LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 32: A New Recruit
Summary: A new recruit and some discoveries about the Discovery...
Warning: Chapters 29-32 were all posted back-to-back. Make sure you start from where you left off!
Chapter 32: A New Recruit
“What the FUCK happened to my ship!”
Nami, Sanji, Zoro and Usopp all winced at the venom in their Captain’s voice. Thankfully, Nami was ready with an excuse as she popped her head out of the hole Sanji had made to escape.
“Four Baroque Works agents attacked when we were split up training, Captain! We took care of them, but Vivi is suffering hypothermia! Please get in here and heal her!”
As she’d predicted, the fact that someone was actively hurt/sick at least temporarily diverted Luffy’s rage. He scowled, but zipped down past Nami, heading for the ship’s well-equipped medbay situated near the kitchen. Nojiko and Kuina, the latter carrying a sleeping Kaya piggyback, landed a few seconds later and looked around the ship deck with nearly as much horror as Luffy had. Nami repeated the basics, only without the request for healing, and looked a bit worriedly at Kaya. Her sister was quick to reassure her on that front.
“Kaya is fine, just worn out from helping heal a bunch of people up at the Castle. If the ship is safe, we can just drop her in her room?”
Nami nodded, expression of worry smoothing out a bit, though not vanishing entirely as Vivi really was in pretty bad shape. She and Usopp had come through without any ill effects as their bodies were reheated quickly under the intensity of their movements in battle. But Vivi’s core temperature had become worryingly low by the time they got her back to the ship. The desert-born Princess wasn’t exactly suited for the cold in the first place, and the greater initial shock to her system had prevented her from reentering the fight. Which, in turn, had meant she didn’t recover the lost heat via exertion.
“The ship is fine. I checked for any actual damage to the hull from the inside, and she’s perfectly seaworthy. We’re just going to have to deal with the wax…and possibly replace a bunch of the wood veneer, deck furniture, and training gear.”
There were disgruntled looks all around at that, but Kuina sighed and spoke as she moved inside with Kaya.
“Well, as soon as I get Kaya into bed, Nojiko and I can start figuring that out. You look like you need some rest yourself. Everyone else is fine?”
Nami nodded, letting her shoulders slump a bit now that the Captain and First Mate were back to take charge of the clusterfuck.
“Yes. Nothing more than some exhaustion, bruises, and ruined clothes for Usopp, Sanji and I. Two of the four agents that attacked are dead. A third fled, and we handed the last over to Dalton. Miss Goldenweek isn’t much a threat without her paints, and plenty of people saw them attack us first. So the local jail should be able to hold her and bring her up on whatever charges they decide on. Given her partner did some additional damage to the town, they probably aren’t feeling particularly merciful, but I doubt they’ll outright execute her.”
Kuina nodded, accepting the information.
“Good. We’ll want a full report once you’ve had some rest, of course. I suggest you update Nojiko on the one that fled, then head down to get at least a nap yourself. Anything else can wait, I think.”
Nami grimaced but nodded.
“I’ll wait until Luffy reports on Vivi, to make sure she’ll be okay. But then I think I’ll take that suggestion. I’m going to need to rethink how I fight a bit, I think. I need a way to fight at range. But that can wait until I’m less exhausted…”
Kuina nodded approval and vanished below deck to put Kaya in her room…
------
Thankfully, hypothermia of the level Vivi had gained was something relatively easy for Luffy to treat, particularly as the locals had been quick to provide the basic first-aid methods for doing so. Such were, unsurprisingly, common knowledge on a Winter Island that had once fully specialized in medicine. Those methods alone likely would have done the trick, and Luffy had recovered enough to bolster Vivi’s system with a healthy booster dose of Spiritual energy. Once word had passed from him to the crew that she would be completely recovered by morning, Nami had half-collapsed as her will to remain awake had waned. Luffy had dropped her off in their shared cabin to get some rest, before gathering Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp for a debrief.
Usopp himself had been worn out from such heavy used of Geppo, but had powered through describing his part of the fight, before heading off to the cabin he and Kaya shared to join her in sleep. Sanji had added his own bits to Usopp’s explanation, before vanishing into the kitchen to make a bunch of food for everyone, including some that would easily reheat if those sleeping off exhaustion woke. The blonde was fairly obviously frustrated with how he’d been sealed into the ship and late to the fight as a result, but that could be dealt with in time and with more training. Sanji was coming along fast, and he had been critical to ending the fight and protecting Vivi, so he wasn’t berating himself too badly.
