One Piece – Halfway Broken

Warning! Chapters 111-113 were posted together, returning readers make sure you pick up where you left off!

Chapter 113: Judgment and Tourism

“So I sentence thee to life in prison, jamon! Guards, take him away!”

With King Netpune’s order, guards seized an irate Vander Decken, dragging him out of the room even as he ranted about how he needed to marry the Princess. Shaking his head at the ridiculousness, Luffy pointed at the statues they’d also carried into the room.

“What about them, your majesty? I understand from Jinbe that Wadatsumi is apparently actually quite young. I doubt any of this lot are the same, but they might not all be entirely on the same level of despicable as Decken.”

The King hummed for a moment, then nodded.

“I will have them moved to a shared cell, where I will ask that you return them to normal, Empress. They will each be investigated for their crimes under their former captain Decken and sentenced appropriately, jamon.”

Boa shrugged, seeming uncaring about their fate. She’d been visibly satisfied with the judgment of Decken, seemingly a bit more personally invested in that. About his crew, she seemed to genuinely not care at all. She spoke up a moment later with a predicable request.

“With this matter concluded, then, I need to return to oversee the work being done on Amazon Lily. Unless there are other matters to cover?”

King Neptune shook his head, smiling as he did so.

“No, your sisters and the Ministers of Right and Left worked out the details of the trade exchanges while you were gone, jamon. The first exchange will be in a week, just before Princess Nefertari leaves our island, so that we have time to gather all that we intend to trade, jamon. Unless there is an issue with that, Princess?”

The last question was obviously aimed at Vivi, who immediately shook her head.

“That’s perfectly acceptable. Hopefully we will also have solidified lines of communication by the time we leave, so that future exchanges can be managed easily.”

King Neptune nodded at that. The issue with the statuefied crew was quickly handled and, after a few parting formalities, Vivi once again opened an Air Door to Amazon Lily, sending the Empress and her sisters back to their home. Once they were gone, everyone returned to the Throne Room where the King addressed them again.

“Now! I believe it is time to celebrate, jamon! You have done me a wonderful service, freeing my daughter from Hard-Shell Tower, and a feast is well deserved, jamon! Business can wait until tomorrow, after you’ve had a chance to see the island itself, jamon! It’s your first time here after all!”

Several of Luffy’s crew, who were all present this time, immediately made fools out of themselves over the idea of a feast. But that was fine. Formalities were done with and they’d made a proper good impression on their new allies. Tomorrow, Luffy would tour the island and see if there was anything useful he hadn’t considered yet, as well as pick out a good place or two for a few dates! Either ones this week, or ones for the future, since they’d have access to the island via Air Door whenever they wanted now…

… … …

-Sea Forest-

“So this is where one of the Road Poneglyph’s rested previously. There is no clue as to where it ended up or who made off with it? I know this area is remote, but they aren’t exactly easy to move.”

Robin was, of course, a few dozen meters away reading the only Poneglyph still present, but Luffy already knew more or less what she would find. He was more interested in the fact that there had once been a Road Poneglpyh here, but one which had been mysteriously removed twenty-three year ago. He only knew very vague details about the Road Poneglyphs in general, truth be told. Bits and pieces absorbed second hand from his first life, along with some notes in Nefertari D. Lili’s journal. Or, at least, that had been the case until now. Jinbe apparently knew more about them than Luffy did.

“Yes. Possession of knowledge about such is something fought over by the powers of the New World. I’m afraid the only one whose location I know for sure is one in possession of Charlotte Linlin. She’s never been quiet about the fact she has one, using its possession as proof she’s the Yonko closest to becoming the next Pirate King. There is good news, however. I didn’t want to get your hopes up before, but I asked the King this morning if a copy of the Poneglyph was ever made. It turns out the answer is ‘yes’ and there is a current rubbing of it stored in the Neptune Family vaults.”

Robin had wandered over just in time to hear that, instantly perking up and asking a very predicable question.

“Can we be allowed access to it?”

Jinbe chuckled and nodded confirmation.

“Yes. Mind you, I’m not sure King Neptune would have granted it just as allies, but the service you did in freeing the Princess from the threat of Vander Decken means he’s more than willing to let you copy it. It’s useless on its own, but if you somehow managed to collect the other three…”

Luffy’s smile was nearly as wide as Robin’s. Well now, this was an unexpected boon! Not even in the New World yet and they’d stumbled into a piece of the puzzle! How fortunate!

… … …

-Mermaid Café-

Luffy, Nami, and Vivi were sharing a sampler of cakes, fruits, and shellfish at a booth in the Mermaid Café. Both of the girls were wearing outfits from the ‘Criminal’ line of clothing, purchased earlier in their current date. Luffy had been relieved to see the shop and its weird starfish owner present in the high-end shopping district. Having not run into the Camie as the original Luffy would have, he’d been afraid something bad had happened to her. Thankfully, whatever butterflies had changed events, they’d done so without impacting her and her starfish companion overly much. Camie was, in fact, one of the mermaids serving in the café today, and they’d seen Pappag briefly in his store.

