Chapter 111: Tracking
Chapter 111: Tracking
It didn’t take long for Vivi to retrieve Hancock. She had opened an Air-Door prior to their entry to the palace specifically to alert the Empress and her sisters that the meeting was coming up, and thus the trio had been ready when King Neptune decided he was. Luffy was left blinking in surprise as all the Merfolk present save Neptune himself immediately fell all over themselves, drooling and exclaiming about her beauty. Frowning, he reached out not with his Haki, which would be detected and might be considered rude, but with his spiritual senses. It wasn’t something he did often, unless he was actively healing someone or working on some project that required general spiritual energy instead of the more specific application that was Haki.
He noticed what was going on immediately and kicked himself for not thinking to check before.
Hancock’s Devil Fruit did have a passive aura, as he’d considered it might. He hadn’t noticed before because that aura was being repelled passively by everyone in the room with active Haki. Since his entire crew, even Perona, had at least one form of Haki awakened by now, and the rest of those in attendance at the Summit had Haki of their own, he hadn’t been around anyone affected. Not passively at least. He had yet to see Hancock actively use her Devil Fruit, and there was every chance the passive effect got stronger when she did so. Suddenly, he was very glad things with her and Kuja had gone so well. Doubly so as he watched that subtle aura get stronger with the more people that praised her.
Oh hell, that was the secret, wasn’t it? The more ‘attention,’ or perhaps ‘lust,’ directed at her, the stronger the effect? That would explain a lot, like the fact the many of the younger Kuja had sometimes seemed a little enraptured with her. While all of the Kuja could use Haki to an extent, the skill level varied wildly, with the younger set having little better than Perona’s level of ability. If he was right, it would also be utterly devastating against regular crews, since Haki was normally reserved for officers among both Marines and Pirates alike. Only the strongest pirate crews could be expected to have the majority of their crews able to use Haki. In fact, aside from his own, he didn’t know of any crews other than Shanks’ where such was universal.
Not even Whitebeards had been that way.
Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaidou all had a certain amount of quantity is quality going as a theme. They used numerous crews, with a few strong officers on each ship, mixed with solid New World veterans that might be exceptional by Paradise standards, but who were average for the New World. Luffy, not interested in commanding a fleet, had modeled his own crew somewhat after Shanks’. Which, in turn, was modeled on Gol D. Rodger’s. The Red Hair Pirates, like the Rodger Pirates, only had a single insanely strong crew. With all others they could call on merely being friends and allies, rather than properly subordinate crews like the other Yonko used.
Yet, with Whitebeard gone, Shanks was considered the strongest of the remaining Yonko for damn good reason. Concentrating so much strength on the Red Force meant that, on the rare occasions he threw his weight around, whoever they fought lost. Even Kaidou had been sent running when he tried to get in on the Whitebeard War. Though in that case Shanks had called in his ‘allied crews’ to help make up the numbers difference.
Forcefully shaking his chain of thought off as Neptune and Hancock finished formal greetings, Luffy brought his mind back to the task at hand. He hadn’t brought the entire crew inside the palace, and those present should be able to shrug off the effect unless it got much stronger. With that reassuring thought, he set it aside as something to bring up with Kaya later and smoothly entered the conversation, answering a few final questions from Neptune alongside Hancock and Jinbe. It took only another fifteen minutes to get to the signing, with Neptune adding his own signature to those already present. His Ministers and sons did the same in the witness section…once they’d been shaken free of the Hancock’s aura, at least.
King Neptune was just announcing a feast to celebrate when Luffy, Hancock, and Kaya’s heads snapped to the side. A moment later there was an enormous CLANG as the fast moving object of considerable size they had all sensed slammed hard into the northwest part of the palace. King Neptune was immediately furious, despite Luffy having a good idea that this must be a regular occurrence.
“MINISTER! Check on Shirahoshi!”
The Minister of the Right, who curiously had provided only his title even on the treaty signature, was already moving even as the King shouted. Guards moved at some signal from him as well, four of them peeling off walls to rush with him as he hurried.
“Of course, your Majesty! I’ll check on the Princess at once!”
All of the princes looked quietly furious as well, and one of the annoying ones peeled off with the guards, looking far more serious than before. The eyes of both pirate crews present followed them, even as Luffy calmly interjected a question.
“An assault? Or an assassination attempt? This must not be the first if your entire guard hasn’t scrambled to alert, no matter how furious you obviously are.”
The King, who was still visibly furious, outright grinding his teeth and with a white-knuckled grip on his trident…abruptly slumped. It wasn’t the King that ultimately answered. Instead, it was the serious eldest brother, Fukaboshi, who spoke. His voice was laced heavily with frustration as he did so.
“Of a sort. An obsessive stalker, technically, rather than an outright assassin. But he’s harassed my sister for eight years, with increasing violence. At first, it was just love letters and marriage proposals that would always find her, but when she didn’t respond it became stones, then weapons! Now, she can’t leave Hard-Shell Tower, as massive weapons target her at least twice a day!”
Surprisingly, it wasn’t Luffy that responded, but an angry Boa Hancock. The Pirate Empress’s voice was tightly controlled but obviously furious as she spoke.
