It's been a very curious week; several things have happened during this time, and we've met several people. Some familiar, some not so familiar, and one fateful event, which could be very good or very bad. But let's recap in the most detailed way possible what happened, so as not to waste so much time.
First of all, the maid cafe was a resounding success, so much so that people came from other places just to see us, or in theory, to laugh at us a little. Of these, I can remember three very clearly.
The first was Juzo, of the Whitebeard Pirates, who came to mock me as revenge for the humiliating defeat I gave him. Now, with this, I don't regret breaking two of his teeth with Nemesis. In case you were wondering where that weapon was, Trini has it, since Arthur and Isis can't touch it, and Sulli is a medic, who shouldn't have one; plus, it serves as a means of defense and all that.
The second was Kuzan; he also came to make fun of me, but in a more general way; he came to vent his sorrows about the Ohara incident, which still affects him. So I didn't say anything to him when he came.
The third was some random pirates who also did the same thing. At this point, he's bored of the mockery, so he defeated them and handed them over to the navy, earning about 62,500,000 belly, which meant we only needed to work at the cafe for a month.
The good thing is that the place already has its clientele, and the chef there is ridiculously good; not a 5-star MasterChef, but I think he's not that far from it. We also have replacements for when we leave the job, so Grandma's business will be good for a few years.
But that's not the most important thing. Halfway through the month, I got a call from the den den mushi I had saved. Now you'll be asking, who the hell could have called me when almost no one has my number? Technically, the only one who has it is Morgans, but he doesn't even call his parents, and he'll call me instead. For this, let's go back in time.
*A random day, random time, random place.*
Dante: "My jaw hurts from smiling so much." I said while rubbing my cheeks.
Arthur: "Well, they didn't send you to clean the bathrooms; I don't know who shits on the walls; if I find him, I swear I'll kill him."
Trini: "Stop crying like little girls; be men and keep quiet."
Dante: "Well, we have no choice but to vent our sorrows on ice cream and bad romance movies."
Isis: "What are you talking about?"
Sulli: "Ignore him. When he starts talking nonsense, it's better to ignore him."
We were coming back from a day of work to our place of lodging. When we arrived, I heard the sound of den den muchi.
*purururururu*
Someone was calling us; now the question is who. We don't bring the snail to work for ethical reasons, so we don't know if it's been ringing all day, but luckily we have someone here who can corroborate it.
Dante: "Hun, has the snail been ringing all day?"
Hun: [Only since noon.] So, like, about 6 hours.
I looked at the den den mushi, and something hit me in the stomach, since it had a specific shape, something snails can magically do. Knowing who it was, I decided to answer right away.
Dante: "007, how can I help you?"
???: "Brat, you don't know how long you've kept me waiting; you don't know how to answer the snail."
Dante: "Yeah, I know. I just don't carry the fucking snail around with me. We've been working all day, which is something you rarely do. And speaking of weird things, how did you get the Den Den Mushi number?"
???: "Kuzan gave it to me. Who do you think asked him to give you the snail? Besides, you owe me a favor for taking you to Sabaody?" In case you haven't guessed who it is, it's Vice Admiral Garp.
Dante: "So you want to give me a mission that was requested of us." I knew we owed him something, but I didn't think he'd call in the favor so quickly.
Garp: "Oh? How did you know?" Because it's obvious. Why else would you call me? "Well, never mind. I need you to do something for me since I'm busy with something. I imagine you've seen the news about Shiki."
Dante: "He did escape from Impel Down by cutting his own legs."
Garp: "Exactly, that's why we've been searching for him, without any success; therefore, I want you to find him."
Dante: "Why would I do that? I'm in no condition to fight anyone right now."
Garp: "I don't want you to fight him. You won't beat him. I just want you to know his whereabouts, that's all. Besides, I'll pay you in advance for this; is that okay?"
Dante: "Maybe I could, but I'm busy here; you'd have to wait until I'm done here to go find him."
