One Piece – Halfway Broken

Chapter 127: Viewpoints

Fleet Admiral Garp was looking forward to his chance to ‘retire’ into training Marines. Seriously, trying to ride herd on the clusterfuck of an organization that the Marines was? That had been bad enough. Dealing with the Celestial Twats and their demands on top of that was so much worse. Something that had him glaring at Kong as the Commander-in-Chief stared back at him impassively.

“Damn it, Kong. The Marines aren’t ready to pull any sort of offensive. I’ve managed to patch most of the holes up, but we haven’t even gotten back up to the force levels we had before the Marineford disaster. What they are demanding would require more than that level of strength.”

Kong actually grimaced at that, showing he knew that what Garp said was true. Something he voiced a moment later, before Garp could explode.

“I know that. Thankfully, the Elders know it too. Which is why I said you need to make an effort. Frankly, so long as you make a measurable effort on each of the fronts they are demanding, and can succeed in at least one of the goals the idiots are throwing a tantrum about, it will be enough to appease them. Which needs to happen, as the Alabastian Alliance has set too strong of a precedent about being able to break away from the World Government.”

Garp growled but managed to pull his temper back instead of punching Kong in the bastard’s face, if only just barely. Clearly the Commander-in-Chief understood that achieving the entire set of demands was impossible. Unfortunately, even achieving one was not exactly a simple task. Mentally, he ran through their list of demands. They wanted the West Blue retaken entirely from the Revolutionaries, Fishman Island, Amazon Lily, and Alabasta forced to submit, and the Germa Kingdom completely eradicated.

On the surface of it, most people would likely think that picking off Fishman Island or Amazon Lily was the easiest. While they were both now openly allied with the Alabastian Alliance, said Alliance was separated from them by significant stretches of ocean. Unfortunately, the involvement of his grandson’s crew as effectively a fourth power within that alliance complicated matters, and not just on a personal level. They now had proper confirmation that Princess Vivi Nefatari had eaten the Door Door Fruit and had figured out how to move between distant locations using it.

That critical little detail meant that attacking any single part of that alliance would result in facing the strongest fighters from the combined alliance. Hancock alone was damn near on the level of one of the Yonko, and Garp was fairly certain Luffy wasn’t far off that mark either. Meaning attacking any part of that conglomerate of powers could potentially result in facing off against multiple Yonko-level opponents at the same time. Something the Marines just flat out weren’t ready for, and might well never be.

“It will have to be the Germa Kingdom. It will be costly, but they’ve lost enough ground to Kuzan that it could be pulled off. That will let us reassert complete control of the North Blue and reassign assets elsewhere.”

Kong nodded, legitimately seeming to agree with Garp, which lowered his blood pressure slightly. Unfortunately, the bastard had to open his mouth again to raise it a moment later.

“At least token offensives will have to be arranged against the others. Retaking a single island from the revolutionaries and pinching off either Amazon Lily or Fishman Island, perhaps?”

Garp ground his teeth, closed his eyes, and sighed.

“Taking an island from the Revolutionaries should be possible. Amazon Lily or Fishman Island…it would have to be Amazon Lily to have any hope of it working. We don’t have enough people who can fight down on Fishman Island to do anything but outright destroy it, and that wouldn’t make even the Celestial Twats happy, since they love their mermaids so much. Odds are we’ll lose the fight with Amazon Lily, despite it being the best bet. It would have to be a sacrifice play with only a slim chance of turning up lucky.”

The nod Kong gave him pissed Garp right the hell off, as it was acknowledgement that sacrificing a force of Marines was acceptable to the people remaining above him. Still, there were forces that Garp wouldn’t exactly mind losing. Ones that were too prominent for him to have sent on sacrificial attacks before this.

“Fine. Vegapunk’s little project with what’s left of Sakazuki can test the waters against Amazon Lily. Kuma and some of the Seraphim will be enough to at least force a strong reaction out and see how serious this alliance between them and the others is. The little fucker might even survive or pull out a win if the Kuja are being standoffish enough and won’t allow male fighters to defend their territory.”

Kong mulled that over for a moment, then nodded again.

“Acceptable. At minimum it will allow observers to see how strong the prototypes are. Even just Hancock will push them, and if others respond we can collect more data to use against them in the long run, as well as improve the project. Make it happen, Garp, and don’t take too long to produce results.”

