard to believe.
"It's huge!" Usopp bugged.
"The entrance to the Grand Line…" Nami awed. She couldn't even see the top of it!
"C-Can't Rosan just fly us over?!" The sniper stammered, looking at the hellish waves in fear.
"No way! We have to do it this way!" Luffy stubbornly refused.
"Rosan's preoccupied with Ram anyways. She's not going to let him go just so he can help you all," Mod giggled softly, glancing at the familiar mountain. Rosan flew over it plenty of times while Reaper or during Ragnarok but he always avoided the Grand Line.
"Yeah! He isn't going anywhere," Ram purred, nuzzling her complacent father with gusto.
"I hate him so much," Sanji muttered.
"Did you say something, Sanji?" Mod asked curiously, glancing at the chef and drinking a smoothie she gave to him. The crashing waves were quite loud so she couldn't be too sure.
Though, he really was an incredible chef. This tasted delicious!
"Nothing Mod-chan!" The chef swooned, resisting the urge to charge and reassure her due to his internal dilemma.
"Idiot," Zoro snorted. He heard the chef loud and clear and the blonde was just showing that he was a complete moron.
"What was that?" Sanji said warningly.
"You heard what I said," The swordsman mocked.
The two got up close and began glaring at the other, only to let out twin yelps of pain at the incredibly soft hands firmly gripping both of their cheeks.
"Now's not the time, you two," Mod admonished with a slight glare, flooring the two to their knees with her deceptively monstrous strength. "Fight each other after we make it into the Grand Line! You all need to be able to help!"
"We're sowwy," they groaned in pain.
How was she this strong and how did the simple action of getting their cheek gripped, hurt this damn much. Hands that soft should not hurt so much!
"WE'RE GETTING SUCKED IN!" Luffy gaped and the straw hats immediately went into a flurry of action.
"PULL UP THE SAILS! SANJI, USOPP, KEEP STEERING THE RUDDER!" Nami ordered.
"WE'RE GOING OFF COURSE! GO TO THE RIGHT! RIGHT!" Luffy barked.
"RIGHT? YOU MEAN STARBOARD? ALRIGHT!" Usopp nodded.
Together, he and Sanji pushed the rudder through the strong currents, only to get sent flying as the rudder broke.
Time froze as they felt their life flashing before their eyes with that simple action.
"THE RUDDER!" They screeched in horror.
"Oh dear that's not very good," Mod hummed. She was about to interfere and try to redirect the course of the ship but Luffy was already on the move.
"Gomu Gomu no Balloon!" He roared, getting in the way of the Going Merry and the wall that it was about to crash into. His face went blue at being squeezed at such a high pressure but he successfully redirected the ship back on course and set it straight.
Mod smiled as he latched back onto the ship and went to the broken rudder, picking it up and placing it back on its broken spot, before saying, "Modification: Repair," and fixing it.
"You are so much more useful than Rosan," Nami sobbed, hugging the woman for her life.
The Devil Fruit smiled and pat her back reassuringly. "I'm sure he wouldn't have let you all die! He just doesn't like to baby people and if he thinks you can handle it, he will let you. I'm a bit more of a worrywart and I like to stop it before it happens."
"A bit?" Rosan repeated and she flushed.
"I can't help it!" She whined. Years of being a mother to a redhead that caused her nothing but worry, did things to her! It was Rosan's fault for being so chaotic and making her prioritize their safety!
"Can we replace him with you?" Nami begged.
"As flattered as I am, I wouldn't want to swap positions with Rosan. I can't imagine how insufferable he'd be if he were Modification," the woman sighed forlornly. She was pleased that her presence was so well received by them all. It was always nice to be reaffirmed about how much people liked her.
"I've always wanted to do this," Rosan suddenly said.
Always wanted to do this? What was he talking about—
The woman blinked in confusion, before gasping at the sudden headache she received. "O-Ow! Rosan you—"
That little brat! Her head was pounding right now and she began nursing the spot it throbbed the most.
"Mod-chan, are you alright?" Sanji asked, watching the woman grab her head and steadying her with a concerned glance.
"Thank you Sanji... I'm fine, my wielder just thinks he's very funny," the purple haired woman grit out, sighing in relief at the feeling vanishing. "I'm going to be teaching him a lesson very soon about how he should treat his mother," she promised.
"You've done that to me more times than I can count. It's only fair I return the favor," Rosan countered.
"I didn't even do anything to warrant that! Everytime I do it to you, you deserve it," she growled.
"Sure you did."
"Would you mind telling me?"
"...No."
For someone so emotionless, he sure did manage to come off as smug all the time. No worries, Mod would be getting her hands on him once all was said and done!
The shock of the entire situation wore off, as the ship sailed steadily up the mountain and the crew beamed at the realization that they finally made it to the Grand Line!
"WOOHOO! WE MADE IT!" Luffy cheered ecstatically.
They all cheered at their accomplishment and began celebrating joyously as they sailed up the sea.
"Nami, I see a mountain up ahead!" Sanji called suddenly.
Nami's high vanished as she blinked in confusion and looked back at him. "A mountain? That's not right, there should be open sea past the Twin Capes… Mod-chan, do you have a clue?"
The woman's eyes were narrowed and glowing, looking past the clouds and into the distance.
Nami was right, there wasn't supposed to be a mountain so something must have happened.
"Oh. That's not a mountain, I think that's an Island Whale... they're from the West Blue and are the largest whales in the world," Mod pointed out, gaze turning contemplative.
"IT'S A MONSTER!" Usopp shrieked. That was the largest whale he'd ever seen! It was huge!
"WHAT DO WE DO?!" Nami screamed in panic.
"I fixed the rudder and there's an opening to the left," Mod supplied helpfully and they rushed to move the ship.