Garp: "Okay—" The gurgling and whining of an infant can be heard, as if he were holding a baby near the snail. "I woke up. Anything, I'll send someone to give you information and the money. If you don't find him in two years, you'll join the Navy in return for the money paid," and he hung up.
I think I regret accepting his errand; I had no way to refuse, though; he'd insist on the favor I owed him. Another thing is that a baby was heard; thinking about the dates, it can't be Luffy, so it must be Ace. It makes sense that he can't go after Shiki, having to see Ace. I'll accept it this time, but there won't be another time.
And that was the most interesting part. I also added that I felt someone was watching us, but since it was a public place and we had so many eyes on us, I couldn't figure out who or where they were.
Now with all this, we can say the month of work is over. The torture and outrageous treatment are over, but something tells me I'll be in a situation like this again. Call it a sixth sense or a premonition.
Trini: "So, what do we do now?"
Dante: "Now we'll search for Shiki's whereabouts."
Isis: "Are you sure you want to do it now? From what I understand, we have about two years to do it."
Dante: "Right now, I can't fight properly, and the job is just searching for the target; it doesn't include fighting. Besides, the sooner we find him, the better."
Sulli: "And do you have any idea where to find him?"
Dante: "Interestingly, yes, from what I learned about Garp and Whitebeard," along with what I know about the One Piece movies and series. "Knowing his character, his way of thinking, and his Devil Fruit, I have a small idea of where he might be."
Trini: "Well, it's better than having no idea at all."
Arthur: "And where should we go, boss?"
Dante: "To the place where the pirate king died, the East Blue."
Isis: "How will we get to the East Blue?"
Dante: "I spoke with Garp, who spoke with Kong, who told us there's a cruise ship that sails along almost the entire Grand Line. The idea is that the trip will drop us off at Sabaody, and from there a navy ship will help us travel to the four seas; from there we'll travel on our own."
Sulli: "When does the cruise ship arrive?"
Dante: "This cruise ship will be at Nokal Island a week from today, which is about three islands away. I spoke to a guy who will take us there; if we leave now, we'll be on the island in three days. Once there, we'll just wait for the cruise ship and talk to the captain, as he should be informed, as there's a rear admiral on the cruise ship for protection."
Arthur: "Sounds like a good plan. When do we leave?"
Dante: "Right now, the ship is big, so we can rest there; it'll be just as comfortable as resting here."
*five days later*
Trini: "The plan isn't that great; it works on pure faith."
Dante: "It's the best we can do, considering a guy who floats in the stratosphere and is barely noticeable. If there were another way, I would do it. Besides, splitting up will save us time."
I was just talking to Trini at a bakery in Nokal about the plan to find Shiki. I don't know what he'll do when they find him, but I don't think they'll defeat him unless an admiral or someone superior is there. The only thing keeping Shiki from throwing them off and dying is the geppo; without that, there's no point in going after him, and this guy will never get off his floating island.
Trini: "There's no other choice. It's not the best plan, but it could work. Not to mention that Shiki doesn't sound like a very intelligent person at the moment." I have no idea. I don't remember Shiki much, so I can't really give an opinion. Maybe I'll buy a TV, a DVD player, and the movie "One Piece Film: Strong World."
The bad thing is that the system won't let me buy those things regarding One Piece. It's there, but it's locked, like the elixir that removes the Devil Fruit curse. I have to leave this world for it to be unlocked. HOW I HATE YOU, SYSTEM. I can't be happy at any moment.
Trini: "Hey, Dante," she said to me while I was musing.
Dante: "Yes, I noticed. He's strong, but he's alone."
Trini: "Something tells me he's not alone."
Dante: "You mean about the coffee?"
Trini: "Yes, but the question is, why now?"
Dante: "We'll find out sooner or later."
We paid for what we ate and headed in the direction where the others should be.
