One Piece – Halfway Broken

Summary: Time to decompress...and Luffy gets some new additions to his System.

*Warning* Chapters 22-25 were all posted back-to-back. Make sure you don't miss any of them!

Chapter 25: Decompress

Luffy sighed as he flipped through a well-worn notebook in the privacy of the Captain's Cabin. Nami and he had agreed that they weren't ready to share quarters yet, even if the thought was certainly enticing, and he had to admit that the privacy was valuable at times. Such as now, when he was flipping through the notebook in which he'd written everything he could remember about the One Piece world when he was younger. He rarely referenced it these days, the knowledge inside having been pretty shaky in the first place as Alex hadn't seen the show in years, had never read the manga, and had only possessed the most general knowledge of events after Fishman Island where he'd stopped watching.

Luffy had only pulled the notebook out now because he'd been hoping some small, unimportant note might clue him in about somewhere in the East Blue to provide the crew with a quality bit of R&R time. The last few weeks had being exhausting for everyone, as they'd dealt with the majority of the Krieg crew, moved the larger ships into hiding, dealt with the Marines for bounties, and so on. They'd just recently finished a quick visit to Foosha, where Luffy had half-bullied Makino into admitting she did have a way to get a message to his father. Convincing her hadn't been easy…but he'd managed. And now the mess with Tequila Wolf was in the Revolutionaries' hands, not theirs.

All of which left him with an exhausted crew, ready to head to the Grand Line but in dire need of a bit of fun before they did. As near as he could tell, they were nearly a month out from when the original Luffy and crew would have reached that point anyway, so a week or two of delay for some R&R wasn't out of order. There were a few events he was hoping the butterfly effect hadn't wiped away completely, after all. And getting there too early would be problematic. In particular, he knew Vivi had been stationed at Whisky Peak for a while, but not how long. So a delay for some fun would serve more than one purpose, as it were.

The trouble was, he wasn't sure exactly where to go to find that fun. He'd considered the Isle of Rare Animals. But, while interesting, that wasn't quite up the alley of many of his crew. Mirror Ball Island also existed, of course. Though Luffy knew of it only from his current life, not the notebook of details about the world. He had explored a lot of the East Blue once he unlocked his Swift form, after all. As that particular bird, he was capable of covering quite a wide swatch of the ocean, having used that fact for both fun and profit before now.

At a loss for what to do, Luffy idly opened his System Menu, with some thought that maybe there was a clue or two there. The truth was that, aside from occasional checks of his and his crews' stats, he rarely used the System for anything other than the Store and Inventory. The Faction Menu was relatively boring, only telling him what he'd already known for the most part. It was a little amusing to see how often the Marines opinion on him shifted and warped. The entire organization was very bi-polar in how it viewed bounty hunters. Though, at the moment, it was actually firmly in the positive due to how he'd handled the Kreig Pirates…and the civilian survivors. The fact that he'd been so careful with those survivors had resulted in the Marine Commadore outright trying to recruit him and his entire crew, to an annoyingly persistent if mildly amusing degree. A bit of a sad reminder that the majority of the Marines were far from evil, even if they followed those who were.

The fact that the Revolutionary Army's Faction Score had not-so-randomly appeared a day after they left Foosha, and was firmly pressed into the positive, Luffy took as a good sign for the fate of Tequlia Wolf and the slaves there. But otherwise, a look at this current Faction Menu just showed him the handful of islands like the Conomi Chain, Syrup Village and Cozia, with which he had extremely positive relations. Sighing at getting no help there, Luffy shifted to the next menu. The Rewards Menu had a lot of points for him to collect, for things like 'people saved' and 'enemies eliminated,' which did mean he had a massive influx of shop points he could spend. But, otherwise, it was a bust as well. He shied away from the Relationships menu, still a little leery of the violation of privacy it had proven to be. It was very tempting to look at, and his will to stay away from Nami's entry was weakening by the day, but today wasn't the day it was going to break!

Sighing as the only thing left, aside from the store which was a complicated mess to find new things in, was the Help Menu, Luffy shrugged and opened it. He hadn't touched it in years. Maybe there was something in here he'd forgotten? Wait a second. Luffy blinked twice, shook his head…then banged in on a nearby bulkhead. It was a completely reasonable reaction, he thought. Once he was done berating himself for his stupidity, he focused back in on the menu…and the new tutorials that were literally glowing out at him.

Tutorial: Your HUD is your Friend!

Tutorial: Mapping and You

Tutorial: Karma Events!

Luffy sighed…and selected the first tutorial.

... ...