Zoro got a very mild reprimand for letting himself be lured away, delivered by Kuina so it would stick. But, given it likely would have actually been worse to introduce the chaos of his own opponents into the mix with the others, they hadn’t scolded him too harshly over it. Though him letting the woman flee got him a bit of harsher flak, if only because it meant Crocodile might be a bit more forewarned about their intentions and abilities.
After that had come a quick visit to Dalton, with Luffy quietly letting the man know there were likely two Devil Fruits up for grabs on the island and he should get people looking for them. Neither were fruits Luffy was particularly interested in, and trying to hunt them down across an entire island would take too long. On the other hand Drum Kingdom, or whatever it might rename itself to now, could use the boost of having two decently powerful Paramecia Fruits to bolster its so-recently-shattered military power. Something Dalton was quick to recognize, thanking Luffy even as he began to organize what searches he could to try and turn up the Devil Fruits.
All of which left them to the last irritating issue to take care of.
“Fuck. There isn’t really going to be a fast way to do this, is there?”
Nojiko and Kuina, who had both joined Luffy to see what could be done about the wax covering the Discovery, both shook their heads. It was Kuina that actually responded, though.
“I suppose it’s for the best you wanted another day or two to see if you could recruit that Chopper fellow. This stuff is roughly the strength of steel and it is going to take at least that long to scrape and melt it off the ship. Longer if we want to replace the veneer and remake the training gear and deck furniture that’s likely wrecked now.”
Luffy sighed.
“I have some extra veneer panels, actually. Meant to replace damaged panels after battle. So that much will be fine. And I suspect the local carpenters will be up for some paying work remaking the furniture. The stuff they’re doing for the town is essentially unpaid, after all. And I still need to repair the bit of ship that Wapol bastard ate. So, at least a two days, I think. Possibly three. Hopefully I can convince Chopper by then, too. I don’t want to stay too much longer or Croc will send more agents, not to mention having too much time to either prepare or set off his plan before we reach Alabasta.”
The two women sighed, even as all three of them gave up the effort as a bad job for now. Night was already falling and they could get on top of the irritating task with the entire crew tomorrow. Time to eat whatever Sanji had made that was smelling delicious and call it a day…
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It was with much grumbling the next day that the entire crew, sans Vivi who was recovered but shouldn’t be exposed to the weather again just yet, began the arduous task of freeing the Discovery. Luffy, while wanting it done quickly, wasn’t a complete slave driver and did provide long breaks for everyone. He and Kaya used that break to visit Chopper, the incredibly kind nature and fellow doctor-dreamer that was Kaya helping to chip away at Chopper’s resistance to going with them. He was still reluctant, however, when Luffy noticed a nearby Karma Event popping up and decided to roll the dice with it. Somehow instinctively knowing that he needed to take Chopper along, he convinced the reindeer to go visit ‘Doctrine’ with him.
That was how they stumbled onto a discussion between three of the Isshi-20 and Kureha, catching the last sentence of the idea one of them had proposed. Luffy, obeying the demands of the Karmic sense, stopped them from entering, but stayed where they could hear through a cracked-open door.
“Dalton thinks it’s a great idea. He said converting the Castle into a Medical institute would be a great way to restore the island’s reputation as a center for medicine. He’s more than willing to rebuild the actual administrative center of the island somewhere else. Down in one of the towns. Most likely Bighorn since he wants to build it into a properly defensible dock too.”
Kureha was the only one who seemed to notice their lingering outside the door, her eyes flashing to them for a moment, before dismissing them and replying to the Isshi-20 leader who’d spoken.
“I don’t disagree. But where does he expect funding and students to come from?”
Another of the Isshi-20 spoke up at that.
“Funding isn’t actually an issue, not for now, at least. Those Bounty Hunters aren’t interested in the Bliking. Even after we gave up the obvious treasure on it, if we break that ship down it will provide both a lot of materials for the new admin center…and a lot of wealth since there’s a shit tone of gold inlay, jewels, and other fancy bits to melt down.”
The first Isshi-20 member, the leader Luffy had spoken too before ever reaching Drum, picked up the thread after the other member stopped.
“Students will only be a little harder. Quite a few half-trained nurses and such managed to hide from Wapol since they weren’t officially doctors. We can pull them out of the population for a first class, then send them out to get experience in places like Alabasta. That will renew our reputation and get people coming here on purpose to learn. Some of the former doctors driven out might well return once word spreads, too. It’s not like they wanted to leave.”
Luffy felt his Karmic sense tingling as the third man spoke up.
“There’s that kid you’ve been teaching, too. Amazing work. You know he only needs experience at this point, and I know that Hunter crew was trying to recruit him. Given what I saw of both him and them, I think that alone would likely secure our reputation for excellence.”