As we walked, the guy got closer and closer. Trini was a little nervous, as she could sense the guy's power level with Haki, and it's something she can't defeat.
I don't think he'll attack, since there's a vice admiral in the branch right now. I don't know who he is, but he's passing through, looking for pirates to defeat, so he shouldn't do anything to us unless he's afraid of retaliation.
The guy was right behind us, almost on our heels; he knows we noticed him, and he must feel the same way. But we continued acting as if nothing had happened.
Suddenly, an explosion is heard in the distance. He quickly grabbed Trini, who was thrown off balance by the blast, and ducked her. In the process, he hardened my arm with Haki to block the incoming attack.
The blow sent me about two meters away, next to Trini, whom I was still holding. The attack was designed to destroy them in a single movement, with Trini taking the most damage if she didn't die from the blow.
Trini: "Thanks. I can't believe that explosion distracted me. It only took a second. This level of attack speed isn't just anyone."
Dante: "I agree with you, which is why I want you to go to the others."
Trini: "And I left you here alone."
Dante: "Yeah, if the guys fighting the others are as strong as this guy, then they'll need help." With Observation Haki, I can sense two fights.
One being Arthur against someone, the other being Sulli and Isis against the other. We just have to hold on for the Marines to help us, since these guys aren't just anyone, and they found us separated and at a bad time.
The problem is, I don't know where the vice admiral is. There are seven cities on this island, and from what I know, he's not in this city, so he won't be able to get there.
Dante: "Relax, I'm not going to fight. I'm just going to defend myself until the cavalry arrives," I said, unsheathing the Fusion Sword.
Trini: "I understand. Good luck." She must have seen that everything else wasn't going so well for her to accept my request so easily.
As she left, I stared at my opponent. He was a 6'1" guy with short hair in the front but a brown ponytail at the nape of his neck and black eyes. He had a red headband, Naruto-style, but no insignia or anything. His arms were bandaged; he looked muscular, with a good build for hand-to-hand combat.
Dante: "Thank you for waiting patiently... Bruce Lee?"
???: "I happen to like one-on-one combat more than tag-team combat, and my name is Hogan, but a corpse won't mind." He said as he launched himself at me with Haki in his arms.
I went on the defensive; maybe if I were in top condition I could defeat him, but right now, I just stood there blocked and defended.
Arthur's POV
We were touring the city when a woman got between Isis and Sulli to punch the ground and magically explode it—both the floor and some walls. Before a man with a giant hammer could act, I took a swing, which I managed to block with Haki in time, but it sent me flying a great distance from the others.
Right now, I was standing in front of the hammer man, staring at us, seeing who would land the first blow.
Arthur: "Single hit," I said as I drew an arc with my spear and launched an aerial attack at my enemy.
He just held his hammer straight ahead and coated it with Haki. That's bad; I can't imbue my weapon with Haki yet. The good thing is that it doesn't really need it, but increasing both resistance and damage is something that helps a lot.
???: "I hope you can entertain me. I wanted to fight the hero Dante, but Hogan took that privilege away from me."
Arthur: "Who are you?" I wasn't interested in who I wanted to fight; I just wanted to know why they're doing this.
???: "Let me introduce myself. My name is Artic, and if I could say who I am, I'd be an assassin."
Arthur: "Were you hired to kill us?"
Artic: "You wouldn't hear that from me."
I jumped in my direction; at that moment, one of the hammer's faces started to burst into flames, as if it had rockets inside and everything was coming out. When I activated this, the speed of the weapon's attack increased significantly.
I was able to dodge the attack by rolling, and the moment I hit the ground, it was destroyed, sending debris and dust flying out, blocking my vision.
I couldn't see much of anything, but I saw a small movement, so I decided to defend myself. Just then, the hammer shot forward at top speed, colliding with my spear. The impact was strong enough to send me flying again, smashing through three houses in the process.
Artic: "I'm impressed. You have good enough reflexes to dodge Hummer 3000's charges in time."