The Devil Fruit blinked in confusion at Luffy running in a different direction, but that confusion turned into open mouthed disbelief, as the rubber boy fired off a cannon directly into the whale.
The force of the cannon shot was enough to halt the momentum of the Going Merry, but it had the added effect of breaking off the goat figurehead.
"Another thing you have to repair," Rosan spoke up, relaxing on the comfy sofa with Ram on top.
"Handy Woman," Ram chimed.
Mod was too shocked at how stupid her little rubber boy was to bite back a retort at the two most annoying people she knew.
Luckily, the whale didn't seem to notice them and they quickly steered the ship past it, hoping to get away without drawing its attention. All seemed to be going well and they held their breaths at making it directly to the whale's eyes that wasn't focused on them.
Unfortunately, they forgot just who their captain was.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SPECIAL SEAT?!" Luffy roared, cocking his arm back and launching it at the gigantic whale, punching it right in its eye.
"YOU IDIOT!" They all screeched in horror.
What happened next, could only be read in story books. The whale eyed the ship, opened its mouth and began sucking in everything from the water, to the fish, to the ship that had offended it.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"GWAHHHH!"
They all screamed in terror as the Going Merry was swallowed whole and the whale closed its mouth.
Luffy managed to avoid being swallowed and currently lay on top of the whale in horror.
"What do I do?! They all just got eaten," the rubber boy muttered to himself.
"I can't believe you got our crew eaten, Luffy," Mod admonished, floating right next to him and shaking her head in disapproval.
She immediately noticed what the whale was trying to do and had quickly summoned Ragnarok's draconic wings to fly away.
Unfortunately she hadn't been able to grab anyone in her haste to get out but there was no way she was getting swallowed by a whale before Rosan did.
The amount of fuel he'd have on her wasn't worth it...
"Modi! You're alive!" Luffy gasped before rounding on the whale again and violently punching the top of its heads. "GIVE ME THE REST OF MY FRIENDS BACK YOU STUPID WHALE!"
In response to his demands, the whale began to dive back in the water and left the rubber boy stumbling. Luffy realized what it was about to do and he renewed his attacks in desperation.
"DON'T GO UNDERWATER WITH MY FRIENDS, STUPID!" He roared, pounding harder and harder.
"Luffy, look," Mod said, pointing at a... door on the whale. "I think they might be in there and alive. Go save them please."
The rubber boy made a mad dash for the entrance and dove in without hesitation, just as the whale fully submerged itself.
Mod scratched her head at being the only one there and floated over to the Twin Capes.
"I don't understand," she muttered in confusion. "I was so much more helpful than Rosan, yet it still ended in disaster? Did I do something wrong?"
She wasn't understanding. It felt just like the days when she used to help Rosan as a child, but the redhead chose to do the craziest thing regardless.
"You expected something to go right when dealing with Luffy. That's what you did wrong," Rosan replied blandly.
"You can't control chaos, Auntie! You can only slightly influence it," Ram agreed sagely.
Seriously? Were they serious right now?
"I don't need you two to lecture me right now. That's the last thing I need actually. I'm already confused and I don't want you two to make it worse."
"Old age has taken its toll on you."
"Maybe we should put her in a retirement home…"
They were so dead.
"Ah so the whale has so much scars on its head because its slamming it against the Red Line," Rosan mused, nursing his head in his palms.
"I thought it was because it fought a whale with a sword," Ram mused, nursing her bright red cheek.
"That doesn't make any sense," Mod tried to join.
"That would have been much better," Rosan nodded, agreeing with his weapon.
"Wouldn't it?! I wanna fight a whale wielding a sword one day!"
"Why would you want to fight a whale with a sword?! How would it even begin wielding it?!"
"We're in the Grand Line so we might find one to fight one day, Ram. Do aquatic zoans even exist? How does that work...?"
"An aquatic zoan sounds insanely stupid! It's biggest advantage is just lost so I don't think it exists."
"You never know... I've never seen one personally but they might exist."
...
"Can you two please stop ignoring me?!" Mod whined pleadingly.
After disciplining them both, Rosan and Ram unanimously decided that the best course of action, was to ignore the Devil Fruit and they had done so for the entire duration of waiting for their crew to exit the whale.
It had been amusing to her at first, but she hadn't accounted how stubborn they were and they didn't acknowledge a single word she said.
It was driving her insane! They were the ones who bullied her and she was getting ignored for retaliating?!
"Do you hear something, Father?" Ram asked, puzzled.
Rosan tilted his head to the side at that question. "Are you alright, Ram? I don't hear anything," he replied.
"Must be the voices in my head that constantly tell me to kill everything," she shrugged.
The two were content to exclude Mod from their conversation for even longer, until they heard sniffing and all those thoughts were immediately thrown out of the window.
"F-Fine! I know when I'm not wanted," Mod stammered, bottom lip wobbling in defeat as tears sprung to her eyes. "I'll just go to my room and sleep if that's what you two want..."
Ram saw Mod wipe her eyes with the back of her hand and immediately folded, Rosan followed soon after.
"W-Wait, Auntie! We were just messing with you!" Ram placated desperately. She grabbed the teary eyed woman and engulfed her tightly into her bust. "We didn't mean to make you cry! We won't ignore you again!"
"Are you okay? Should I come in there to make sure you're good?" Rosan asked, getting ready to enter his mindscape.
"I-I'm fine! You don't have to come in here just to check on me!" Mod whimpered, hugging the silver haired woman and burying her face into the crook of the tall girl's neck.
"We'll spoil you for the next few days as apology. I'll even transform into my childish form and let you cuddle me," Rosan reassured and she nodded with a small, "Okay..."
Mod smiled brightly to herself at a job well done, still hugging the surprisingly comfortable body of Ram.