Garp glowered at the bastard as he took his leave without another word, leaving Garp to figure out how the hell to shuffle their existing assets in a way that this bullshit wouldn’t cripple them again. He’d been forced to accept that psycho Aramaki, so he could be put in a position he might not come back from. Meanwhile…Gion and Chaton would likely be enough to take an island or two back from Dragon. Assigning Aramaki and Issho to Kuzan for the Germa issue and making it clear to the icicle that he didn’t care if Aramaki came back should be enough extra firepower there. At least with a couple of Vice Admirals to strengthen the line.

Yes, he could make this work. Assuming Kong was right and getting ‘one of three’ would appease the Twats, at least…

… … …

Hancock sighed, looking out over her domain with a bit of longing in her heart. Luffy hadn’t been away for long, and she had taken the excuse of training adorable little Vivi to keep in contact with him, getting at least a spar with him each time she worked with Vivi as part of the deal to train her in the first place. Yet, she had to admit that she wanted more. She just wasn’t entirely sure how to go about accomplishing that. Perhaps she could use some sort of excuse about needing to examine the special baths again?

“You are showing the signs of Love Sickness, Empress. Though I admit I am surprised how well controlled they are.”

Ugh. Elder Nyon was irritatingly perceptive. She had yet to reveal what she’d discovered about the waters of the island to anyone but her sisters, wanting time to mull over exactly what should be done, if anything at all. In truth, aside from now having a better idea how to manage the extreme emotions of her people, she didn’t really see any reason to do anything about the blessings diluted into the waters of Amazon Lily.

Still, irritating as she could be, Gloriosa’s advice was usually good. More to the point, the former Empress, now Elder, had left the island herself due to Love Sickness. Meaning she would likely connect the dots about the blessings and their effects more easily than anyone else on the island, even Sandersonia and Marigold. Given that Hancock was still wrestling with what, if any, changes to make for the Kuja to account for what she has learned…

“With the help of Captain Luffy, Healer Kaya, and Nico Robin, I was able to discover the cause of Love Sickness, Elder. As well as the general cause for heightened emotions in our tribe in general. I am, indeed, experiencing Love Sickness, or so I believe. Yet the understanding of how it works has aided me in mitigating the issue. In truth, I fully intend to pursue Luffy, so I do not see the problem with it. Particularly as his other lovers are most pleasing to the eye and not against it. That, however, does not tell me what to do about the greater revelations. How I should or should not change the Kuja policies to account for them. I believe I am in need of another viewpoint.”

The Elder looked surprised, extremely so, in fact. Which probably wasn’t unexpected, really. She had likely expected Hancock to attempt to deny the accusation, if such it could be called. Certainly, unless her sisters had talked, which clearly wasn’t the case, she would have had no warning on the greater topic.

“I…see. What have you discovered that makes you believe you have answers to our oldest Mysteries? And how could an outsider have helped you discover it.”

Snorting at that last bit, knowing Nyon was quite prideful about the Kuja, and rightfully so, Hancock still cut through the bullshit quickly.

“It isn’t that they were outsiders. It was that Kaya is a spiritualist, descended from the Asuka Island priestesses. Captain Luffy has a great deal of sensitivity to such as well, and both of them were required to get to the bottom of the issue. The discovery went like this…”

The discussion would last for hours, including Hancock producing the notes provided by Luffy and Kaya on the nature of the blessings, as well as Nico Robin’s translations. By the end of the evening, the Elder had at least wrapped her head around the revelations, though it would take some time yet for her to offer advice. That was fine. There was no particular rush, given how many generations had survived doing things exactly the way they had always done. Not to mention that the cross-training trips to Alabasta and, hopefully soon also Fishman Island as well, would act as pressure relief valves for the problem anyway.

… … …

Ace’s eyebrow twitched. He wasn’t sure why, but he was abruptly certain that Luffy had somehow gotten another girl interested in him. The lucky bastard had, if Sabo was to be believed, somehow landed both Nico Robin and that hot redhead, with signs that the Princess of Alabasta was interested too. Not to mention that Ace was nearly certain what Yamato would be angling for, if she hadn’t bluntly gotten it already. Looking around at the complete lack of female pirates on the Moby Dick, Ace despaired.

His little brother had all the luck!

Well, at least enough of the guys had agreed that Whitebeard’s policy of only accepting ‘sons’ was a little outdated. Admittedly, in many of their cases it was probably for the wrong reasons and he was going to have to ride herd on the fleet to make sure they didn’t harass any of the new recruits that were female. But it was still an improvement. Particularly as there were only a handful of them so far, and only Taki and Maki might eventually make the cut for the First Division. Still, the infusion of untapped talent of the female persuasion that Whitebeard would likely have refused had been key to holding their own so far, letting them make up some losses.