Artic: "What kind of weapon is that?" I said as I stood up and cleared the debris above me.
Artic: "It's a hammer made by the now-defunct scientific group MADS; I got this weapon in the Underworld in exchange for killing some guys for a guy named Judge."
Underworld. I've heard Dante talk a lot about the Underworld; from what I remember, we could be attacked by members of this group.
I decided to concentrate and position my spear offensively. The weapon's handle isn't as long as mine, but it's not that far away. So the advantage of distance is no longer valid. All that's left is to fight until we're exhausted, until someone comes to help, or pray that they tire before I do, which I don't see coming.
Isis's POV
???: "I was hoping to knock them down with that attack, but they're tougher than they look."
This girl hit the ground and the place exploded; some surrounding buildings were also destroyed. Luckily, with the wind I generated, I was able to mitigate some of the damage. My Observation Haki isn't that great, but I can sense other people's malicious intent, and this girl emanates a strong bloodlust, so I was able to react a little sooner.
I still wasn't fast enough, though, as the explosion still hit Sully and me. My clothes are charred, and I have a first-degree burn on my leg.
???: "Aren't they going to say anything?"
Isis: "So what are you supposed to say?"
???: "I don't know, something heroic, like, 'I won't let you continue with your atrocities, villain,' or something."
Sulli: "We're not like Dante, spouting whatever nonsense we make up."
???: "How boring."
She lunged at Sulli; I used my hand to throw a wind slash in her path to stop her, which I succeeded in doing.
???: "A Devil Fruit user, I see this won't be as boring as I thought it would be. Let me introduce myself: I'm Marie of the Underworld Professional Assassins, and I have the Bomu Bomu no Mi, which makes me an explosive woman. Nice to meet you."
Professional assassins of the Underworld, why would these guys be here for us? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sulli tense up a little at this information.
She didn't let me think much longer, as she took something out of her pocket and threw it. She quickly threw another short one, and the moment it cuts, it creates a huge explosion. I had to block my vision a bit because of the shockwave and debris that flew towards me.
I felt the killing intent again, so I looked ahead only to see Marie standing in front of me, her palms almost touching my body. I tried to wrap a layer of wind around my body, but I wasn't fast enough to cover my entire body.
Marie: "Ka-boom."
The blast hit me head-on, sending me flying and crashing into a wall, shattering it instantly. The wind mitigated much of the damage, but I was still hurt. Now most of my clothes are charred; they still cover the important parts, but others are exposed. I have second- and third-degree burns on different parts of my body, one being on my neck.
Marie: "These are the victims I like to have, the ones who can't defend themselves or use Haki; it's very therapeutic to see their body parts being blown apart in an explosion."
???: "What a crazy woman they got."
We all looked in the direction of the voice to see Trini with her guns pointed at Marie.
Trini: "From what I understand, you're coming from the underworld; maybe he sent you to kill us."
Sulli: "The boss of the Mafia family and current king of the underworld, Frank Oxford," she said, slowly approaching me.
Marie: "Bingo, but I'm not surprised they know this, since they killed the boss's brother almost two years ago."
Sulli: "The only thing that would surprise me is if it took them two years to act."
Marie: "It's not that easy to find them, and we're busy doing other, equally important things."
*bang bang bang*
Trini fired three shots at Marie, but she blocked the bullets with Armament Haki. They embedded themselves in her skin, but only superficially. Wasting no time, I launched a gust of wind, which sent it far away from my position. It wasn't that strong, since my burns hurt quite a bit, and I couldn't concentrate.
She landed gracefully a few meters away from me.
Sulli: "Let me quickly check your condition," I said, standing next to him, so I let him do his job.
Marie was about to go to where we were, but Trini fired again in front of her, causing her attention to shift from us to her.
Trini: "If you think we're just going to let you do whatever you want, then you're sorely mistaken."
