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Glory to my chief Proofreader: Solare. For he is the one who points out mistakes and acts as my favourite wall to bounce ideas off of.
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Adam leaned back against the bulwark of Morgans' small sloop, in his hands was his coat which he was repairing from some cuts along its side. It had become a small ritual after each battle; after all, he wasn't some animal who walked around dressing like a homeless bum.
'As the Last Lunarian and a Royal one at that, I must carry myself with a degree of decorum. I represent all that we are, all that we were, and all that we are going to be.' He thought solemnly, needling his clothes back into near perfect status.
'What a mess… I don't know if I believe in an Afterlife as you did, Mother, but at the very least I hope you ended up in a better place than this disgusting world.' Adam stood up from his place, putting on the coat and turning around to stare into the ocean.
A few moments later, he looked down towards his reflection in the ocean, reaching a hand forward to move a few strands of his white hair away from his face. 'Hair's getting a little long, maybe I should cut it at some point? Eh, oh well. I'll let it grow out, it could be a nice change of pace…'
Before Adam could continue his thought process, he was brought out of it by being splashed by cold seawater from behind. He turned around with a mixture of confusion and annoyance, immediately catching the sight of Morgans standing behind him with an empty bucket.
"What? You were brooding!" Morgans justified with a smug smirk and a shrug, drawing an annoyed grunt from Adam whose body was overtaken by flames for an instant, drying him immediately.
"I was not 'brooding', I do not 'brood'. Now leave me to my thoughts, you damn troglodyte." Adam growled with immense annoyance. "Keep in mind, I only allow you to stay in my presence because you could prove useful to me, not because I need you. Do not test my patience…"
"Your ineffective threats aside." Morgans replied impassively, showing no fear in the slightest. "How are your clothes not getting burned from that? Also, what are you going to do with that Devil Fruit you found in the Marine Base, do you plan to eat it?"
Adam clicked his tongue at this, reaching towards his satchel and retrieving said Devil Fruit from within it. "Well, first of all, I made sure to grab fire retardant gel coating from their armoury and lined my clothes with it as soon as I could."
"As for the Devil Fruit? I won't be eating it myself, I see no point in eating one when I already possess powers and abilities greater than it could ever provide. Besides, I have no weaknesses, why would I eat one and actually give myself one?" He questioned rhetorically, causing Morgans to hum in thought before nodding.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." The blonde haired man replied, turning and walking back to the ship's bridge to make sure they were still sailing on the right course. "It seems rather dangerous to carry them with you though, no?"
"Hm? What do you mean?" Adam asked, looking down into the sea once again with a keen eye, as if looking for something. He raised a hand, beginning to produce flames from it and concentrating them into solidified form before activating his Observation Haki.
"Well, you get into fights all the time; surely at some point you've considered that that fanny pack of yours would rip or slip, letting your stuff fall from it? If even a single part of that Devil Fruit is eaten by someone else, the main whole is useless to you." Morgans pointed out, causing Adam to tilt his head in thought.
"I suppose there's something to that." The Lunarian said as he thrusted his hand forward, causing the flames in his hand to shoot forward like a spear into the seawater. The water bubbled from the head for a moment before the fire spear retracted, pulling a baby Rhino-like sea beast out of the ocean, it was about the size of two grown men.
"But I wouldn't worry too much about it, I don't plan on letting any Mongrels touch my Royal self without permission." Adam stated with a smug smirk, raising his other hand to the sea beast and forming a razor sharp spear-like protrusion from his index finger which he used to slice apart the sea beast into a manageable size.
"Caught some food for later, your sea provisions disgust me." The white haired man said plainly before bringing the cut up sea beast onto the ship, beginning to prepare it for cooking.
"Yes, I don't think you'll let them do that, but just like you didn't want them to hit you during your raid on G-2, you don't know what could happen." Morgans replied as he began steering the ship a few degrees to the right. "What if, in theory, you are in a huge fight which forces you to take a lot of hits."
He turned to Adam while holding onto the steering wheel and placed a hand at his hip, "Say your fanny pack is destroyed in said fight, what then? You would lose your valuables, including the Devil Fruit."
"And what, exactly, is your point in all this?" Adam questioned, reaching into one of his coat's pockets and pulling out a knife from its hilt. He began cutting the sea beast into fillets in preparation for their dinner. "Also it's a Satchel, not a fanny pack.
"...We're partners now, aren't we?" Morgans asked almost tiredly at Adam's dense behaviour, choosing to ignore Adam's previous denial.
"And?"