Those two were bullies but they still spoiled her rotten and she knew just how to get what she wanted from them. A little bit of tears here and a whimper there and they always apologized.
They deserved it for ignoring her for so long! She would gladly take her reward, thank you!
They spent some time spoiling the oldest inhabitant of their body before noticing that the whale stopped crashing its head into the Red Line.
"I guess it got tired," Rosan hummed.
"Maybe it's settling down so that it can fully digest our crew."
"How morbid! Luffy's Save Point is still pulsing strongly so they should all be fine. You won't move to them?"
"No thanks. I'd rather not go inside of a whale. It must smell terrible and my nose is sensitive."
Mod sweatdropped but didn't say anything else. She had also opted to not go inside the whale after all.
After some time, their attention was grabbed by the sleeping whales… sides opening? What type of whale was this? Was it like one of Rosan's modifications? But his creations were just as weak to being submerged as he was and they sunk immediately...
The Going Merry rowed out and Rosan watched them from his spot on the cape. There were unknown people there so he wouldn't make his way to them yet.
Well, that was until Luffy ripped of the mast of their ship and began fighting the island whale.
"It hasn't even been a day yet and 3 parts of the ship have been broken," Mod groaned.
It was a good thing Rosan didn't plan on this ship being their permanent one. He'd find a way to upgrade as soon as possible because this tiny caravel would be torn apart by the Grand Line.
"I feel like I missed some information while they were gone," Rosan hummed. The redhead chose this moment to jump away because his brother was bringing the action right to him.
Transforming his hidden armband discreetly, he utilized his raid boots and hovered over to his crew saying, "What did I miss?" once he landed.
"Oh, Rosan, you're back," Sanji said, sounding disappointed.
"Mod-chan is gone already?" Nami sighed sadly.
"What a warm welcome," Rosan replied, not even blinking. He could see how Mod-chan was more popular than him. She was much more willing to help and kind as well.
He hadn't been kidding, if the purple haired woman had a real body, she'd have a plethora of suitors. Her personality and appearance, would make her very desired and it would make him very murderous.
"S-Stop!" Mod flushed. "Why do you guys do this so often?!"
"Cuz you're hot, hottie!" Ram chimed.
"Someone has to appreciate your beauty," Rosan nodded.
"Ugh, you two never stop giving me headaches!" Mod complained with a smile on her red face. They were honestly so annoying sometimes.
Nami sped him up on the details, as Luffy made a heartfelt declaration to the whale and got it to stop crashing its head in the wall by painting a horrible insignia of their jolly roger on it.
The whale, Laboon, met a pirate crew a long time ago and attached to them as a baby, becoming the whale's family for a long time.
Unfortunately, they needed to continue their journey through the Grand Line and they refused to bring the whale with them, claiming that he'd be in danger if he tried following them through the dangerous sea.
So they made him wait. They promised the whale that they'd come back for him and left him at the Twin Capes with the old man, Crocus.
But that had been 50 years ago and they never showed up even once. Laboon was convinced that they were on the other side of the Red Line and repeatedly crashed his head into it, in hopes of meeting the pirates again.
Rosan simply tilted his head at the story. "Normally I'd call someone waiting 50 years stupid but I guess I can't blame a baby animal for believing in them."
"You don't feel bad for him?" Usopp asked in shock.
"No. You shouldn't rely on a person to fulfill their end of the bargain. It's always better to take action yourself," Rosan answered. It was exactly what he had done on Daybreak. His overreliance on Robin, when she didn't deserve such expectations placed on her, is what broke him in the first place. If he had been more self reliant in the first place, he'd have crafted a plan to get out of there long before 6 months.
It wasn't worth relying on someone else so one-sidedly...
"R-Right... I can see that..." The liar nodded hesitantly at the redhead's logic. It sounded like he had quite a bit of trust issues...
The redhead grabbed the broken off mast of their ship and placed it in its original location, until it looked exactly as it did, before saying "Repair," and patching it up like it had been glued back on.
He did the same thing with the figurehead of Merry and stepped back after finishing his job.
"So useful," Usopp's eyes glinted in fascination.
"Why would he rip off the mast to our ship… Does Luffy ever think about his actions?" Rosan muttered.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Everyone paused at that screech of horror and the crew looked over at their navigator who released the noise of distress.
She showed them all her compass and they saw that it was spinning rapidly. Having a broken compass on the open sea was a recipe for disaster and if they didn't get one fixed, they'd probably die.
"Oh, I didn't get the chance to explain that to them…" Mod muttered. It didn't seem like she'd have to take over to explain because the old doctor, Crocus, took it upon himself to do so.
They (everyone but Luffy) listened to his explanation with undivided attention.
The Grand Line was filled with abnormal magnetic fields due to how rich in minerals all their islands were. As a result, normal compasses didn't work and would just spin in every direction as long as you remained in the bizarre sea.
To make matters worse, the sea and winds of the Grand Line had no clear pattern, being extremely random. If you tried to sail the ocean blind and with no direction, you'd almost certainly die.
"You speak with experience. How much of the Grand Line have you explored?" Rosan asked the old man curiously.
He smirked gruffly. "A whole lot of it. I've seen it all."
Seen it all... surely he wasn't implying. The redhead gazed at him with a tilted head.
"You were a pirate?" He asked curiously.
"I was the doctor for about three years," Crocus confirmed, idly tapping his single crutch on the floor.
The redhead simply nodded before focusing back on the issue at hand.
Mod had taught him and Robin about the Grand Line's nature when they had been sailing to the North Blue. It was one of the main reasons they hadn't been allowed in the dangerous sea They were both skilled, but neither were very well versed in Navigation and only learned it to a level that would help them survive in the Blue Seas.
If the two had stayed together and decided to go there, they'd have had to recruit a competent Navigator (something neither wanted to do) and secure an item called a "Log Pose."