Dante's POV
Hogan was bouncing around in his position. I was slowly moving backward, getting as far away from this guy as possible.
Suddenly, he reaches where I was and throws a paw at me, which I block with my sword, dragging me a few centimeters from my initial position.
With another kick, he deflects my sword, sending it flying out of my way, and then spins around to land another leg on my torso.
With all the pain in my body, I block the attack with my Haki-coated hand. Despite using Haki, my palm hurts even more than my body. It's not a terrible pain, but it feels like hitting someone with cement with all your strength.
I grab the guy's foot and, with a twist, send him flying. Hogan crashes into a building, passing through it.
I don't know what hurts more, using my body to fight or taking this guy's blows; my bones and muscles aren't as healed as I'd like, and I feel like a wound will reopen at any moment.
Hogan walks out of the building, but an orange glow comes out of his fist, as if something were concentrated there.
Hogan: "I'm impressed for someone who's injured, especially since Whitebeard left you in that state. It's a shame I can't fight you at full strength, but the boss asked me to kill you, and that's what I'll do."
Dante: "Your boss can come right away and do it, sending some bootlickers in front of me."
Hogan: "No need, I'm more than enough."
With a swift movement, he reaches me and throws a punch with his glowing hand. Something wasn't right, so I could only use Haki on the most important parts of my body and on my sword to block the attack.
It wasn't like Whitebeard's attack with his nostrils, but it was very similar, at least in sensation. It felt like a burst of energy collided with me, as if it were hitting me in different parts of my body at the same time.
The attack caused new wounds and opened old ones, so I was bleeding. If I could have used all six Marine styles, I would have, but that puts a lot of muscle strength into the body, so I avoided using it. But seeing how I looked, I would have used it anyway.
The place where the attack happened looks like a locomotive had gone by at full speed, destroying several buildings in the process.
I stood as if nothing had happened, even though my body ached as if Whitebeard or Garp had hit me at their maximum capacity.
Hogan was smiling, probably seeing me standing there as if nothing had happened.
Hogan: "As expected of the hero Dante, I see you're fine."
Dante: "I'm as cool as a cucumber; if you want to defeat me, you'll have to do more than that."
He was about to speak but looked elsewhere, where some meteorites were hurtling in his direction. With a few jumps, he dodged them, but he still got burned a bit.
???: "With all the damage you've done, all that's left for you is to face justice, murderer." In the direction of the voice, a man with magma oozing from his arms could be seen.
It was Vice Admiral Sakazuki, who was on the island taking in supplies to continue his journey to defeat the pirates.
Dante: "They arrived sooner than I expected," I said, more relaxed.
Hogan: "Well, fate is smiling on you, but on me too, since it will give me the opportunity to fight at your highest level. Until then." He said, then jumped out of the room.
Dante: "Aren't you going after him?" I said to Sakazuki.
Sakazuki: "If it were that easy to catch him, I would have done it already. This isn't the first time I've faced him, and his most highly developed skill is his cowardly way of escaping and hiding. There's no point in following him."
Dante: "So he's someone capable of standing up to a vice admiral from the New World."
Sakazuki: Even though I don't like your way of doing things very much, since it's something a sailor should do, I still respect it. That's why I defended you; don't expect me to do it again."
Dante: "Message received, thank you anyway. I'm in no condition for a fight."
Sakazuki: "My men should be helping your people; go check on them and don't waste any more of my time."
And he left. Sakazuki never looks like he used to, but right now, he's already very unpleasant. I have a theory that it's because of Ohara; like Aokiji, that event changed him. Because of what happened there, he developed a strong personality and decided to eliminate all the pirates as atonement for what he did.
I lie down on the ground, sensing that the others are fine; my Observation Haki is at a good level. I just need to reach my Conqueror's Haki to have all three Haki at an intermediate level and obtain an achievement.
I just hope that from here on out, I can rest a little more, at least until I recover, or else I might die halfway through.