It had taken a couple of hours to get through the three new tutorials, broken up by a quick lunch with the rest of the crew. He had to admit that all three of them were potentially useful, though he felt a little better about missing them, as all indications were that two of the three had unlocked within the last year. The oldest had apparently unlocked when he first took the Improved Relationship Panel perk, the tutorial explaining that it had been the last requirement for the improved HUD. The fact that there were apparently things to unlock in the first place was frustrating news. Particularly given that he hadn't found any obvious way of knowing what sort of things would be required for any such unlocks.

Despite his frustration, the additional functionality really was amazing. It had taken him some considerable time to tweak it to his liking, but he could now focus on a person and get visual indications of a number of useful details about them. Their level relative to him, their attitude toward him, and even their mood. None of it was new. Luffy had access to all of that information via his general System or Perks, such as the mood reading via his Empathy Perk. But even with years of practice it was sometimes hard to pick that information out of a crowd, particularly while doing something else. The HUD tweaking allowed him to call up visual indicators, overlaid on his sight, and some of the things he could make indicators for were much more specific than he usually got out of a general feel for someone. He hadn't quite managed to resist the temptation to add an 'arousal' indicator specific to Nami, for example. Even if he told himself he really shouldn't have…

Regardless! While the HUD was somewhat useful, for various reasons, it was arguably the least useful of his new System Features. Particularly given that he'd had some level of access to the information anyway, and the HUD was only making it easier to track. The Mapping and Karma functions were honestly more useful. By a lot, actually. Particularly in the way that they intersected and interacted with each other.

The Mapping feature, which had unlocked when he started dating Nami of all things, was exactly what it said on the tin. Sort of. To his disappointment there was no mini map, even with his improved HUD. Nor was the map feature all that groundbreaking on its own. For all intents and purposes all it really did was provide a Map Tab in his system that showed a mostly static version of everywhere he'd personally traveled in the past. That did mean that, due to his wanderings in bird-form, that the vast majority of the East Blue was properly mapped and charted. Useful for a Ship Captain, for sure. But all on its own it was hardly anything he couldn't have gotten from stealing a look at Nami's charts. He could manipulate it better than a physical map, as well as place his own markers and labels, but that was about it…on its own.

The Karmic Events tutorial had changed that. On its own, the Karma System was interesting in its own right. It essentially reacted to his personal 'karma,' to give him a sort of vague pull toward events that would either reward or punish him for whatever that karma was. Thankfully, it also came with a meter that let him see his own karma was currently extremely positive. Though the tutorial had warned that Karma was something fluid, not static. It could and was expended when Karmic Events were encountered. Having bad events happen to him would expend some of his bad karma, while good events would expend some of his good.

Under ordinary conditions, he would need to be relatively close by, physically speaking, to a Karmic Event in order to feel its pull. Specifically, he needed to be in range of his Haki. Which, while somewhat boosted by his Fruit, still meant it would normally be limited to a single island. If he, with just the Karma System, set foot on an island and closed his eyes, then just began walking in the direction of the strongest pull, he would soon find himself involved in some event or other that would reward or punish his Karma. Interesting, potentially even useful, but hardly world shattering on its own. Actually, even with the intersection of abilities he'd discovered, it wasn't world shattering, just a little more applicable to his current situation.

Specifically, the Karma System interacted with both the Map System and the Faction/Reputation system he'd so far seen little use for. The Karma System was capable of being mapped to his new System Map, showing 'in range' events that qualified. Which was neat, but not that much better than just being able to feel the pull, save that it did include a short description of the event type. What really made the difference was that any location where he'd earned a sufficiently positive Reputation apparently resonated with the System. Which allowed the System to map Karma events on any Island or in any Town where he had a sufficiently positive reputation.

All of which meant that Luffy was gleefully looking over the Map of the East Blue…and seeing vague descriptions of Karma Events that were ongoing or would be ongoing if he headed straight to them! Reading them off, he happily noted several which would provide fantastic opportunities for a little fun for his crew…

... ...

"A festival?"

The surprised question came from Kuina, even as the others around the table looked interested.

"Yep! I heard about it recently, and if I'm right about the timing, it will be in its second of five days when we reach the Organ Islands. Orange Town is a place I've done extreme amounts of business with over the years, it having been one of the main suppliers I used for a lot of the more ordinary materials for the Discovery. I'm on quite good terms with them as a result, but I've never had a chance to attend their festival, which happens only once every five years."

In fact, Luffy had barely known the festival existed. He'd heard a few mentions of it over the years, but the last one hadn't coincided with one of his trips. He'd never have remembered it, if not for the Karma Event token on the map indicating it was due to occur quite soon. They couldn't quite make it before the festival started, as they were sailing southeast of Foosha at the moment. But with the Discovery's speed, it was possible to make it for the final three days, at least. Possible most of the second as well, depending on the winds.