It was a special compass that recorded magnetic fields and the best way to sail the Grand Line. It was practically your lifeline and if you didn't have one, your days were numbered.
"A weird compass? You mean like this?" Luffy asked, through a mouthful of food. He showed Crocus a literal Log Pose and the man nodded in confirmation.
"Yes, just like that. Without a Log Pose, you can't sail the Grand Line," the doctor told them.
Nami was nodding along with his words. "I see… but wait a second…"
The Navigator rounded on Luffy and punched him right in the cheek, flooring him.
"WHERE'D YOU EVEN GET THAT?!" She roared.
"Those two weirdos dropped it!" Luffy explained bluntly, patting his belly in relief.
After some talks about Raftel (Rosan knew it), their captain declared that it was time to set sail and brought all of their attention to the elephant trunk tuna that Sanji so graciously prepared for them, or lack thereof.
"Wait… YOU ATE ALL OF IT BY YOURSELF?!" Sanji roared. H-He wanted Nami and Rosan to try that! This stupid rubber idiot! Why did he have to be so selfish!
The chef delivered a vicious kick to Luffy's stomach that sent him flying past a Nami who had just finished attaching the Log Pose to her wrist. This of course meant that it broke from the sheer speed Luffy flew past her and the navigator's eyes went blank in shock.
Without any hesitation, Nami punted the two into the ocean with a look of rage on her features.
"They deserved that," Rosan muttered with a sigh. If Nami didn't do it, he would and his idea of punishment was much more severe.
"Hasn't Maro been to the Grand Line on Government business before? She may have some for you," Mod sighed tiredly.
She had hadn't she... about two years ago. He would have to check with her, else they're journey might be on delay for a while.
"Don't worry, you guys can have mine as thanks for helping Laboon," Crocus smiled slightly.
"Oh, thank goodness," Nami sighed in relief, accepting it gratefully.
Ah, never mind. He didn't have to go ask Maro then. Good, that girl loved to brag about the simplest of things and then threw a tantrum when Rosan's wordplay proved too much for her.
"She never lacks in confidence," Mod mused fondly.
Rosan used to always tell her never to doubt herself because he knew what she was capable of and it was good enough to be confident. The queen had taken those words to heart and did everything with utmost faith in herself and it proved to help her out more often then not.
Sanji burst out of the water with a swirly eyed Luffy, both gulping deep breaths of air.
Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 burst out of the water, both gulping deep breaths of air.
The 4 looked at each other with confusion on their features.
"Huh?!" They all repeated.
"Hey, we have a request," Mr. 9 said to the back of a Sanji who had only helped up Miss Wednesday.
"You guys agreed to escort them to Whiskey Peak?" Rosan asked, raising a brow and staring down their two new passengers. They tried to appear brave, but he could see the slightest tremors in their body at his empty gaze.
Nami punched him softly on the shoulder and he finally took his gaze off them, getting a sigh of relief out of the two victims.
What an unnerving gaze…
"Don't bully them too much. They promised us a reward," she said knowingly.
"Oh? Then I have no complaints," the redhead nodded, giving their navigator a high five at a job well done.
She grinned smugly and the two began discussing in detail what they could extort from the agents.
"They're so greedy," Usopp and Zoro muttered at the same time, watching the two interact with sweatdrops.
Rosan idly tapped Nami while they were talking and she withheld a shriek at the sudden, "I'll keep an eye on them," that reverberated through her head.
"Don't speak aloud. This is my link technique and allows us to speak to each other without verbally saying anything."
Nami nodded minutely.
Useless would never be a word she could describe Rosan as.
"Good, I was going to keep an eye on them too. I don't trust them for even a second," Nami said. It was a good thing someone else was rightfully wary of them. Sanji was already smitten with the girl, Zoro didn't seem keen on doing anything about it, Usopp was a coward and Luffy was too stupid to think of their ulterior motives.
"That's why I'm discussing this with you. You're crafty enough to not make our intentions clear. If Whiskey Peak is their base, we can use that as an opportunity to take anything of value when they inevitably betray us."
Nami grinned at that. "Sounds good to me! I'll focus on stealing the valuables and giving you anything useful. You do whatever you do and keep me from dying!"
"Right."
With that they ended their conversation and he let her walk off.
Nami was a person familiar with the darkness of the world. After revealing some of their past to each other on the way to Arlong Park, the scout and the navigator reached a much deeper level of understanding with each other and it strengthened their bond to that of siblings who annoyed each other.
Rosan knew Nami could handle some of the darker aspects of his personality so she'd be able to handle what he was telling her and he… trusted her. She deserved it.
He cut their connection and the entire crew boarded the ship before saying their farewells to the lighthouse keeper and the whale.
"I wonder if they're the ones we're waiting for eh, Roger? That kid has such a mysterious air about him, not to mention the straw hat," Crocus mused, leaning on his good leg. He was almost positive that the rubber boy's straw hat was the same one that Roger had given to that squirt Shanks.
Not to mention that redhead. He was sure the one who he barely saw knew he was apart of Roger's crew.
There was something about him... a familiar air that reminded him of a lone pirate that took his leg around 24 years ago while passing through the Twin Capes to exit the Grand Line.
That man... seemingly polite at first but with a savage air that turned lethal once he somehow connected the dots to who's crew he sailed with. The only reason he wasn't killed was because the man said, "You weren't at that incident so I'll make do with your leg."
That redhead, while nearly nonexistent, had a very similar aura as him. The wild aura of a person who loved nothing more then the thrill of battle.
He must have been a real problem before getting traumatized. At least it seems like he didn't hold a similar vendetta against Roger.
What an interesting crew! He was looking forward to hearing about their exploits.
Zoro's three blades collided with the swing of a sword that was similar in design to Mihawk's own and he panted in strain at the power behind the blow, before using the attacker's strength against them and suddenly letting up the pressure.