Shopping might not be the most exciting of dates, but he’d know full well that it was an activity Nami enjoyed. Particularly as she had never quite gotten as bad about her money obsession as she might have, provided with a means to make a lot of it earlier, and do so faster, than she would have had without his interfering with the timeline. She still liked money rather a lot, but gentle nudges and the fact that their crew was frankly obscenely rich by pirate standards had helped push her farther away from the role of a money-obsessed miser.

She still wasn’t a huge fan of spending her money, but that’s why a shopping trip Luffy was paying for out of his personal shares of their treasury had been a happy date for her. She had, admittedly, surprised him a bit by suggesting they take Vivi along, given that it had been intended as just a date for just the two of them. Then again, Nami honestly seemed the closest to Vivi of anyone on the crew, having bonded with her rather easily. A pair of personalities that just seemed to click. That she was also the one that had pushed the hardest for their multiple-partner arrangement, due to her own kinks and interests, only completed the picture.

Amusingly, at least to Luffy, Nami had spent more time showering attention on Vivi and getting very touchy with the other girl while ‘trying on clothes,’ than she had with him. Given he got to watch events from up close, and had a good idea what she was up to, he was hardly protesting. Though, the way she was eyeing a few of the mermaids made him a little leery she might try and get one of them into bed with group as well. Luffy was of the opinion that they had enough people in their relationship already, and wasn’t keen on the idea of one-night stands. Still, he didn’t mind her looking, liked to look himself, and was deeply amused by the way she kept making Vivi blush with observations that got Vivi to look as well.

Well, so long as both of them were happy, so was he. Besides, the food here was surprisingly tasty. Even the ‘mozuku seaweed tart,’ which was something he’d been suspicious of. Seaweed wasn’t something he normally associated with being food at all, let alone as something that could be put in a tart. It was surprisingly good, though. A sort of sweet-sour tangy filling that was complimented well by the rest of the tart. Who knew?

Well, new experiences were what he was always after, and there were quite a few of them to be had here on Fishman Island…

… … …

-Mermaid Cove-

Art dates had become almost the norm for Luffy and Yamato, but he had to admit that this one was almost as amazing as the…special fun…that Robin and Nami had set up on Wind’s Home. Not quite in the same way, admittedly, but both the ‘view’ and the ‘view´ here at the Mermaid Cove were similarly spectacular. The first because, well, frankly the scenery of the cove was amazing. Vibrantly colored coral, arcing bubble-tech-created tunnels of water that connected the pools through highways in the sky, and numerous rainbow effects caused by light shining through those same bubble highways.

Then, of course, was the ‘view.’ Dozens of gorgeous mermaids, generally wearing nothing but bikini tops, and a few bolder ones even less than that. Most of whom were vain enough to immediately get really into the idea of posing for a pair of artists. They were also shamelessly flirty, and it had taken more than a little effort to get them to agree on who got ‘the best spots’ to be painted in. In fact, they’d only managed to sort it out by Yamato promising to come back the next day on her own to paint some individual portraits, for those that gave up spots to others who wouldn’t be able to come the next day.

The resulting energy was very fun, doubly so as Luffy was able to egg the mermaids on to mostly flirt with Yamato as ‘the better artist.’ Something which had reduced his usually fairly composed oni-girlfriend to a stuttering, blushing mess. Which, of course, only farther egged on the mermaids in a competition to see who could make her blush the hardest. Honestly, they’d gotten pretty ribald by this point. Enough so that Luffy had needed to subtly adjust his pants.

Oh well, that would just make the ending part of the date better, after they finished with the painting. Some one-on-one time in a hotel room with Yamato after the mermaids had gotten her properly worked up would likely be quite the vivid memory for their first trip to Fishman island. If, at least, he survived it…

… … …

-Discovery – Fishman Island-

“Alright, tomorrow will mark the end of the week we intended to spend here, so time for reports on how everything has gone. Usopp, Pagaya, we’ll start with you. Even if I was involved enough to have a good idea where we stand on technology transfers, everyone else needs to know as well.”

Usopp and Pagaya looked between each other for a moment, neither having been quite ready for the attention. After all, of all the moving parts that had been going on for the last week, Luffy himself had been most involved with learning about Fishman Island’s Bubble Tech. He hadn’t been as involved with other aspects, not having time for everything, but the Bubble Tech was what Usopp and Pagaya had largely been handling alongside him. After a few long seconds, Pagaya shrugged and spoke for both of them.