Luffy saw Kureha tense, then let out a sigh, even as Chopper froze still-as-a-statue next to him. Her voice was gruff, almost rude as she replied. Though to Luffy’s ears, it was obvious she was using that to cover deeper emotions.
“Kid is halfway decent. But he needs more exposure to different illnesses and injuries that don’t happen on Drum. You’re not wrong that he’d attract attention for us. Though that crew might end up going Pirate if they keep pissing off the World Government.”
The Isshi-20 leader snorted.
“As if that matters. A skilled doctor on a pirate ship only draws more attention, not less. And even the WG won’t piss on a Medical Institute over one of their doctors working for a pirate. Doubly so since he’ll technically have been trained before we were official. Best of both worlds, really.”
The feel of a Karmic event faded, and Luffy pulled Chopper away from the conversation, guiding the stunned-and-processing reindeer back to the small lab where Kaya was waiting. Kaya, of course, immediately began fussing over him, which slowly brought the embarrassed doctor back to reality.
“I’m fine! I’m fine! It’s just…”
Luffy put a hand on his hat, gently.
“Processing? It’s a big change. But you heard your mentor admit it herself. What you really need is to see more of the world. Where better to do that than on a ship that’s intending to visit everywhere. Our Navigator’s big dream, after all, is to map the entire world!”
Chopper gaped, looking from Luffy to Kaya. Luffy developed a slight tick mark as the young doctor clearly looked to Kaya to confirm Luffy’s ridiculous statement. Kaya giggled.
“Oh yes, most of the crew have big dreams. But Nami-san’s is perhaps the biggest of all. She really does want to map every island and ocean. Part of why I’m traveling with them is to find out what I can about my own healing abilities, by going to all the strange places on the Grand Line!”
Chopper looked so at war with himself, that Luffy took pity on him.
“Look, we’ve got at least another two days of work before the Discovery can leave. Take care of your remaining patients, think about what you want to do. Sleep on the idea. You can decide tomorrow, right?”
Chopper gave them a slow, shaky nod, spoke with them for a few more minutes, and then they parted ways. There was still more work to be done on the Discovery if they wanted to leave in a reasonable time frame…
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A day and a half later, as the rest of the crew took another break, Luffy was staring at the portion of the Discovery that Wapol had taken a bite out of in a mix of confusion and consternation. Going carefully back over his memory to make certain he wasn’t crazy, he slowly shook his head in confusion. The damage wasn’t as bad as it should have been. Nor were there any signs that a repair had been done to it. Not able to think of any logical explanation, he pulled up the Discovery’s Status Panel.
**********
The Discovery
Grade: Epic (Current)
Hull Material: Lunarian Steel/Ducol Steel Composite
Spiritual Development: 5437/15000
Dimensions:
Length: 165ft
Beam: 57 ft
Draft: 10.5 ft
Armament:
2 – 4 Inch Navl Guns (Turreted)(Hidden)
4 – Swivel Mounted Deck Guns (Breech Design)
Abilities: Greatly Improved Stability, Greatly Improved Speed, Extreme Durability, Self-Repair, Growth Item
Description: Crafted with loving care and great skill by Monkey D. Luffy, and named after a famous ship that, paradoxically, no one but he has ever heard of. This ship has the potential to reach the ends of every sea.
- Milestone: The care its crew has shown for The Discovery has imbued the ship with a little bit of their own Spirits. As a Growth Item, this has caused it to develop the Self-Repair Function. So long as the raw materials are present in its hold, the ship will slowly heal itself from any damage. This can be sped along by a crewmember donating Spiritual Energy.
- ???
- ???
**********
It took several long seconds for Luffy to accept what he was seeing. Then several more for him to truly process their implications. He hadn’t exactly ignored the Spiritual Development indicator and Growth Item tag on the ship’s description. He had, however, made the assumption that the first likely had to do with the development of a Spirit for the ship. A Klabautermann such as the one the Going Merry might have developed if the story hadn’t changed. As for the Growth Item tag, he’d assumed it represented the ability for the ship to be upgraded from an Epic object to something more.
Which…well…both of those things might still be the case. But apparently there was more to it. Sadly, no matter how hard he stared, tried to mentally click on the tag, or otherwise demanded answers from his System…it remained frustratingly silent.
With no more information forthcoming, Luffy sighed and placed a hand next to the damage that remained. Willing his Spiritual energy to transfer to the ship, trying his best to focus on the concept of ‘repair’ in much the same way he did for healing people, he was only a little surprised when the damage began to shrink. It was much more energy intensive than healing, but by the time he’d run his Spiritual Energy reserves down to twenty-five percent, the majority of the damage was gone.