"Tiger Trap!" He called, swinging all three blades down to hit his target.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to capitalize on it like against Hachi because his opponent already anticipated that.
The assailant leaned back the perfect distance to avoid the swords, before swiftly diving back into his guard.
The flat of the blade crashed into his gut and sent him flying before he recovered with vicious coughs, clenching the sword in between his mouth tightly.
He wasn't able to recover his breath due to the flash of red making his way over at incredible speeds and he gripped all three swords to begin spinning in a circle.
"Dragon Twister!" he barked, conjuring a massive gust of cutting winds and successfully stopping the figure from finishing their charge, lest they get caught in the winds.
He should have known that it wouldn't be enough to stop the man's onslaught.
"Clemency."
Zoro was not expecting the wave of energy and wind from the giant sword that tore the ground beneath it and crashed into him with crushing force, sending him flying until he rolled to a stop.
The swordsman hacked up and tried to regain the air that was knocked out of him.
"Let's call it here," Rosan said, transforming his giant sword back into its trusty ring. "Are you alright? I dialed the power down behind that attack by a good amount but it should have still done damage."
Zoro groaned and accepted the offered hand, pulling himself back up. "It only hurts that bad because of how long we've been going for."
The two had taken to training with each other because of Ram and Zoro quickly learned some things about the redhead.
For one, he genuinely was as ruthless as he claimed to be. He never gave Zoro much time to rest and battered him with all manner of weapons, never letting him get well adjusted to one and only giving him enough of a break to drink water and catch his breath.
Two, the redhead had a dizzying amount of stamina. They had been training for hours now since the morning had started and Zoro was exhausted from the sheer physical workout he was put through.
Their scout seemed like he was more then ready for more but he said that was enough training for today.
Three, he gave great advice. It was obvious that Ram had been able to instruct him so well against Hachi because of the redhead. To be honest, the silver haired woman was the kind to tell him to smash things into pieces with no thought processes.
Already, Zoro could feel himself growing stronger and he grinned despite the pain he was in.
"Once we get a doctor, I'll be able to push you even more," Rosan muttered, repairing the swordsman's clothing. "We made good progress today. I've learned your strengths and weaknesses so I know what to pinpoint next time. Let's go back to the ship."
They were currently in the castle of the redhead's Pocket Dimension in his custom created training grounds and the two had been here since waking up quite early.
Rosan figured the perfect time to train was while traveling between islands and Zoro agreed with that notion so when either were on watch duty, the redhead would leave a bird behind and they'd be off.
"Right, I need to get something to eat then take a nap," the swordsman grunted, grabbing the redhead's shoulder and closing his eyes as they both vanished.
He idly shivered at the massive drop in temperature as they appeared on the Going Merry.
Even after working up such a sweat, it was still cold as hell... Wasn't it hot just this morning?
"I like your snowman, Luffy," Rosan greeted, idly stretching parts of his body and looking unbothered by the drop in temperature.
"It's not bad," the swordsman nodded, cracking his back and groaning in relief as the slight pressure abated.
"If you want, I could give you a massage," the redhead offered. "Helps release tension in the muscles and I've gotten pretty good at them."
Zoro thought about it before shrugging. "You're the expert. If it helps me grow stronger faster, I won't say no and caring for the body is more important then training it."
Rosan nodded in approval as he and Zoro both began walking towards the kitchen to grab something to eat, conversing about the next session and what they would focus on.
"Hi Rosan, Zoro!" Luffy beamed. "You guys were training? Lemme join next time!"
"Sure," they agreed.
"What about my snowman?" Usopp preened, showing off his artistically sculpted Snow Queen. It was much better than Luffy's so he was sure to get even more praise —
Zoro closed the door behind him and the training duo vanished to get some food.
Usopp's eyes bugged at being completely ignored by the two. "A-AT LEAST LOOK AT IT!"
"Oh! Nice snowman! Snowman punch!" Luffy said, punching the head off of the snowman Usopp crafted.
The sniper blinked in confusion before he registered what happened and an all out snowball brawl ensued between the two after he let out a yell of outrage.
"How are they able to move so effortlessly in the cold?" Nami muttered with a slight shiver under her blanket.
"Youthful energy," Rosan commented, glancing at their two passengers for a moment. "Did Luffy eat everything?" He asked their navigator.
"Shit, I forgot about that possibility," Zoro muttered. That damn Luffy always eating others food.
Surprisingly, Nami shook her head no. "Sanji put a lock on the fridge to stop him from stealing you two's portion. I'll get the key for it."
"No need, I'm used to breaking into things. I can do it," Rosan replied, getting a sweatdrop out of all of them.
"Why can't you just use the key?" Nami asked slowly.
"This seems more annoying," Rosan replied.
"More annoying? Let's do it then," Zoro grinned. Anything to get on that lovey dovey chef's nerves.
The three watched the duo vanish into the kitchen with dumbfounded gazes.
"There's something wrong with him. I swear," Nami moaned to herself.
It didn't take Rosan long at all to get the fridge open and the two grabbed their separate plates, taking turns reheating it and eating in peace.
"Something's been bothering me," Zoro suddenly said. "It's about those two passengers. Their names ring a bell but I can't remember where."
"Oh? It's likely nothing good, right?" Rosan asked, getting a nod out of the swordsman. "Stay on your guard then. Nami and I are already aware that they may be up to something and I see no problem including you."
"You don't gotta tell me twice," Zoro nodded. It was good that he wasn't the only one wary of them.
Just where did he hear their names… It was hard to think deeper about it, with all the chaos going on outside.
Wait. Chaos?
"Eh? What's all the noise?" The swordsman muttered, glancing up from his plate of food. There was a lot of screaming right now and a lot of movement... and a lot of screaming.