“As you know, Captain, we’ve received an excellent and widely varied set of Bubble devices. A healthy supply of Bubbly Coral is the most important, and I’ve already noted a similarity to Dials that suggests they may have had a shared origin in the distant past. We also have a solid supply for and proper understanding of the Coating process at this point, with Usopp having proven quite adapt at it. Not too much of a surprise, given it’s almost as much of an art as a science. Several devices that use either or both have also been supplied, with instructions on their operation, but we haven’t had time to dig into them just yet.”

Luffy nodded. He knew that devices intended to help produce the Overwater Highways and Inner Tubes that were used all over the island had been included. He was eager to see if they would mix with Milky Road Dials in particular, to possibly make a more effective overall combination. They’d even been provided with a single Bon Chari, despite warnings they didn’t work outside the Archipelago or Fishman Island. Luffy had hopes that combining the idea of them with Weatheria’s understanding of Bubble Tech might fix that, as it was apparently an ‘atmosphere’ issue. A possible project to get Nami involved with.

“Kaya, status of the Virve Card project?”

Kaya was, unlike the first pair, prompt to reply.

“I’ve got it down entirely, Captain. The expert the Whitebeards sent was surprised how easily I grasped it, but frankly I’m fairly sure they have no idea how it actually works themselves. They were just ritualistically going through the motions, while I could sense the underlying process. I’m already experimenting and I’m fairly certain I can do more with the process than just make Vivre Cards, something I’ve already done for each member of the crew.”

Broadly smiling at that, having hoped that the process would be right up Kaya’s specialty, Luffy nodded.

“Excellent! As I’ve come to expect from anything you touch at this point, Kaya.”

Ignoring Kaya’s surprised blush at the praise, Luffy moved on.

“Nami? How did you fair with the Log Pose instructions?”

His first girlfriend scowled, then shrugged.

“Well enough, but not as well as I’ve had liked. I learned how the New World variants worked and acquired three of them. Including a large one for the ship’s navigation panel. I was also able to learn how to make basic Log Poses, but not Eternal Poses or New World poses. There wasn’t enough time. Though I was left some material that should help us figure it out over the longer term.”

She hadn’t actually been ‘left’ that material by the expert that Whitebeard’s Sons had sent. In truth, that expert hadn’t even known how Eternal Poses were made, though had known how to make New World poses and truly hadn’t had the time to teach the trick. It was, however, an excellent cover for the fact Luffy had purchased books containing the knowledge from his System Store. The information available there was basic, but should be sufficient to allow them to work out how to make both additional types in the future. A fact he personally wished he’d thought of before Nami had suggested looking for something of the sort in his System Store.

The sheer among of stuff available in said Store meant such knowledge being available hadn’t jumped out at him. A similar story had been the case with things like the details of forging Lunarian Steel. The knowledge was there, but it was buried under an avalanche of other stuff, and had wildly varied costs associated with it. The rarer the knowledge, the more expensive the cost, with some of them being so prohibitive even their relative wealth paled to the needed price. He was fully intending to spending some hours looking through the knowledge available now, to see if there were any other gems they could reasonably afford that jumped out at him.

“That’s still amazing progress for just a week, Nami. We still have the better part of a year and a half before we intend to enter the New World. More than enough time to work it out. Good job.”

Nami beamed as the praise, particularly with the surprised reflection of that praise on everyone else’s faces. Knowledge of how to make Log Poses was rare. They’d asked Vivi, and even Alabasta only had a single family of experts who could make them, and that family clung tightly to the knowledge of how to do so. Personally, Luffy intended to work out a system using Eternal Poses that would eliminate the utter bullshit issues that people seemed to have navigating the Line.

Seriously, with multiple points to compare to and decent charts, it should not be hard to pull off. Of course, part of the reason Nami’s dream was so big was that very few good charts of the Grand Line existed. But she was in the process of fixing that. He had a feeling when they ultimately published a means to navigate the entire Grand Line with minimal effort, the World Government was going to be an extra special level of pissed.

Frankly, he kinda looked forward to that.

“Chopper? The local medicines?”

Kaya had wanted to be involved with that as well, but there was only so much time, and Luffy had known she had the best shot of figuring out Vivre Cards. Thankfully, Chopper was his own special sort of genius.

“Yes, Captain! They have some really cool stuff! There are a number of drugs derived from various types of coral and other Deep Sea plants that seem promising for various projects. In particular is a recipe for something called an Energy Steroid. Apparently, a few of the ingredients to make it are extinct, making the locals think it was useless. But it’s very similar to my Rumble Balls in some ways! I think between IQ plants and some of what I use in my Balls, I might be able to make a few useful things. A type of recovery pill that will speed up wound healing being the most promising!”