“And why has this villain not been dealt with?”
Rather than being insulted by the clear anger and slight contempt in the Empress’s voice, Fukaboshi voice was laden with naked frustration at himself when he replied.
“Don’t you think we’ve tried? I’ve personally taken the Army out on several hunting expeditions, attempting to pin Vander Decken down. But the man is the Captain of the Flying Pirates, operating off of the ancient pirate ship the Flying Dutchman. He’s a rare fishman pirate that has a Devil Fruit, the Mark-Mark Fruit in his case, which allows him to send his ‘presents’ from anywhere. Finding a pirate ship in the Deep Dark is far harder than it is on the surface, with how poor the visibility on the sea floor is, and every attempt to track him down has failed.”
Hancock’s expression soured at that, but the contempt she’d been exhibiting faded as she realized it was a legitimate issue causing the ‘stalker’ to remain free, rather than a lack of willingness to deal with him. Luffy took advantage of her tsking and biting a nail, clearly attempting to work something out, to interject. He’d always hoped to offer help with Decken but hadn’t been entirely sure how aside from hunting with Observation Haki. The way Boa’s Devil Fruit was working, though, had given him a thought.
“I might have a way to track him. Possibly. Kaya and I would need to test it though.”
The King and both of his sons still present snapped their full attention to him immediately. Hancock’s attention came as well, but hers was more curious than laser-focused. Hoping what he was thinking would work, Luffy turned to Robin. She, Vivi, and Nami had come along, alongside Pagaya, Zoro and Brook. A very careful selection of those on his crew who could be mostly relied on to not cause an incident while still presenting a decently strong front. He’d have preferred to bring Yamato and Kuina as well, but Kuina was needed to ride herd on some of the others, and Yamato was…not the most inherently diplomatic, despite genuinely trying. Besides, her connection to Kaido was known, just like Hina’s to the Marines was, which were both complications he hadn’t wanted.
Still, it was Robin he needed right now. Of those present only she, or more specifically her Devil Fruit, might work to confirm his idea. Perona’s and Nojiko’s might have as well, but neither were present, so Robin was the only suitable choice. Technically, Nojiko’s might have been the best, maybe, but he wasn’t exactly sure.
“Robin, can you make a few arms from the far wall? I need to test a theory, something I hadn’t considered until very recently.”
As in, since everyone without Haki had started acting weird around Hancock and he’d thought to poke at the issue with his spiritual senses. They didn’t need to know how recent the idea was, though. Robin looked curious, but to her credit didn’t hesitate, crossing her arms and causing several extra appendages to sprout at the far side of the Throne Room. Given how big Neptune was, said Throne Room was sizable, so those body parts were a couple of hundred meters away now. Good enough for a test, hopefully. Turning his attention to Kaya, who was looking equally curious, he explained.
“I’ve noticed that some Devil Fruits, ones that create an object away from the user’s body, have…threads, I guess? Yeah, that works well enough. Threads of spiritual energy that run from the user to what they are making. I haven’t run into anything like the Mark-Mark Fruit that I can think of, off hand, but if it requires a similar connection to its target?”
Kaya got it immediately, of course.
“Then we might be able to trace the thread from the Princess, or even the weapons, back to Decken.”
He nodded, even as Kaya took a deep breath and closed her eyes. He did the same, feeling for the threads he hoped were there. This was only a theory, after all. He wasn’t even sure Robin’s Devil Fruit worked this was. It would make sense, though. There had to be some sort of connection between her and her grown body parts for her to command them. If they were unlucky, it might be something more like an omni-directional carrier wave. But hopefully…
“I think I have it. Robin, could you create a few more limbs randomly so I can attempt to track them without a reference point?”
Luffy wasn’t exactly surprised that Kaya beat him to the discovery. She was a natural prodigy with this sort of energy, whereas he leaned fairly heavily on his System and purchased perks to do the same thing. Yet, even as Kaya began pinpointing new body parts that Robin formed with increasing speed, Luffy finally found a ‘thread’ himself. He hadn’t been quite right. What he found was more like the suggestion of a thread, carried through the underlying carrier wave of the world’s spiritual energy. Like a series of infinitely tiny pixels had been lit up inside that carrier wave to link Robin to her remote limbs. It made sense, as soon as he saw it, since it was a far less power-intensive method than what he’d been imagining.
Still, as evidenced by Kaya’s increasingly frequent callouts, it worked to trace the connection. Luffy kept at it just long enough to start catching a few of the connections forming, even if he couldn’t trace them as Kaya was currently managing, before opening his eyes. It was taking Kaya, whose eyes were still closed, only seconds for each new body part at this point, which he figured was good enough to be getting on with.
“Well, suffice it to say that the theory holds up. Kaya clearly has a better handle on it than I, even if I was getting a bit of it at the end of my own attempt. Kaya, do you think this might work to trace Decken?”
Their resident expert’s eyes opened and she nodded firmly.
“Yes, Captain. The only question will be if it thins out with range. If it does, I might have trouble detecting it at all. However, if that was going to be the case, I suspect there would be a maximum range for the fruit to work at all. From what the King and his son have said, that doesn’t appear to be the case. It is certainly worth trying, if it will let us bring such a villain in.”
