Voyage Chapter 18: The Syrup of Comraderie (Patreon)

A/N: CxC Tomorrow

~Yuji Liberio~

I had eventually settled on Nue carrying Kuro on his back while I walked alongside Nue. Granted his body was not exactly built for walking but seeing as Nue was about the size of a large horse now, it wasn't a major obstacle.

Honestly, I would have made Nue carry me too if I didn't need to look confident right now. I looked a bit battered right now but Hero's Bandage covered most of my wounds and stopped them from bleeding, so I only looked like a half mummy. Honestly, my shredded muscles were a much bigger worry, they looked a very concerning purple and red.

But damn it was worth the satisfaction of slugging Kuro hard enough to embed him into a cliffside.

"Isn't that right Captain Kuro?"

"K-k...ill... y...ou."

He forced out between his gritted teeth, it was a real testament to his willpower that he was able to stay awake right now, or stay alive with all of those ruptured organs.

"Uh-huh. Then maybe you should have tried harder."

"G...raaaahh!!!!"

He screamed in rage and thrashed around but as his bones had the consistency of broken concrete the only thing he managed to do was flail around like an inflatable wacky balloon arms man.

I saw the mansion and everyone waiting in front with concerned expressions as I raised my hand and waved.

"Hey guys! Look at what I caught! An infamous pirate posing as a butler! I heard they are a rare catch these days."

As I reached the mansion everyone had mixed expressions, Merry looked like he swallowed a lemon, Kaya looked very concerned, while Alice and Nami had expressions of varying concern.

"Khaladore... is that really you?"

Kuro gritted his teeth, too pissed off and in pain to even pretend to be Khaladore to have the slightest chance of fooling anyone.

"S-shut up you spoiled girl. If not for this meddling bastard I could have had it all... fuck!"

Managing to get that large of a sentence out while actively coughing blood made me hold the slightest hint of respect for my adversary. Kaya looked crushed by his words while Merry looked outraged.

"Khaladore! I don't understand! Why would you do this!? Don't you care about lady Kaya!?"

I coughed to get their attention before grabbing Kuro off the big bird and tossing him to the ground, eliciting only a minute grunt from Kuro.

"Well, I'll leave his interrogation to you guys. Not really related to me after all. But I would appreciate it if you all could call the Marines to pick up those guys on the beach up. I reckon they won't stay knocked out forever. In the meanwhile, Nami, let's pack our bags."

Nami sighed and shrugged her shoulders as Kaya and Merry turned to us with shocked expressions.

"W-what? You are leaving so quickly? Why?"

"You see Miss. Kaya. I'm a pirate, just a slightly more moral one. Despite that, me and the Marines don't really get along. Besides, if we don't leave by the time they do, they might take the spoils Kubo hand-delivered to me."

Merry stepped forward, my lie completely ignored because I had helped them.

"But what about Lady Kaya's illness? I-"

"Chill out buddy, I left behind enough of those medicines to cure her and then some."

Merry stood in place before bowing deeply to the point where his forehead almost scraped the floor.

"Merry..." Kaya said with a sombre ton.

"I cannot thank you enough for what you have done! For curing Lady Kaya and exposing Kha- Kuro! You have my sincerest thanks!"

I craned my neck.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, I remember being promised a reward didn't I? Or did the revelation that I'm a pirate change our deal Hahaha!"

Kaya shook her head and answered before Merry did.

"Of course not! Even if you are pirates, I believe you are good people. We will definitely pay you back!"

What a sincere and good girl. Hopefully, Usopp doesn't abandon her to go off into the sea this time.

Leaving behind Merry who went to fetch rope to tie Kuro up with and Kaya who stood by his side. Nami and I went up and into the mansion to grab our belongings.

"Ugh, I'll miss sleeping in a mansion, no matter how brief it was. Can't believe we have to go back to that soggy bucket."

Slap!

"H-hey!"

I slapped the sulking Nami's ass to get her out of her trance as she blushed and yelled but I smirked at her.

"Oi, don't call my ship a bucket in front of my face. And besides, we aren't going back there, I just found our new vessel. And it is undoubtedly an upgrade and a half."

"Hmm... I'll be the judge of that. But I can't think of anything that would be worse than the one we have no- ow! You-!"

I smacked Nami's plush ass again to reassert my dominance without the need to T-pose before gesturing to her room.

"Oi, don't just ignore my words. If you really wanna judge it then hurry up and get your belongings. We are wasting daytime here."

Nami sighed but went on her way anyway. And I too made my way to my own room.

We wouldn't have to pack up our own ship since I already sent Nue to do that. Nue was deceptively smart. Not as smart as a human but he could fulfil basic fetch quests especially when I conveyed my thoughts to him.

The process of packing up my room was fairly short. I had nothing of note here. Except for portable pharmacy of course. I slung that over my shoulder and took a couple of painkillers and downed those with a blue healing vial to numb the pain and kickstart the healing process.

Knock knock

Just as I was about to leave the room I was interrupted by a series of knocks, and without waiting, Alice entered inside my room with a half smile.

"Sooo... I don't think I have thanked you yet for both curing Kaya and saving us from Kuro did I?"

I raised an appraising eyebrow, she was very obviously planning something right now, if I couldn't tell that I may as well be blind. I turned to her with a teasing smile.

"Oh? Mr. Merry already made me an offer but I can think of plenty of ways a pretty girl such as you could repay me."

If I was any less subtle my words may as well have been bricks but it was somehow lost on Alice as she snapped her fingers and pointed at me as if I had the right idea.