Unwilling to completely drain himself in case of emergency, he stopped there. He could meditate a bit later and easily finish the job. For now, he still needed to go visit the Castle. To retrieve Hina, and hopefully also Chopper. They would, after all, be leaving in the morning. Nodding, he sought out Nojiko. The lifts’ town-side controls still hadn’t been fully repaired, so it would be easier to have Nojiko handle the transportation, rather than waiting for the next unpredictable descent of the lifts to go back up. With Miss Goldenweek admitting they’d observed the crew for some time before their attack, it was pointless to try hiding her Fruit powers anyway…
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That evening, a Crystal Platform containing Luffy, Chopper, Hina and Nojiko touched down on the once-again-pristine deck of the Discovery. The Marine Officer was looking much better, physically at least, than when Luffy had first seen her. After a short debate where Kaya had put her foot down, she had accelerated Hina’s healing so the Marine Captain was once again back at a hundred percent. They had, of course, used the excuse that Kaya had a healing Devil Fruit, but Luffy wasn’t entirely sure if the Marine had bought it or not. Still, it had been Kaya’s choice to make, and she’d flatly refused not to heal someone simply because it might prove inconvenient later. Luffy could respect it, even if he, himself, would likely have let the non-life-threatening damage go.
Hina had been visibly curious about the odd design of the ship from the moment she caught sight of it, but hadn’t yet said anything. The moment she stepped off the platform she paused, then curiously thunked the deck with her heel in a very similar manner to what Sanji had done the first time he came aboard. Eyebrows rising in surprise, she looked over at Luffy.
“Hina curious. This ship is most unusual.”
Luffy shrugged. He’d already thought this through and decided that most of the Discovery’s secrets weren’t things he cared about hiding from the Marines at this point. Frankly, he was going to draw a lot more attention by killing Crocodile than he would just for having a few oddities about his ship. So long as both the guns and the engines remained undiscovered, everything else was relatively unimportant. He’d even jury-rigged one of the small steam engines they’d traded for on Cactus Island to power a equally small turbine. It wasn’t remotely powerful enough to run the engines, but it could and would ‘explain’ the electric lights and other minor electrical usage.
“I’ll take that as a compliment. I designed and built her myself, after all. The twin-hull design grants her greater stability and speed in rough seas, and the wooden veneer hides how well armored she actually is. With how lightly she’s armed, she doesn’t look like a threat until it’s much too late for any pirates we’re hunting to escape.”
Hina blinked, looking around the ship more intensely.
“You built her yourself? Hina impressed. Though Hina isn’t an expert, she can see how good the build quality is.”
Luffy gave her a crooked grin.
“The Discovery also has actual water showers and a steam-turbine powered heater. Along with a number of empty private rooms. I think you might be more interested in those at the moment than her armor.”
From the way the woman instantly perked up, Luffy knew he was right.
“Heated showers? Hina would kill several of your enemies for that! Lead on, please!”
Laughing, he gestured her to follow him to the pilot house. It was Chopper he addressed when he spoke, however.
“Come on Chopper. I’ll introduce you to the crew before we head below. You can follow to claim a room, then I’ll show you where the medbay is while Hina gets her shower. Given Kaya and I both have an interest in medicine, even if we aren’t full doctors, you’ll find I equipped the medbay far better than would be typical on most ships.”
Chopper perked up with a bit of excitement at that, even if he looked like he also dreaded the crew introduction.
“Oh, good! I didn’t even think to ask how well equipped you were! I got so caught up in everything else…”
Luffy laughed, leading both their new crewman and their guest into the Pilot House, where everyone else was waiting…
A/N 1: Chopper! So, the recruitment angle on him changed. Kureha was/is far more impressed with this crew than she was with the canon Strawhats. They aren't pirates just yet, have a pair of Spirit Healers, outright killed Wapol, and overall simply represent a much less dicey chance for her student. Even so, without the Karmic event, Luffy might have struggled to appeal enough to Chopper to get him to leave. Triggering that helped him, since Kureha wouldn't dismiss Chopper's skills to a group of Chopper's own peers. This leaves Chopper with the knowledge that what he really needs is more practical experience in a wider set of environments...and there is an opportunity at hand to get it.
A/N 2: The Discovery! Surprise! It's being a Growth Item means it's going to develop with the crew...though I imagine quite a few people realize that. Here we see the first phase of that happening. What other abilities it will develop I will leave a mystery for now ;-).
A/N 3: 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 14,000 words of One Piece - Halfway Broken currently in Early Access (Chapters 33-35). 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!