Maybe someday he’d get either a girlfriend of his own strong enough to keep up…or at least some damn eye-candy for his ship! Pops had at least had those hot nurses of his!

Sighing at the familiar thought, he put it aside easily enough as he looked through the most recent reports from the islands in their territory. Things had mostly stabilized at this point, even if some of the islands they used to control had been more or less gift wrapped for Shanks to take over. Doing so had been far better than letting other territory get absorbed by Big Mom, and condensing their assets had let them push back Linlin’s efforts. Personally, he was a bit surprised that the fat bitch hadn’t taken a shot at Fishman Island, even with it flying both his brother’s and the Kuja Pirates’ flags.

Then again, the Kuja had been around even when Linlin and Pops had both been with the Rocks Pirates. Hell, forget the Rocks Pirates, Shakuyaku had been one of the only people to ever hand his biological father a defeat, and she’d only been the second in command of the Kuja at the time. Even if the reasons for that were…dubious, given the accounts he’d heard and the source he’d heard them from, there was little question that the Kuja were a dangerous unknown. A group that had been around longer than any of the Yonko, even Pops before he died, but who’d never tried to seriously wield influence outside their island. The fact that they were doing so now might well have made even Big Mom cautious, doubly so if the fat psycho knew where Shakky and Rayleigh had ‘retired’ too. Which she almost certainly did.

Blinking, Ace frowned as he came across a report of…missing children? From three of their islands? What the fuck? Growling as he leafed through the reports, growing more pissed off as he realized it wasn’t something new, but something they’d missed due to being preoccupied with Big Mom, he did his best not to light the reports on fire. They would be getting to the bottom of them, even if he had to go himself.

Missing kids from islands under their protection was abso-fucking-lutely not okay…

… … …

King Nefertari Cobra would not, necessarily, say that he was entirely happy with life. The course that both his reign and his personal life had charted for the last several years was a rough one. First due to the actions of Crocodile, and then due to his own choices. Ones he did not, could not, regret. Truth be told, even the years before that had not been easy for him. His beloved wife’s death, as well as the entirely too familiar knowledge of just how far the World Government had fallen, had weighed heavily on his shoulders and soul alike. The line of Nefertari Kings and Queens had known for centuries that many, perhaps even most, of those nations that made up the World Government did not share their values.

In truth, he wasn’t the first king of Alabasta that who had wondered what the hell had possessed his ancestors to help put the current government in place. He liked to think that, whatever they had been up against, it must have been so terrible that they agreed to ally with those that were anathema to their own beliefs. Yet, whether that was true or not was something lost in the mystery of the Void Century. Something he now privately hoped that Nico Robin would uncover the secrets of, just so that he could know for sure one way or the other.

All of that said, he had to admit he was happier with life now than he could remember being ever before. Even, much to his private shame, when his one true love had still lived.

At least some of that could be laid at the feet on his new concubine, who he might not love to the extent he had Titi, but who he had certainly grown to care for. The fact that she had just recently been confirmed to be pregnant was certainly a delight, even if they had yet to share that information with even his daughter. It would be safer for her future little brother or sister to be unknown as long as physically possible, and Mikita was still early enough in her pregnancy to hide it for some time yet.

In truth, however, by far the bulk of what had reenergized him was the Alabastian Alliance and the truly ridiculous degree his daughter had somehow made it grow. Never, in the wild dreams of his youth, had he believed it might be genuinely possible to throw off the corrupt yoke of the World Government. In truth, even when he’d first barred them from shipping through Alabasta’s waters, he had done so mostly as a diplomatic stalling tactic. Something he had hoped would make them seriously reconsider the declaration of his daughter and the Heroes of Alabasta as pirates, of all things.

Now, however, the movement that had grown from that original stalling tactic? It was genuinely powerful enough that, at least in the wake of the disaster for the Marines that had been the Whitebeard War, they were able to produce a strong enough showing that the World Government was no longer able to force them back into the fold. Not without crippling themselves, anyway. Something which, with them not even fully recovered, might well spell their outright end as an organization.

The time that had been bought by the Marines disarray post Whitebeard had allowed Alabasta to gain allies and train up their forces. Their army now had an elite corps made of those capable of using the six powers, and a growing number of officers who could use at least one form of Haki as well. In addition, of course, to a great deal of Dial-and-Crystal-based weaponry for the more common soldier that could elevate them above the rank and file of even the Grand Line Marine units.