Luffy nodded, pleased, and turned to the King…only to find him bowing to them in midair. Blinking, he didn’t have a chance to figure out what was going on before King Neptune spoke.
“Please, Captain Luffy, even if we are barely allies yet, I beg this favor from you, jamon. I know it’s a great deal to ask, when the ink isn’t yet even dry on—”
Snorting, Luffy cut him off.
“Nonsense. Stop bowing, please. This is help I would have offered even without a treaty in place. Much of the World Government’s issue with me exists because I refuse to leave evils right in front of me unresolved. Did you not hear me earlier? I will break the chains on anyone else I see and fix what is in front of me.”
King Neptune shifted upright, hovering in the air with the ring-bubble that granted him mobility in the air. He gave a Luffy a long, assessing look, then nodded and smiled brightly.
“I am glad, jamon! Quickly, let us go see my daughter, to see if we can resolve this one horrible thing at least, jamon!”
The King immediately surged off, leaving all of them to follow in his wake. Luffy was interested to note that Hancock chose to follow, expression slightly guarded, putting off Vivi’s offer to send her and her sisters back. Was she invested? Or simply using this as a way to get the measure of new allies? Well, either way, it wouldn’t change how he acted. Shaking the thought off, he followed after the King…
… … …
Wow, she really is a giant crybaby.
Luffy knew the thought was uncharitable. Not only was Princess Shirahoshi only fourteen, but she’d been trapped in the tower and under constant assault for eight years. Actually, doing the math, that meant this Vander Dickface had been propositioning her since she was six. So the fact that she was easily rattled was kinda fair, honestly. Though…
“Wait a moment. You said this has been going on for eight years, right? Just how old is this Vander Decken fellow?”
Several people around Luffy who had previously been concentrating on a teary-eyed Princess, blinked and looked at him. Several had rapidly developing expressions of horror, even as the elder brother of the Neptune family answered with a growl.
“Thirty-three. At least that’s the closest we’ve been able to pin down his age. He’s been harassing my sister since she was six.”
Luffy’s voice was tight, controlling his anger even as he saw rage flash across multiple faces. Possibly most alarmingly was Hancock’s, whose look of stark hatred for a moment before she got control of herself was…telling. As had been the very brief pulse of Conqueror’s Haki that had slipped lose and frozen Shirahoshi in place.
“I see. Kaya?”
Kaya’s own voice was practically leeched of emotion as she responded.
“There is a thread. Faint and old, but I can follow it.”
Luffy nodded.
“Excellent. Fukaboshi, Hancock, Jinbe? The Discovery can easily outrun any ship over or under the sea. Care to join my crew in educating someone who very much deserves it?”
All three named people perked up instantly, Jinbe nodding, Fukaboshi firmly half-shouting a ‘yes’ and Hancock…
“Why Captain, if you weren’t already involved, I do believe that would have been the first date I ever accepted. As is, I will simply consider it a perfectly appropriate bonding experience with my new allies.”
The voice she’d responded with was positively arctic, despite the seemingly-light jest. Enough so that the still-infatuated guards and younger brothers actually instinctively moved away from her, despite that infatuation. Not that Luffy could blame them. He had a decent idea just why this was pushing Hancock’s buttons, and frankly had no pity at all for Decken. He’d never taken actual pleasure in killing anyone before, and didn’t approve of torture as a rule. He was considering an exception, at the moment, however.
“Excellent. Then I suggest we set sail immediately. The Discovery’s Coating should still be good for a bit of travel yet. Correct Jinbe?”
The Fishman, who was eying Hancock like he’d never seen her before, nodded.
“Yes. Your ship’s…ability…to both renew the air inside and carry extra resin, means it should be fine for quite a bit more usage. You are also correct to think little can outrun it down here. A mermaid could likely do so, but the majority of fishmen would fail, even if they abandoned their ship to attempt to flee.”
More than one of those present looked surprised at that comment, with even Hancock losing just a tiny bit of her cold anger to curiosity. The Discovery had deliberately kept to a fast-but-reasonable sailing rate on the way to both Amazon Lily and the Archipelago. Allies they might technically be, but Luffy hadn’t intended to spread the Discovery’s abilities any farther than required. He’d considered carefully before letting even Rayliegh and Jinbe see some of what she could do. Thankfully, no one asked questions, with Hancock nodding sharply a moment later.
“I accepted your invitation, and this should not be put off.”
Agreeing completely, Luffy checked with Kaya that she had a good feel for the direction of the ‘thread’ and would be able to follow it despite diverting to the Discovery. After she confirmed that she would, so long as they didn’t tarry over long, he hurried his crew and guests back to his ship…
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A/N 1: I'd love to pretend I had the whole sequence with Luffy figuring out Boa's fruit and then them using the new information to track down Decken figured out in advanced. But no, no I did not. I stumbled through that almost exactly the way Luffy did. I wrote the bit about the Merfolk reacting to Boa, theorized about Boa's fruit...and only THEN realized it was a possible way to track down Decken, since there has to be SOME sort of underlying connection between him and the Princess for what he throws to follow...