Luffy blinked in surprise, having not expected Chopper to have gained the recipe for Energy Steroids. Though, if the locals thought it was impossible to make them any longer, it made sense that they hadn’t cared. It would also make sense why the remaining supply of them was considered a national treasure. He had to admit he was curious what Chopper and Kaya could come up with. The use of Combat Drugs wasn’t something he wanted to encourage, but rapid wound healing or other beneficial effects could be a literal life saver…

“Good work, Doctor Chopper! Make sure and include Kaya in what you’ve discovered, now that she’s free again.”

Chopper did an amusing little dance at being praised, causing everyone to grin. Luffy let the moment of levity carry on for a few good laughs before dragging them back on point.

“Kuina, Zoro, Yamato, Hina. What did you four think of the Fishman Karate Dojo?”

Surprisingly, his First Mate passed the baton to Hina with a wave. Though on second thought, Hina was one of their only pure fist fighters. Aside from Luffy, who had a decent knowledge of brawling from his time with Garp, Hina, Yamato, and Robin were probably the best versed in unarmed combat. Which, given all three of them used it in combination with their Devil Fruits, wasn’t saying a lot. Honestly, Sanji was the closest they had to a true unarmed fighter, and his style was purely kick-based.

“Hina thinks there are principles we can adapt from the style. She also thinks that only Robin and Chopper would truly get proper use out of it, and even then only as adaptations. Still, Hina thinks it would be worth learning at least a little, to see what we can each add to our fighting styles from it.”

Honestly? That was more than Luffy had expected. Fishman Karate really wasn’t all the well suited for most of his crew, despite the amazing things it could do.

“Good, good. Every bit we can add helps, so long as it doesn’t cause anyone to be pulled in too many directions. The best way might be to have those that would most benefit sit in on the instruction Alabasta is getting on the subject.”

All four of those that had looked into it nodded at that, and Luffy took that as a sign to move on. There was really only one group left. Brook, Perona and Sanji had all three been assigned to help…

“Nojiko, how are our general supplies? And have the transfers of our own obligations been finished?”

Their quartermaster was quick to reply, actually producing a ledger that maintained the ship’s supplies.

“Sanji reports that we are topped up for food and water, including some new things for him to experiment with. The Mermaid Café was willing to share some tips for the local ingredients with him after Jinbe had a word with the owner, apparently.”

The cook nodded at that, looking pleased.

“General supplies are also looking ship shape, though we had to rearrange the holds again to store some more things on Sixis for now, due to all the Bubble Tech we took on. Nothing critical for day-to-day usage, of course. Mostly Crystal and Dial supplies, which are more annoying to have to go get, rather than an actual problem. Likewise, the supplies of Lunar Steel and Treasure Tree Wood have all been properly transferred. Though, of course, you still owe the Kuja in particular a few custom weapons made of Lunarian Steel.”

Luffy nodded at that. It was a bit of an annoyance that it needed doing, but the Alliance they’d secured was worth far more than a little bit of time making custom pieces at a forge. Particularly since he actually enjoyed forging.

“Excellent. With the final transfers between our new allies arranged for tomorrow, it sounds like we’re in tip-top shape then. We’ll be heading back up to the Archipelago to pick up Rayliegh again after those last transfers are done. We could all use a more extended stay on Rusukaina to work on our Haki. Though many of us will also be off to other things periodically. Get your final relaxion in for the rest of today…we are going to be working hard for the next few months while we have Rayleigh’s help. Got it?”

There were firm nods of confirmation all around, pleasing Luffy. Getting the Dark King’s help with Haki development for everyone was by far the single biggest general boost on the horizon, and he was intending to make full use of it. Thankfully, he’d gotten the idea of training being important ground into the heads of all of his crew by now. It wasn’t how the usual Pirate Crew worked. But, then, he’d never intended to make a Pirate Crew at all, even if they’d collectively decided to own the title just to spite the WG. Come what may, he intended all of his crew to be up to the challenges that would undoubtedly await them in the New World…

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

A/N 1: So, the one thing to really touch on here is the Road Poneglyph. Frankly, it seems unreasonable for the Neptunes NOT to have copied the thing, given how long it was in their domain for. More to the point, though...it hasn't been revealed in the Magna where the damn thing actually is. I'm more and more getting the impression, with Oda stalling the series as long as physically possible to rake in more money, that I may legitimately reach the end of the story before he does -_-. So I took a step where I could to logically eliminate needing to deal with one particular unrevealed piece...

A/N 2: You probably know this bit by now, but I need to say it anyway ;-)! Once per release, I point out that I have a P-atreon Page with Early Access content. Chapters 114-117 of One Piece: Halfway Broken are already available there, adding roughly 16,000 words which will remain in Early Access until next month. Similarly, there are at least a few Early Access chapters there for ALL of my stories, though NONE of them are ever permanently paywalled. Check my profile for the address, or search the web for 'Novus's Fanfiction Works.'