"And why don't you let me hold on to your extremely valuable items for you then? You don't even plan to eat the Devil Fruit, so I can keep it somewhere safe for you till you have a plan for it. I don't imagine you could even sell it anywhere short of the Black Market, everyone in the 4 Blues and Paradise knows your face."
Adam looked up to him for a moment, considering his offer before reaching into his satchel and pulling out the Iron-Iron Fruit from it. He turned to Morgans and chucked the Devil Fruit at him, the Blonde haired man stumbled for a moment but managed to catch it.
He then reached back into the satchel and grabbed the Paramecia Lose Lose Fruit from it, throwing that to him as well. Morgans nearly fell over in his attempt to catch the other one, but somehow managed to keep steady.
"And this is?" He asked, eying up the Devil Fruit's odd hourglass shaped design.
"I believe that's the Paramecia 'Lose-Lose' Fruit, or at least that's what the Mongrel I killed said it was." Adam answered as he salted the meat thoroughly, causing Morgans' eyebrow to raise in confusion.
The blonde haired man moved the Devil Fruit away from him to look at it one more time before looking back to Adam, "The Paramecia what now?"
The Lunarian just shrugged and lit a fire at his fingertips, forcing it to form into a grid shaped structure before placing the Sea Beast fillets on it.
"Yeah, I know, I was just as flabbergasted as you are when I heard him. Apparently it shows you all the possible ways for you to 'Lose' in the near future, or something along those lines." He answered dismissively, he could honestly barely remember what that Cipher Pol Agent had said from how irrelevant he considered him to be.
"I… Sure, I guess? This world of ours really is a weird one, isn't it?"
"Mhm.. Just hold onto those Devil Fruits until I decide what to do with them…"
That was all Adam said before ignoring Morgans and getting lost in his own thoughts once again, halfway through cooking the Sea Beast fillet, Adam felt himself getting splashed with sea water once again. He turned around to face the bucket holding Blonde man with an expression of annoyance and nigh on boiling rage.
To that, all Morgans could do was shrug and say 5 words.
"What? You were Brooding again!"
Adam just growled and lit himself ablaze once again, accidentally causing the sea beast fillet he was cooking to be burned into a charred crisp.
…
"Adam, wake the hell up, we finally reached our destination!" Morgans called out from the ship's bridge, causing the Lunarian's eyes to twitch slightly as he woke himself up. He stretched for a moment before climbing out of his hammock, making sure to pocket it a moment later to carry with him.
"Fucking finally, took 4 whole days to get here, I could have flown the whole way in hours at most…" The Lunarian muttered to himself, walking to the bathroom and splashing his face with water as he felt the ship stop sailing as Morgans docked it.
"Well, not all of us can fly faster than some people can even see, y'know? So unless you wanted to carry me plus a whole ship's worth of things, this was the best option." The blonde haired man replied from his own room, the sloop's small size allowing them to hear each other relatively well even with walls in the way.
"Quiet, Mongrel. When your input is required, I will let you know." Adam stated as he walked out to the main deck, looking out towards the tropical island of Jaya before him. They looked to have docked at a harbour of a port town, with many ships already docked besides them.
The city had Red-tiled roofs and crooked white walls leaned into each other, while palm trees sprouted haphazardly among the mess. The harbor bustled with pirates, their idiotic chaos matching the gaudy, battle-worn ships docked along the shore.
A cracked bell tower rose from the center, its shadow cast over the noisy streets. Adam's gaze lingered on a brawl breaking out on the docks, a mocking smirk tugging at his lips. 'Is this what passes for 'civilisation' nowadays? These Monkeys never fail to impress me, fighting over scraps just like ants scurrying around for sugar.'
"Again, it's Morgans! Not 'Mongrel', M-O-R-G-A-N-S!" Morgans exclaimed incredulously from behind, only receiving a snide side eye in response before being ignored once again.
"In either case, what is this place? There are Pirate ships everywhere here in broad daylight; guessing by their clothing, actions, and the scent that I can smell from here, a lot of the residents of the islands are Pirates too." The Lunarian asked, causing Morgans to just sigh and walk to stand beside him.
"You are just impossible to be courteous with, you know that?" Morgans asked rhetorically, drawing yet another snide side eye from Adam. "Anyways! I believe this place is called-"
"Hello there Gentlemen!"
Morgans' words were cut off by a man calling out from the harbor, his voice warm yet rasping like sandpaper. The wiry black haired figure strolled toward them, grinning wide enough to show his uneven, yellowed teeth. A patchwork coat of mismatched fabrics flapped behind him, and a necklace of coins jingled softly around his neck.
"Ahoy there, friends!" He continued, tipping his battered tricorn hat with a grin that felt a little wider than necessary. "My name is Kane, welcome to Mock Town – Where Dreams Come to Die! Or atleast, that's what some of our lesser fortunate Guests say! Eh-heh-heh!"
