In the evening, I finally got to the bar, and Kokoro was already there. She was sitting with a group of people, having fun drinking alcohol. Next to her is a bulky man with blue hair, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and.. thongs. Without a doubt, it was Frankie. However, another figure caught my attention—the massive bartender behind the counter. He was methodically polishing glasses, looking completely focused. Bruno, as expected, had a trademark bull hairstyle, a strange mustache and an apron over his clothes.
I took a seat next to Kokoro and caught her attention.
"Here I am." As promised," I said before turning to the bartender. "Do you have anything to eat?"
Bruno glanced in my direction, but did not react, continuing his occupation. The distance between us was less than five meters, ideal for the planned plan. All that remained was to wait a bit.
— Well, Kuro, how did you end up on the Grand Line? Kokoro leaned towards me, her voice sounding like she was both interested and slightly joking.
Frankie, fortunately, was busy talking to the twins and wasn't paying attention to our conversation.
"It's not really an impressive story," I replied, thinking about exactly when to start the operation. "I'm from East Blue. I've always wanted to travel the world. Yes, the sea is dangerous, full of pirates, but the dream calls. From my native island to Logtown...
I deliberately dragged out the story, going into details. Every word was carefully chosen to occupy the attention of others and deflect suspicion. Meanwhile, I was watching Bruno out of the corner of my eye. His movements began to slow down almost imperceptibly. The hand wiping the glass stopped for a moment, then tried to return to its usual rhythm, but something had already gone wrong. His gaze swept across the room, searching for the source of what was happening.
I kept talking, carefully watching his reaction, but neither gesture nor word betrayed my concern. Bruno raised his glass, but his fingers opened too soon, and the glass crashed to the floor, shattering into hundreds of pieces. This attracted attention.
"Is everything all right, Bruno?" Frankie turned around, putting aside his chatter with the twins.
Bruno began to turn his head slowly, as if resisting his own body.
"He looks like he's having a heart attack!" I shouted, climbing over the counter. "I'm the doctor!"
I was at his side before he could do anything. His hand, which had been clutching the cloth, tightened. The force was still in motion, but the speed was dangerously slow. He was clearly trying to do something, but his muscles wouldn't obey. Bruno didn't waste any more time searching for the culprit.
Right in front of my eyes, his other hand stretched out, and the outline of the door flickered under his fingers, looming on the floor. The movement was exhaustingly slow, but complete. I lunged, catching his wrist as the door swung open.
Instead of falling down, we both ended up in a narrow space behind the counter. Bruno tried to pull away, his hand twitched, but all he had time to do was lower his fingers to the floor again, creating another door.
I adjusted faster, grabbing his elbow and pressing it against the cold wooden floorboards. The effort was felt—even when he was slowed down, he was as strong as a bull. His gaze stopped on me, his eyes searched my face, as if looking for a loophole, a weakness, any way out.
At that moment, the door opened under our feet, and both of us moved again. I barely managed to put my foot in front of him so that he wouldn't hit his head on the stone floor. We were in a new place, where his body tensed in a last desperate attempt to react.
Frank crashed through the wall of the bar and flew past us. Looking at us, he was looking for the reason for our sudden somersault.
- It's okay, I do not know what it was, but he needs another minute to catch his breath. I said, hoping Frankie wouldn't do anything stupid.
Still, Frankie didn't do anything stupid. He just asked me what it was, to which I made a face and shrugged.
Bruno tried to say something, but the slow movement of his muscles produced only an unintelligible sound. His attempt to activate another ability remained incomplete—his speed was insufficient to complete what he had started.
"Thank you for helping," he said suddenly, his voice steady, without the slightest sign of pain or fear. — I haven't had such problems for a long time.
I continued to sit in the bar, pretending that nothing unusual had happened. When all the customers had left, I was finally able to relax.
Bruno may not have been the strongest figure, but his Doa Doa no Mi fruit opened up a lot of prospects. First of all, I immediately checked the possibility of creating a door in the air. As soon as we moved to another dimension, I began to explore its features.
This place turned out to be a reflection of the real world with distorted tones. We couldn't interact with physical objects, but people from the real world didn't notice us. However, I could still see their spiritual threads and even try to control them.
The ability itself did not drain the wearer's strength, which made this dimension extremely useful. This gave rise to tactics in my head.
After making sure of the complete safety of this place and the success of my idea with the help of fortune-telling, I sent Bruno back to the real world, and I stayed in the dimension. The monitoring was not interrupted, and this confirmed my assumptions. Now, with such an ally, I could literally control the puppets behind the scenes.
It's been over a week since Bruno became my puppet. I continued my usual schedule for him, joining his dimension. The problem came from a completely different direction
Status
Current name: Kuro Miyago
Paths: Fool(5%, Puppeteer (2%))
Ritual: Kill the demigod with a grandiose performance and at the end you will be able to advance. (Hint: Anyone with high status and proper strength can be used as a substitute instead of a demigod.)
The goal: To swim to the island of One Piece, before the main character. ( There are 137 days left before the start of the canonical events ) Reward: 1 meta point
The progress of digestion has slowed down. The reason became obvious: The puppeteer demanded not only to skillfully control the puppet from the shadows, but also to create full-fledged performances. This was in conflict with another principle — the preservation of the puppet in its natural environment. Bruno's life was measured, almost monotonous, which in no way contributed to the creation of dramatic events or unexpected denouements.
But it was impossible to give up on Bruno. His skills and status in Water 7 made him a key figure. I couldn't use more than one puppet, so I had no choice but to use it, even if it attracted the attention of CP9 agents and complicated my situation.
Without wasting any time, I went to the city, taking Bruno with me. Moving in another dimension, I carefully observed what was happening on the streets, trying to catch at least the slightest clue that could become the basis for the performance. Shops, markets, docks, even street performers—nothing was suitable. Everything seemed too casual, too predictable.
As the hours passed, my thoughts grew darker by the minute. The idea of coming out of the shadows ahead of time, using CP9 agents as a catalyst for events, began to creep into my head. But before I could make up my mind, my gaze caught on a familiar face.
I froze for a moment, trying not to attract attention, and quickly pulled one of the award posters out of my bag. The face matched perfectly with what I saw on the paper. It was a pirate whose bounty exceeded 60 million belli.
Name: Roland "Petrel" Gein
Reward: 68,000,000 belly