"I don't know but I'm not checking until I finish my food," the redhead replied. He took another bite to prove his point and Zoro snorted.
"ROSAN, COME HELP US!" Nami's voice roared in the distance, making the scout pause.
"Did… Did she hear me?" He asked himself. "Why didn't she call you?"
"Dunno, but I'll be enjoying my food since you're on the case," Zoro snickered.
"Tch." The redhead placed his fork down and stood up to head out there.
Their Navigator might actually be a witch.
When he made his way outside, watching the ship sail towards an iceberg, was really not what he was expecting.
"You guys seem like you're having fun," he commented idly.
"DO SOMETHING! YOU ARE NOT STAYING OUT OF IT THIS TIME!" Nami screeched and he rubbed his ear.
"When someone tells me what to do, I get the urge to not do it," he said, standing on the railing and staring at the looming iceberg approaching.
"THAT'S BECAUSE YOUR A BRAT!" The navigator roared.
The redhead ignored her. Turning Ram into a set of gloves, he aimed both his hands at the ship and began accumulating the necessary energy. It was massive at first before quickly condensing into something smaller, particles flying in at every direction and fusing with the tiny ball of red energy.
"W-WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" Usopp screamed, watching the Merry get closer to the massive pillar of ice. They might be able to just barely scrape by it but they'd take damage in the process—
"Exoneration."
Everyone paused in stunned silence as the once tiny red ball, flew off and turned into something enormous, crashing and consuming the iceberg that was the same size as it.
Their jaws dropped to the deck as Merry was allowed to safely sail through the suddenly open area. There was nothing left of the icy pillar that was going to send them to an early grave and they felt their eyes bug.
"You interrupted my meal for that," Rosan said softly, drawing all eyes to the one who had done it.
He was utterly unbothered by the rapid shifts in weather and glanced at a tear in the sail, floating up with his raid boots and getting closer to it so he could seal it shut.
He landed on the floor without a sound and glanced at the shell shocked members. "Why are you all staring at me? Get back to work. Don't expect me to do everything for you and I'm still hungry."
"Monster," they all thought at the same time, getting back into the swing of things far slower then they would have liked.
It took a lot of effort, but they managed to weather the bizarre weather of the Grand Line and soon, everyone, sans Rosan and Zoro were lying on the floor in defeat.
"What an interesting ocean," Rosan said, glancing at the perfect weather with a tilted head and an empty plate of food. "You weren't kidding huh, Mod-chan?"
"Nope. One second there's peace. The next, utter chaos. The Grand Line has its own set of rules that you have to be aware of or else you'll be consumed by its nature," Mod said, smiling all the while.
"That's so exciting!" Ram cheered. "I love this place already!"
"It does sound quite interesting. I'm looking forward to sailing this sea more."
"We should be arriving to the island soon," Rosan commented to the sleeping members.
"This place… my navigation skills are totally useless here," Nami said determinedly. She had a solid idea of how dangerous the Grand Line was now. There was no way she'd allow herself to get so caught off guard again and next time, they'd deal with this way better.
"Will you really be okay?" Usopp asked, sounding unsure.
"Of course! Look, the first leg of our journey is over!" She smiled.
They all picked themselves up at her words and looked over the railing, seeing that she was right, there was an island in the distance and they were fast approaching.
"Oh! I see it! The island is right there!" Luffy cheered excitedly.
"An island of cactus?" Sanji muttered. That was strange but apparently this was probably the norm for the Grand Line.
The mostly silent agents (they were left staring at Rosan the entire time) took that time to bid them farewell in... whatever way they wished.
"We'll be taking our leave now!" Mr. 9 said. Both he and Miss Wednesday had jumped onto the railing and we're now regarding the Straw Hats with cocky smiles.
"Thanks for the ride, darlings!" Miss Wednesday smirked. "Maybe fate will allow us to cross paths again!"
"Bye-bye, baby!"
With that, they leapt back into the ocean and began… swimming to the island.
"Idiots," Rosan said, tempted to blast them but dropping it.
Everyone shrugged and dropped it. After some discussion (dominated by Usopp not wanting to step onto the island in case of monsters and Nami reminding them that the log pose needed to reset for them to sail off the next island), the crew set sail into Whiskey Peak.
It was mostly silent in anticipation and they couldn't see very well due to the dense fog but that didn't stop Rosan from gazing around with glowing eyes.
"We're being watched," Rosan commented idly.
"Yeah, I hear people talking," Luffy said.
Everyone tensed up as they heard that. They prepared for the possibility of attack and began warily glancing around.
Silhouettes of people began appearing in their vision and their tension was replaced by confusion, as the group of pirates gasped in surprise due to hearing cheering of all things!
"PIRATES ARE HERE!"
"THE HEROES OF THE SEA!"
"WELCOME TO THE TOWN OF CELEBRATION, WHISKEY PEAK!"
"T-They're cheering for us?" Usopp muttered in confusion, pumping up a bit due to the noises of adoration.
"Woah!" Luffy awed.
"Bullshit?" Ram asked. She wasn't buying this at all.
"Bullshit," Rosan confirmed. Unless it was a Yonko's territory, there was no way pirates would be celebrated. Either they were trying to save themselves from their potential wrath, or there was something else going on.
"Ram! Don't make Rosan curse too!" Mod scolded, crossing her arms and glaring at the taller woman.
"B-But when Father curses on his own, you never have anything to say!" the silver haired woman retorted with a look of disbelief.
"Rosan is an adult! He's allowed to curse!"
"WHAT?! I'M AN ADULT TOO!"
"You are the youngest here, young lady! You may physically be 24 but you aren't fooling anyone!"
Ram spluttered at the bullshit being spat out by her Auntie. What type of nonsense was this?! Why was she being discriminated by her own aunt?!