Morgans and Adam stared at the scruffy man with obvious suspicion, their evident unimpressed stares caused Kane to sweat slightly. The Blonde haired man then decided to completely ignore the black haired pirate's existence and turn back to Adam.
"Anyways, this is as far as I'll go." He revealed, drawing a surprised eyebrow lift from Adam. "Yeah, with our partnership established, I think this is a good enough time for us to split apart, at least for the moment."
Morgans reached into his pocket and took out a torn piece of paper from it and handed it to Adam who took it with a confused stare, "This is a Vivre Card, it should allow us to find each other no matter how far we're separated since both halves always gravitate towards each other."
"Ah, so that's why you asked for one of my fingernail clippings the other day. I just assumed you were some kind of pervert freak." Adam called out with faux understanding while hiding his smirking mouth behind his right hand, drawing an annoyed glare from Morgans.
"Ha. Ha. Is that your attempt at humour? Creative, but ineffective." The blonde haired man said with a deadpan stare, he then sighed and reached into his pocket again and handed him a Den Den Mushi. "I trust I don't have to teach you what a Den Den Mushi is, your 'Royal Highness'?"
"Why yes, you don't, Mongrel." Adam stated smugly, snatching the snail out of his hand and putting it into one of his coat's pockets before turning to the harbour. "I'm going now, try not Die without me babysitting you, you still have some of my stuff on you."
Morgans watched as Adam then jumped off of the ship, landing onto the wooden dock of Mock Town's harbour and beginning to walk away, ignoring the still floundering Kane standing to his side. He then jumped down to the dock as well and began making his way to a shop to restock before sailing again.
"I'll have you know, I can take care of myself just fine!" Morgans called out as he slowly made his way out of earshot. "Contact me if you do something insane enough, I'll call you if needed!"
"Whatever you say, Mongrel." Adam replied, not caring if he heard him or not and simply entered Mock Town, looking for a way to entertain himself until his own Log Pose reset.
However, the pirate Kane didn't appreciate being ignored, and the humiliation of said act by 2 people in front of so many others had finally pushed him over the edge. He began stalking his way forward towards Adam's back, reaching into his torn coat and retrieving a sharp yet bloodstained cutlass.
'I'll show you! No one ignores Kane 'the Vulture' and lives to tell the tale! I'll kill you, then that blonde haired brat then sell your corpses at the market!' Kane thought with a bloodthirsty grin, reaching just behind Adam's winged back before going for a backstab with his cutlass.
But before his blade could touch Adam's back, the Lunarian seemed to blur around in place and catch it mid air with only his index and thumb, causing Kane's heart to jump into his throat. "Oh… Errors have been made."
"What's this? You were trying to give me this cutlass for free?" Adam questioned mockingly, his Observation Haki had sensed Kane's killing intent even in its passive state. "My apologies, I simply must refuse, you have to take it back!"
The cutlass' blade began cracking where Adam was holding it as his face twisted into a cruel smile, "Here… Allow me!"
Adam twisted his hand slightly, snapping the blade cleanly from its hilt. Without hesitation, he reversed the broken weapon and drove it forward, piercing straight into Kane's gut. Blood spurted from the pirate's abdomen as a scream of agony shot from his lips.
The Lunarian stepped back and watched as Kane crumbled to the ground, clutching his gut while screaming out in pain. He tilted his head slightly and looked down at Kane with disgust, "What is this? Are you some sort of Clown? In that case, then entertain me with a more amusing scream!"
With his last words to the broken pirate, he kicked the blade's back, driving it even further into Kane before walking away. The sound of his screams soon began fading away into painful whimpers, it was very unlikely that he would survive if he wasn't given help sometime soon.
But instead of giving help, 3 different pirates seemed to show up from nearby alleyways, finding the crumpled Kane as easy prey and began looting him even as he bled out. A few moments later, they even began tearing the clothes off of his soon to be cooling corpse of a body.
This was the reality of the city known as 'Mock Town', it wasn't called 'The Town of Ridicule' for nothing. Those who fall behind shall be left to drown in the wake of the strong and greedy, such was the Law of the Jungle.
…
Adam rubbed his chin and looked around as he made his way down the streets of Mock Town; for a town filled with pirates, it was surprisingly clean. From what he could see, the pirates in this town weren't robbing any of the citizens and were actually paying for their products.
'It's almost like a town wide dick measuring contest for these Mongrels, it's almost cute! Almost.' He thought, taking a moment to consider what he could possibly do to pass the time.