"Anyway, I thought it might be a nice chance to blow off some steam. We're ready for the Grand Line, I think. But given the types of trouble we'll likely find there, I also think a relaxing few days of partying before we hit those waters is called for! Besides, festivals are a great place for a little romance…which we might not see a better chance for in a while."

Luffy managed to keep his voice level and a blush off his face at that last comment, but only barely. Still, from the way Kuina and Kaya were both immediately eyeing their significant others, and Nami was eyeing him, the point had been well taken. Even Sanji was looking enthused about the idea of romance, though Nojiko mostly just looked amused at the looks everyone else was sending around the table. Kuina, after only a moment to think on the suggestion, clapped her hands together with just a small blush on her face.

"Well, Captain, some R&R does sound nice. And Orange Town is in the general direction of the Grand Line entrance from here, anyway…"

There were quick murmurs of agreement from the others as they all latched onto the idea. Luffy gave himself a mental pat on the back for choosing a good option…even if he was curious what would happen there. Apparently, the festival wasn't actually the Karmic Event in question, and the description of it had been very vague…

... ...

The streets of Orange Town were filled with music and locals in colorful costumes. Even many of the non-locals, of which there were a surprisingly large number, had been roped into local dress and were randomly mixed in with the various dancers swaying to a dozen different beats. The entire thing was enchanting, as Luffy strolled through the city with Nami on his arm. The fact that Nami had gleefully adopted one of the more risqué local 'festival outfits,' certainly kept drawing his appreciative gaze. It consisted of little more than a brightly beaded bikini and a set of semi-transparent, flowing sleeves that served to draw the eye when moving through one of the many festival dances. Yet, despite the way she moved in that costume drawing the eye of many locals and visitors alike, there was so much more going on all around them that Luffy's attention wandered almost as much Nami's own bright-eyes were going the same.

He wasn't immune to the charms of the various women that could fall into rhythm with the street musicians at any given moment. But even more than them, the various street performers that filled the crowd acted as lodestones to his gaze. A man on stilts somehow performed what looked like a type of breakdancing, a woman blew streams of fire that she manipulated with steel fans, a quartet of tightly-dressed men and women juggled dozens of hoops and balls in complex patterns between them.

All of that, just on this one street…and the whole town was like this. Luffy was blown away, fully understanding why the town only did this once every five years. He was equally understanding of why there were multiple cruise ships and merchant vessels docked in the harbor! So many, in fact, that they'd ended up mooring the Discovery halfway around the island in an out-of-the way cove Luffy had discovered years ago. In truth, the cove was almost too small for the Discovery, Luffy having routinely used it for his much smaller previous vessel. But, with the Discovery's extremely shallow draft, they'd managed it. And it was sufficiently unlikely to be discovered that they'd felt safe leaving it alone.

As they wove through the crowd, occasionally stopping to watch a particularly amazing performance, or for Nami to give in and join the local girls in a dance that left Luffy trying to hide certain reactions, Luffy marveled at the entire festival. By his best guess, the town likely had nearly three times it's usual population at the moment, practically bursting at the seams…and he'd seen a lot of belli changing hands.

Yes, despite what must be a killing for the locals, he actually didn't get the feeling of avarice from the whole thing, either. Instead, even the locals seemed caught up in a festive spirit as they celebrated the founding of their town. He'd been surprised to learn that was what it was all about, the locals happy to regal anyone with how, after two years of hard struggle, the settlers of Orange Town had finally had enough extra to throw a bit of a celebration. Ever since then, they did small celebrations every year, and one massive extravaganza like this every five. All in celebration of having made something new out of the destruction of something old, their previous settlement having been razed by pirates according to the history they knew…

... ...

Nami was flushed from dancing, but smiling broadly, as she sat next to him. They were both enjoying an interestingly spiced bit of street food called an Aloo Pie, a long fried pocket of bread filled with spiced mashed potato. Their noses had drawn them to the cheerful vendor selling the exotic street food, and both of them were enjoying it immensely. Sure, they'd already started to get used to the culinary perfection that was Sanji's meals…but there was something special about cheap street food, eaten in a small island of peace among a raucous and cheerful festival. The environment was itself the spice, the company made it extra nice, and the fact the food itself was actually quite tasty just brought it all together. As she finished hers up, Nami leaned into him, resting her chin on his shoulder and half-closing her eyes.

"This was a great idea, Captain~. I think we all needed this."

Luffy chuckled at the way she used his title, the lilting sing-song making it far more a nickname than anything else. He wrapped one arm around her and rested his own head on top of hers, enjoying the way she melted into him even farther as he did.