"Y-You just want to treat someone like a kid!"
"And?! If I want to treat you like a child, then I will! You deserve it with your personality and if we want to get technical, you're TWELVE!"
"T-TWELVE?! Why you... little shorty!"
"W-What did you just call me?!"
Rosan listened to them argue back and forth, while the mayor, Igarappoi, told them about their island and how they loved pirates.
As expected, Luffy, Sanji and Usopp were totally fooled, while Nami, Zoro and himself pretended to be.
The mayor offered to throw them a party, which was readily accepted by the three idiots and they merrily marched away.
Rosan expected this much out of Luffy. Offer his brother food and he'd think you were his best friend but he didn't expect Usopp and Sanji to be as stupid...
Actually, scratch that. Usopp was just as gullible as his brother and if a woman so much as smiled at Sanji, he was a goner too.
What a hopeless crew sometimes...
An arm wrapped around his own and a woman flashed him a flirtatious smile as she urged him to follow the festivity, rubbing on his arm all the while and squeezing his bicep with a pleased noise. She dragged him towards a larger group of waving woman and the redhead closed his eyes at hearing Nami giggle.
"Have fun, Rosan!" She commented, walking off on her own and laughing at him all the while.
He withheld a sigh as the current argument between Mod and Ram immediately stopped in favor of what was happening in the real world.
"WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN?! RUN ROSAN!"
"BECAUSE HE'S HOT, AUNTIE! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO — O-OW! YOU CAN'T SIWENCE THE TWUTH!"
He didn't get paid enough for this.
"Here try this, darling~."
Rosan smiled as he accepted the offered fork from one of the woman feeding him and they squealed at the sight of his lip curving upward slightly.
"It's good, can I have some more?" He praised, blinking innocently at them as he tilted his head.
"So handsome!" They gushed, hugging his sides and getting a slight blush out of the redhead, causing them to coo even more. Without any hesitation, they clambered up to feed him from all angles and— was that even more people surrounding him?
"You might actually be a sociopath," Mod laughed, watching him make the girls eat out of his palm with his actions.
"Akemi gave me a lot of tips on how to abuse my appearance despite my lack of emotions. She's very good at her job."
He also took a page out of Demon's book since it seemed to work so well for his pretty younger brother. It never ceased to amaze him just how popular Demon was in Celadon. He was almost positive that some people got injured just to see the head of the hospital.
His little brother looked far more gentle than him but it still seemed to work out exceedingly well.
That was good.
The party was well underway and it had prolonged far into the night until the moon hung high and the wind turned chilly. There were various activities going on and they made sure not a single member of the Straw Hats were left unattended to.
His crew was really getting into the swing of things right now and he could hear Usopp loudly boasting about he had saved them all from the Calm Belt.
That got a snarl of irritation out of Ram.
Even Zoro and Nami seemed to fall victim to a drinking competition that offered 100,000 beri as a prize.
The less said about the three idiots, the better. At least this might make Sanji stop being so envious of him for a while. The chef seemed to think this was a competition and had much more girls surrounding him, which was saying something because Rosan had a lot of people around him currently.
If not for the act he was putting up, he would have long ago put distance between them because they were downright suffocating.
He made a show of downing yet another cup of the special grape beverage that they so graciously offered and the woman cheered, feeding him again.
Rosan basically got an idea of what they planned on doing from the moment he saw how hard the celebrations were going. It was suspicious that they'd spend so much money and resources on one random group of pirates but they were probably betting on cashing in Luffy's 35 million bounty to sustain themselves for a while.
He imagined this is what they did with every group. Spend money on them and get that money back by sending in their bounties.
How wasteful. Maro just beat down any pirate that showed up on Celadon and cashed in their bounties, while keeping her own money. He was glad his student didn't do stupid things like this because he taught her better.
Despite claiming there was no alcohol in their drinks, Rosan's body had immediately identified and purged its influence when taking a sip of the grape wine, alerting him to the fact that everyone else probably had spiked drinks as well.
They were probably waiting for them all to fall asleep then…
It seemed like they especially wanted him asleep, considering how much of his things were spiked. Those two agents they escorted must have told them about his exploits involving the iceberg...
Usopp, Sanji and Luffy were unconscious and Zoro and Nami soon followed suit, leaving just him awake. The woman surrounding him were urging him to drink more and so he acquiesced, downing a cup in one go and falling backwards into the lap of one of them.
"I've had enough... I'm hick going to shleep now," Rosan slurred, modifying his cheeks to make it look as if he were flushed and changing the way he spoke to make it appear as if he were drunk.
In a matter of minutes, he gave off the image of sleeping and he felt his head get placed on the cool floor. Everyone that had been in the room began vacating it, leaving just his crew and when he was sure everyone had left, the redhead pushed himself up, red dust gone and neutral expression back into place.
"Alright," he muttered, placing his released hair back into its bun. "Let's get started."
Nami stretched and regarded Rosan and Zoro curiously. "You're pretty scary, Rosan. You actually managed to fool me into thinking you had emotions."
"Yeah, smiling and blushing like you were genuinely enjoying yourself," Zoro smirked.
"My strengths lie in assassination, infiltration and scouting but I am well adept in other forms of espionage as well," Rosan muttered. He often spied on people to get beneficial but he rarely pretended to be someone else. He was still adept in it however and Modification only made it easier.
They shuddered at how casually he stated that. Using those birds to spy on his foes and then Modification to sweep in undetected... the redhead was the perfect assassin/spy.
"Nami you can go steal anything of value. Zoro you can attack them with me. They are likely planning on capturing us and cashing out on Luffy's bounty."
"Should we wake them up?" Nami asked, glancing at the three morons.
"Nah, let them sleep," Zoro grunted.