As he walked, he could hear the subtle and not so subtle sounds of gossip coming from all around him. It seems that nearly all of the island heard about what happened to Kane in the span of a couple of minutes, and from the looks of it, they all recognised who did it.
"Holy shit, dude… Is that 'The Flameborne'?!" Gasped a scruffy pirate leaning against a crate, his pipe nearly falling from his lips as he gawked at Adam. "He's that new hot shot with a bounty of 632 million berries, isn't he?!"
"You're right! What the hell is he doing here?!" Exclaimed another pirate, he was crouched by a barrel as he worked to sharpen his rusted cutlass. His hands fumbled slightly from his nervousness, causing the blade to scrape awkwardly against the whetstone.
"I dunno, man!" Piped up a burly figure hauling a sack of stolen goods over his shoulder, his heavy steps thudding against the dirt. "But have you heard about what he did to Kane? I think he's dead!"
"That's crazy, mate!" Shouted a lanky, tattooed man perched on a stack of barrels, took a drink from a bottle of rum he held in one hand and continued. "That guy's been fooling and backstabbing people for as long as I can remember – longer than some of us have even lived here!"
"Honestly, I can't even feel bad for him," Muttered a wiry old man sweeping the dirt outside his run-down shop. He paused mid-sweep to spit onto the ground. "The bastard robbed me blind when I first got here! I say serves him right!"
Adam shook his head and sighed in amusement, simply walking in the middle of the busy road and watching out of the corner of his eyes as each pirate he passed scurried away from his mere presence.
'Say what you will of them, at the very least they seem to know their place in the food chain.' He thought with a satisfied smirk, his eyes trailed across the city before landing on a building at the end of the road which had a sign that read 'Pub and Pie'.
"Sure, that works." Adam muttered, walking to the pub and swinging the doors open. The inside of the pub was rather lively, with dozens of pirates enjoying food and drinks aplenty. But, as soon as he entered, all of the lively atmosphere had become choked with recognition and terror.
"Looks like I don't have to tell you where you stand, good. You Mongrels can continue your yammering, just keep it quiet, don't ruin my evening." He ordered, drawing curt nods of confirmation from all around him.
The Lunarian nodded in satisfaction and walked towards the front counter of the pub, taking a seat beside a table of about a dozen pirates. The pirates in the pub stared awkwardly at each other for a moment before the atmosphere eased up, a few moments later they all began chatting once again, although it was noticeably quieter.
The bartender seemed to be a little nervous at serving such a high profile pirate, but he sighed and ran a hand through his black hair before walking in front of Adam. He coughed in his hand to regain his focus and nerves before speaking up.
"A-Ahem! Excuse me, Sir Flameborne. My name is Terry, what can I get for you today?" He asked with a slightly nervous tone as he absentmindedly grabbed a glass from the counter and began cleaning it.
"Well, not sure what you Monkeys serve around here, and honestly I can't bring myself to care. Just bring me whatever the special is in this place." Adam answered impassively as he rested his head on his right hand, looking at the black haired bartender with an expectant stare.
"O-Oh, okay! One Cherry Pie and Secret Drink, coming right up!" Terry said with a faux enthusiastic tone that seemed to be more for calming himself down than anything else.
However, Adam raised an eyebrow at the second product, leaning forward in his chair and staring the bartender down. "A 'Secret Drink', huh? What's in it?"
"I- Well, I can't really tell you what that is, Sir! It's a Secret Drink for a reason! Even I don't even know what it is!" Terry placated nervously as sweat dripped down his neck, he shrank in his place slightly a moment later from Adam's prickly stare.
"Riiight… I'll just have some iced water, thanks."
"O-Of course, Sir!"
Terry then left with a bow, leaving Adam alone to his thoughts. The Lunarian absentmindedly reached into his satchel, he pulled out his Log Pose from within to inspect it. To his surprise, the Log Pose had actually already acclimated to the island and locked onto a new one.
But that in of itself wasn't what surprised him, what surprised him was where the Log Pose was aiming for him to go next.
It was aiming towards the Sky.
"The hell?" Adam muttered in confusion, it was the first time in his life he had ever seen something like this happen. He barely noticed when Terry came back with a Pie and huge glass of iced water, the bartender just took advantage of this by placing the food before Adam and leaving.
A few seconds later, the Lunarian just shook his head and grabbed a fork, absentmindedly using it to take a bite out of the Cherry Pie. It was a little sweeter than he'd like but it had a nice tartness to balance it out.
"Huh.. Not bad, I suppose."