"Yeah, I think we did. I'm happy everyone seems to be having fun."

They'd seen most of the crew in passing, at various times. Even, most amusingly, Nojiko leading Sanji around by his necktie with a smile on her face and hearts in his eyes. Luffy had no idea if those two were going to become a thing, but he trusted Nojiko at least to make sure that whatever they got up to didn't cause issues for the crew. Sanji seemed to respond well to her guidance as well, enough so that Luffy was absolutely against looking into the other man's Relationship Panel for fear of learning what his interests were. He had nothing against it if that's what Sanji was into…but he also didn't want to know, thank you very much.

All of those they'd encountered had been in cheerful moods, looking far more relaxed than they had since before the mess with the Krieg Pirates. A tension bleeding out of them as they soaked in the festivities. It had, Luffy thought, been a well-chosen diversion. Though he admitted he was curious why his new sense, linked to unlocking the Karma System, was still gently tugging him this way and that. It wasn't directing him anywhere in particular, just telling him to enjoy himself and wait…

... ...

It wasn't until the fourth day of the festival that the pull of Luffy's Karmic sense got stronger and more directed. Nami wasn't with him this time, having decided to spend a bit of time with her sister for the day. Their date the night they arrived, then the whole day together yesterday, had both been perfect. Luffy was hardly disappointed at the change as a result, instead actually being rather eager to explore a bit on his own. Nami was wonderful, but also very distracting, and he knew he hadn't been taking in the festival as much as he could have with her on his arm.

It was thus that Luffy simply let his feet guide him on a wandering path through the city, idly chasing the feeling of his new sense even as he continued to enjoy the sights and sounds of the city and its festival. It was as he crossed an intersection that he caught a glimpse of light-mocha-skin under an outfit made mostly of veils. His Karmic sense pulsed, strongly, and he found his feet turning to follow what he quickly realized was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen. Despite her beauty, he felt no lust, even as his eyes appreciated her curves. There was something ethereal about the woman, something that screamed 'restrained power' to his instincts. It was only when he watched, wide-eyed, as the woman ghosted through a wall, that he realized that her etherealness might be more literal than figurative.

Uncertain of what was going on, Luffy's feet took him to the wall, his Karmic sense practically throbbing as he touched it. Reluctant to break it, he sent his Observation Haki questing forward…only for the wall to crumble as soon as his spiritual energy touched it. He felt the drain of a significant amount of Karma, somehow. Felt, as well, how important whatever was in the little recess of the wall was. He reached in…and found a book. It had no title, only a name along the spine.

Nefertari D. Lili

Frowning at the name Nefertari, but not recognizing the rest, he attempted to open the book…only to hiss in pain as a brutal spike of spiritual energy jabbed into his hand. It took almost a minute to fade, during which Luffy was half-frozen by the feeding of cold-fire burning in his veins. He stared at the book for another long minute, before shaking his head and trying to store it in his inventory…only to stare in consternation as it refused to go. Nothing other than living things had ever done that. Though, he supposed this book clearly did have its own spiritual presence. Well, he supposed he'd have to secure it in a more ordinary way.

"Okay. So…finding you was important enough to be considered a major boon earned through Karma. But I can't open you at all. Perhaps your blood relatives can? Well, I suppose you're a mystery that will simply have to wait, then."

Reluctantly, Luffy decided to make a quick trip back to the ship. He didn't normally carry much other than his weapons and money about his person, due to his Inventory being a thing. He did carry a small bag which he often used to hide the withdrawal of things from said inventory…but it wasn't quite large enough for the book. He'd secure it back on the Discovery first, before heading back to enjoy the festival some more. The mystery of it would just have to wait until later…

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

A/N: A bit of a slice-of-life chapter for the most part. But there are two new System Features introduced here. The reason for that is, frankly, because several people have brought to my attention that Luffy's System isn't actually doing all that much. Part of that was on purpose, as I don't want him to end up over the top powerful like a lot of Gamers end up. But I think I initially erred on the side of too little rather than too much. The introduction of the Mapping and Karma systems are intended to boost the Gamer element just a touch, without giving him any particularly broken abilities.

A/N 2: Once per release, I remind people that...I have a Patreon! Nothing I write, fanfiction wise, is ever permanently paywalled. That said, I do have Early Access chapters. There is, in fact, roughly another 17,000 words of One Piece - Halfway Broken currently in Early Access (Chapters 26-28). Including the first lemon for the story ;-).  There are also early access chapters of my other works there as well, typically totaling 40-60k words of various works in early access at any one time. I always appreciate any support, since it helps me free up more writing time...but most of all I hope you just enjoy the stories!