"Isn't that right? So... I was thinking... I could repay you by joining your ship as your cook!"

I blinked.

...I was going to offer that to her anyway but I did not expect her to be so upfront about it. Or take the initiative for that matter.

"Hmm? Why do you want to join my crew? After all, you heard I'm a Pirate, it's not going to be a peaceful life out there. You already have everything set up here for you."

I wasn't going to take someone to my side who was willing to half-ass this.

In response to my words, Alice simply grinned with a bright cheerful smile.

"I don't mind. The peaceful village life never fit me anyway, I'd like to explore a bunch more islands and learn more about food. And with such a strong captain like you, I wouldn't have to worry about any danger am I right? Nihihihi!"

I couldn't but laugh at her words. Truly, she was an interesting individual, and definitely the type of individual I wanted to have by my side.

"How strange, you are definitely the oddest cook I've seen with my own eyes."

Alice put her hands on her hips and pouted cartoonishly.

"Hey, you aren't supposed to call odd! And I'm going out of my way to offer to join you too. Many would be overjoyed and beg me to join you know?"

I waved her off.

"Haha, fine fine. So, what are we going to do about Kaya?"

Alice tapped her lips in a thoughtful expression but I could see the mischievous smirk break through the surface.

"Well... I do owe her a lot still. But I think I remember her owing a lot to someone else. Surely, you wouldn't be against spending a little on lil' old me right? After all, you can get plenty of gold anywhere but there is only one of me."

What a mischievous little creature. But she was true. I extended an open hand towards her.

"True that! Well, then Alice Nakiri, join my crew!"

She smirked and took my hand with her own.

"I'll be in your care captain! Leave the cooking to me!"

Cook secured.

[Quest: Syrup of Kindness] Complete!

Description: There is a sweet and sickly rich girl who needs your help. And as an outlaw pirate, it is your job to help her. Yes, it was in your job description. Catching the Black Cat alongside that is just a bonus to helping a damsel in distress.

Objectives:

-Cure Kaya's "sickness"

Reward: 1x Silver Item Gacha Ticket

-Capture Captain Kuro without casualties

Reward: 1x Advantage Gold Ability Gacha Ticket(Already Completed)

-Defeat the Black Cat Pirates without casualties

Reward: 1x Silver Item Gacha Ticket & 1x Silver Trait Gacha Ticket(Already Completed)

-Recruit Alice Nakiri into your crew

Reward: 1x Gold Trait Gacha Ticket

+1x Silver Item Gacha Ticket

+1x Gold Trait Gacha Ticket

Seeing the tickets roll down I couldn't resist the dark whispers telling me to roll now so I did, starting with the worse ticket obviously as any self-respecting gambler would.

Rolling Silver Item gacha...

An Uncommon Item!

[Malorian Overture]

|Rarity: Uncommon|

A heavy-duty, powerful double-action revolver produced by Malorian Arms. This gun is incredibly powerful, even being able to punch a hole in half-borgs with each bullet. You also get 30 bullets every day for it.

Ooh, that's nice, guns are already very useful in One Piece even when things scale up, having a gun miles better than any flintlock could hope to match is definitely going to tip some scales in my favour. Especially with the virtually unlimited bullets I get for the bad boy.

Now for the next one.

Rolling Gold Trait gacha...

A Rare Trait!

[Dexterous]

|Rarity: Rare|

You are unusually dexterous, granting you impeccable hand-to-eye coordination, motor skills, and control over your body.

Oh yeah, that's definitely a good all-rounder perk if I ever saw one. This would especially help me with overture that was for sure.

Alice, you are just the treasure that keeps on giving.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏𓊝﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

~Yuji Liberio~

"And because of that, I will be taking Alice as my compensation thank you very much!"

Merry and Kaya looked at me with awkward expressions as I confidentially expressed my intentions.

"Well... if that is your desire, Mr. Yuji, I won't stop you. But are you sure about this Ms Nakiri?"

Alice nodded confidentially with a self-satisfied expression as Merry turned to Kaya who looked happy for her.

"That is wonderful news, Alice! I always knew you wanted to sail the sea but were too burdened by me. I will miss your food but I wish you the best! And you are always welcome here if you want to visit or return."

Alice gave Kaya a deep hug before giving her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about me Kaya, I've got Mr. Big & Strong with me. Just promise me you won't stop eating now that I've left alright? And tell Usopp that if he ever makes you cry I'll be coming for him with a whole Pirate fleet behind my back."

Kaya giggled and blushed a little at the implications.

"Alright, I'll make you proud Alice. Please take care of her for me Mr. Yuji, I know she can be a handful."

I nodded.

"Don't worry, I know that already." "Hey!"

Ignoring Alice's mock outrage I craned my neck and slung my luggage over my shoulders.

"Alright, we better get going before the sea dogs arrive. Thank you for your hospitality lil' miss Kaya, Merry."

I turned around and started walking off as I heard their voices behind me.

"Thank you Mr. Yuji, Alice!!! Take care!!!!"

Alice said her last goodbyes and joined my side as I smirked.

Goodbye Syrup Village.

A/N: Yuji gets a set of solid rolls, Overture is one of the best guns both in terms of style and power. And Dexterity is an overall great trait for basically everything.

Syrup Village Arc is finally over and Alice officially joins Yuji's crew just before they leave. What did you guys think about the Syrup Village Arc and Alice's overall character and interactions? I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback, it helps motivate me.