Adam leaned back and passively ate the pie, his crimson eyes half-lidded as he listened to the murmur of voices filling the pub. Most of the chatter was meaningless drivel – pirates boasting about nonexistent conquests or drunken arguments over unpaid tabs – but one conversation at a nearby table caught his attention.
"You surely can't be serious about this, Cap'n?!" Barked a wiry pirate, slamming his mug onto the table and causing its contents to spill. His scarred hand gripped the handle tightly as he glared across at his captain.
"Yeah, what he said!" Chimed in another crewman, a rotund man with a scruffy beard who was nervously fiddling with his knife, his voice laced with disbelief. "I know your ancestor was Mont Blanc Noland, but you can't throw your dreams away to chase a lie he made centuries ago!"
"I'm not 'chasing a lie'!" Mont Blanc Cricket snapped, his rugged features hardening as he crossed his arms. His voice was gruff and unwavering, though the frown on his face showed his frustration. "I just want to try and find out the truth behind what happened 400 years ago! That's it!"
Mont Blanc Cricket cut an imposing figure even as he leaned back in his chair, a cigar clamped firmly between his teeth. His spiky chestnut-shaped hair gave him an oddly distinctive appearance, but his scarred chest and muscular frame spoke volumes about his years of hardships. The yellow shirt he wore was unbuttoned, revealing his battered torso, while a maroon coat rested casually over his shoulders.
"Well, I'm sorry, Cricket, but this ain't what I signed up for!" Declared the wiry pirate, shaking his head as he threw up his hands in exasperation.
"Yeah! Either you back out on this right now, or I'm jumping ship!" Added the rotund crewman, pointing a stubby finger at him.
"We aren't on a ship though, dumbass!" Quipped another pirate sitting nearby, his face partially obscured by a bottle he was drinking from.
"You know what I mean, ya asshole!" The rotund man shot back, his face flushing red with irritation.
Cricket sighed, the cigar in his mouth drooping slightly as he looked around the table at the rest of his crew. Their expressions were unanimous – disbelief, doubt, and frustration. The weight of their disapproval hung heavily in the air, but Cricket didn't waver. Taking one last drag from his cigar, he let the smoke drift out slowly before his face hardened with resolve.
"Fine then." He said, his voice calm but final. "I ain't your captain anymore. You're all free to go. I wish you a safe sail back."
The crew stared at him, their initial shock giving way to resignation. They knew how stubborn Cricket was; once he made up his mind, there was no changing it.
"Fine, then." Muttered the wiry pirate, standing from the table and adjusting his bandana. "I hope you don't kill yourself chasing this shitty goose chase. If you ever want to join the crew again, you know where to find us."
"Let's go, gentlemen." He said to the others.
One by one, Cricket's former crew stood and left the pub, their boots thudding against the wooden floor as they exited in unison. Left behind, Cricket sat alone, silently puffing on his cigar, his gaze fixed on the table in front of him. Smoke curled up into the dim air as he stewed in his thoughts, the weight of his decision settling in.
A small smirk covered Adam's face, he stood up from his place and turned to Cricket. The pirate turned to him with a questioning glance, he couldn't even bring himself to care about if he was angering the infamous pirate from how much his mood was ruined.
"They said your ancestor was Mont Blanc Noland, was that correct?" Adam asked slyly, drawing a confused stare from Cricket before the brown Chestnut haired man nodded in confirmation.
"And if he is? What's it to you, Flameborne?" Cricket questioned right back, removing his cigarette from his mouth as it had been finished. He brought it down to a cigarette dish in the middle of his table and snuffed it out while waiting for Adam to continue.
"Well, how badly do you want to know what happened to the 'Land of Gold' Noland found?" The white haired man asked, causing Cricket to stand up from his chair in surprise before turning to Adam completely.
"What do you mean by this, Flameborne?! Sure, you have better things to do than mock the Dreams of a nobody like me?!" Cricket exclaimed incredulously which only made Adam chuckle in amusement at his rattled stare.
"Oh don't worry, I'm not that bored yet." Adam said with a smirk, placing his hands into his coat's pockets and walking past the Chestnut haired man towards the doors of the Pub. "Let's just say I think I have a… Lead towards where it might be."
Cricket watched on with shock and disbelief as Adam walked out the pub, letting the double doors swing wildly with his exit. He looked to consider his words for a moment, as if trying to figure out if it was a cruel joke or not, he then shook his head and sighed wearily before rushing out of the pub to follow him with only a few somber thoughts in his heart.
'This is either one Cruel Joke… Or a Fuckin' Lifeline!'
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Author's Note:
My finals for med school are incoming sadge...
Well, if nothing else, after I'm done with them I should be home free for my summer break!
…
Next Chapter Title: A Heaven on Earth?
…
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