"Ram will be happy. Her bloodlust has been rising and Mod-chan has her all riled up," Rosan commented, transforming his weapon into the double bladed sword he fought Mihawk with.
Nami shuddered at the violent looking weapon and shook her head in pity. There was no way she was watching her scout fight with that weapon.
"That reminds me," Zoro suddenly said. "I remember who these guys are now… They're an organization called Baroque Works."
Rosan and Nami listened to Zoro's explanation of them with curious expressions.
Baroque Works was a criminal syndicate of bounty hunters who were so secretive, they didn't even know each other's identities. Nobody knew who the boss was but they all swore loyalty to him and faithfully carried out any missions given to them.
"They tried to recruit me once but I refused," Zoro informed them. He had gotten in a fight with someone named Mr. 7 long ago. The man tried to recruit him and Zoro said, he'd join if they made him the leader, then he killed the man after he turned aggressive from his refusal.
"Just a bunch of no name criminals, hm?" Rosan hummed. He wouldn't feel bad about slaughtering them then.
"As if you'd feel bad regardless," Mod laughed.
The redhead shrugged. Some of them could have been useful for Maro but now he doubted it.
Plan set, the group set off to do their own thing.
Nami grinned cheekily at the two and did a coy wave. "Have fun you two~," she sang before rushing off to go take any and all valuables.
"There's about 100 bounty hunters out there," Rosan informed him.
Zoro grinned savagely. "Split it 50/50?"
"Sounds good to me."
With that, the two marched out of the building.
"Yo, Baroque Works," Zoro waved, grinning at their shocked expressions.
"But how are you two awake?!" Mr. 8 gaped, glancing nervously between both the green and red haired man.
Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 made sure to stress the importance of making sure the red headed male had no chance of waking up so they spiked everything they gave him.
The two agents fearfully explained how he had destroyed an iceberg in one attack and to avoid fighting him at all costs.
Now, that same threat was staring at them all with a lazy gaze and a tilted head. There was no sign of sleepiness, no sign of drunkenness, no smile, no blush...
Did he trick them? How... even if he did... they spiked all of the things he consumed. How was he even moving?!
The entity before them took a step forward and straightened his head out. "Using my brother's good will against him... It's my duty to make sure he isn't taken advantage of…" Rosan started off, eyes glowing dimly.
"...So I'll have to teach you all a lesson in good manners. Don't worry, you did feed us after all so I won't kill you… Maybe."
"They know our secret. We can't let them live," Mr. 9 said, getting ready for battle.
Miss Monday cracked her knuckles and glared at the duo. This is what she wanted to do in the first place so this worked out well for her.
"Kill me?" Rosan asked inches away from them.
The "mayor" jumped at the sudden proximity between the two (how did he close the distance so fast) and tried to back away to no avail.
"The list of people who want me dead, is far more then you could ever imagine but I'm still here, alive. What do you possibly think you can do to me?"
Mr. 8's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he spat out a glob of blood as one part double bladed sword slashed into him, drawing a deep wound and making him collapse on the unforgiving floor.
"I have some questions for you since you're probably the highest rank here, Mr. Mayor. Rest until I make it back to you."
"MR. 8!" Miss Wednesday screeched in horror, tears welling in her eyes at the injury and resisting the urge to rush the agent due to the redhead looming over him.
Rosan didn't miss the palpable worry radiating off of her and froze her in spot with a piercing gaze.
Didn't Zoro say they weren't even aware of each other's names? Why was this one reacting so strongly to the other agent getting attacked? They shouldn't be loyal to each other at all.
Fine, he would leave that one alive too for information. It required later investigation but for now…
"1 down, 49 to go. Try and keep up, Zoro," Rosan taunted softly. "If I have to take out some of your half, our next training will involve dealing with multiple enemies from all angles and you won't be using that twister of yours."
The green haired man simply snorted and clutched one of his swords. "As if I'll need you to finish these guys off. Even 100 of them is nothing to me," Zoro smirked with a dangerous air.
"I don't think you need me, I just think I'll finish way too fast and get bored enough to interfere," Rosan shrugged.
One second, the redhead was standing over the fallen Mr. 8, the next he was mowing his way through the bounty hunters.
Everyone turned cold at the sight of him vanishing again and they began glancing around wildly.
"W-Where'd he go?!" A voice of one of the bounty hunters said before he went still at suddenly feeling something dangerous behind him.
"I'm right here, 2."
The bounty hunter was about to whirl around to confront their enemy, but a squelching noise forced him to shakily look down instead.
A silver blade, courtesy of the redhead standing behind him, protruded from his gut and pointed straight ahead. The pierced man tried to speak, but coughed up spit and blood instead.
Rosan unceremoniously ripped the blade out, kicked the man away and began idly spinning the double blade sword like it were a baton.
"S-SHOOT!" A voice roared.
At once, 10 of the bounty hunters began shooting at the redhead with their respective firearms to very little effect.
Rosan watched them all with a bored gaze as each bullet bounced off of his outfit, much to the terror of his enemies and he looked over at the one who ordered them to shoot.
They desperately continued to fire at him, as he walked through the hail of bullets, spinning Ram all the while, and he eventually stood right in front of the one who had ordered them to shoot.
The agent stopped shooting and began trembling in a primal sort of terror, as the demon's gaze bored into his own and he gently grabbed the gun out of his sweaty hand.
"You still haven't realized? I'm targeting whoever makes noise," Rosan supplied helpfully, inspecting the gun in his hand.
To his horror, it disintegrated in the redheads palm and Rosan focused on him again.
"W-Wait, please! I give up!" The agent pleaded, tears welling in his eyes as certain death loomed over him.
"You give up?" Rosan asked softly, tilting his head to the side with a merciless gaze.
The other agents were still shooting at him and it was a wonder that they kept going. Did they think his Raid Suit was going to suddenly disappear.