Then, of course, there were the Devil Fruit users.

One of whom he was watching practice in extreme secrecy, with disbelief still written on his face.

After all, he suspected no one other than Monkey D. Luffy could and would have somehow acquired the Gura Gura no Mi and then simply handed it over to an ally. Certainly, even a moderate amount of testing had proven that it was Edward Newgate himself who had truly made the fruit as formidable as it had been. In the hands of its new wielder, it was not yet even a tenth as potent. Yet, they had picked a soldier who was both immensely loyal and possessed raw talent with Haki, indicting he might someday have the ability to reach at least half of Whitebeard’s legendary strength. Which, of course, didn’t account for the very reason this training was being hidden so completely.

After all, the World Government would be very unhappy to see it pop up again outside their control. More importantly, however? Assuming its user could manage to mimic even a portion of Whitebeard’s feats on first deployment? It would also terrify them. Something which he hoped would, when the World Government eventually recovered and inevitablly tried to force them back into line, convince them that it wasn’t worth the cost.

If it would be enough? He had no idea. But he certainly appreciated that his daughter’s taste in men was legitimately giving him and his people a chance to find out. The taste of freedom was sweet, and he did not intend for his country to give it up again without a fight…

… … …

Vinsmoke Reiju tapped the reports from her own secret assets in the Marines with a carefully manicured nail. It was clear from the movements that her people were detecting that, despite her father’s insane hopes, the Germa Kingdom was doomed. The Marines needed a win, and with the loss of Yonji proving they weren’t unstoppable even with their Raid Suits, Germa was going to be it. The Revolutionaries simply had too much momentum behind them to break easily, and the loss of just one or two islands under Dragon’s control wouldn’t be a big enough victory. Meanwhile, the Alabastian Alliance and its allies would seem like a tempting target…if you didn’t know about Fleet Admiral Garp’s connection to the Strawhat Captain.

Garp was unlikely to choose to truly press hard somewhere that would bring him up against said grandson. His son was one thing, since Dragon had openly rebelled. From every single scrap of information Reiju had been able to gather on her little brother’s captain though, the World Government had genuinely fucked up there. Monkey D. Luffy had been a completely legitimate bounty hunter, on track to possibly be recruited by the Marines with a complete crew of powerful tagalongs. Only for someone high up the chain of command to completely fuck it up by trying to force him into the Warlords as a Pirate instead. All because of an unimportant non-entity like Crocodile, of all people.

An idiotic waste and one that had cost both the Marines and World Government dearly, and one that Garp had to be royally pissed off about.

No, it was Germa that would be the main thrust of the Marine’s efforts, despite the fact that there was shifting going on elsewhere as well. Which, frankly, was fine with her. Her family were monsters, herself included, even if not willingly so. While the World Government and Marines were no better, at least them wiping out the Germa Kingdom would do some good by removing one imperialistic war machine from the seas.

Still, there were innocents to consider.

Not the soldiers, of course. Her father’s army of clones were fanatically loyal. Programmed robots more than people, in most ways that mattered. Yet there were more than just soldiers and their family that made up the Germa Kingdom. Handmaidens, Cosette and her cooking staff, the medical staff…not the scientific staff. They were just as much monsters as Judge was. The others, though, were certainly innocent enough and did not deserve the get wrapped up in Germa’s punishment by the World Government.

The problem, of course, was how to prevent that.

There was only so much she could disobey her father. Yet…her eyes turned to a bounty poster that might now have a proper picture, but still read ‘Alive,’ rather than ‘Dead or Alive.’ There was one person who might be inclined to help. Possibly. At least if it meant spitting in Vinsmoke Judge’s eye one last time. Better yet, he had allies that could take in the refugees she was thinking of. There wouldn’t be that many of them, and they would be easy enough to hide among a population as large as Alabasta’s.

The question was how to get in contact with her little brother, and if she really wanted to risk him getting involved…

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A/N 1: Hey everyone! Most of you should know that I have Early Access chapters over on P-atreon (find the link for it in my profile, or just search 'Novus's Fanfiction Works' in your browser of choice). I'm currently updating four stories a month, with 20,000 words each, plus at least one 10,000 word extra. One Piece: Halfway Broken is updated twice every month, so there are always 20,000 words of content in Early Access (currently chapters 128-132). That said, none of my fanfiction work is permanently paywalled. Support is appreciated, but it will make its way here and elsewhere eventually if you're patient :-).