Cherreads

Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: Wheel Spin

~Yuji Liberio~

Seeing a ship, and the presence of other living humans for the first time in days was very exciting. I didn't care if they were travel ships, merchant ships or pirate ships. Either way, I could trade stuff with them or sink them for a ticket if they failed the vibe check.

I moved to the side of my ship and dropped my anchor, being a little concerned with just how long it took for the piece of metal to meet the floor of the sea, at this moment I was reminded that I was in the middle of the deep seas, and the seas in One Piece way were deeper than the ones on earth on average.

For a moment, I stood still before speaking under my breath.

"Alright Nue, let's do this."

Once the anchor was firmly planted on the bed I had to smack the ship for good measure.

"This bad boy isn't going anywhere."

Now that the anchor was firmly in place I stepped onto Nue's back as they took to the skies, I wasn't bothered by the wind as I just diverted it away from me using Gale. Which also had the effect of eliminating wind resistance for Nue as he flew. Making us even faster.

Taking to the skies on the back of your thunderbird demon creature was certainly a novel feeling, I also carried a barrel of fish that I tied to Nue. I preferred finding a merchant ship so that I could perhaps trade with them.

...Or steal from them if they fail the vibe check. I was going to be a pirate after all.

As I got near the ship I was fully certain that it was a Jolly Roger on their sails, okay then, they were definitely pirates I was not mistaken. This means I would be going with the board ship and slaughter method before looting their shit.

I took a few laps around the ship to get a measure for it. I would say they had a crew of around 30 people. I based this on the people on the deck and the size of the ship.

Though I didn't recognize the rather lame Jolly Roger nor the man on two peg legs and a beer gut. The biggest distinct feature for him aside from the double peg legs was his balding head that was tied into a singular braid.

Eh, I'll try diplomacy first, give them a good vibe check, see if they are willing to trade despite being pirates. This was One Piece after all, although it wasn't the norm, morally grey to light grey pirates weren't impossible to find.

I did not enjoy killing, especially killing people who otherwise wouldn't have attacked me. There is morally grey and then there is black disguising themselves as grey.

Nodding my head I had Nue come closer to them as I shouted once the crew noticed me.

"Hello there friends! I am a traveller. Would you like to trade with me? I've got exotic snacks, fish and even sweets with me. I am looking for some clean beddings and maybe fruits in exchange."

The crew gave me a curious look, though I saw their eyes glow with greed as they eyed Nue and the Portable Pharmacy satchel around me. The pirate captain walked over to the fence with surprising agility despite his peg legs. He beckoned me over with a smile that reeked of deception.

"We've got some spare bedding! Come on over! Through your bird friend should probably stay back, makes my men restless." He flashed me a grin that was full of missing or yellow teeth.

I raised an eyebrow, so far he sure was not passing the vibe check.

My eyes wandered over to the rest of the crew, their stances were ready for a confrontation. Yep, failure. Now I wouldn't feel guilty about sinking their ship and their dreams.

"Alright, I guess. Let's go Nue."

He smiled wider when I jumped onto the ship and Nue flew to the clouds, putting a rough hand on my shoulder.

"Now then dumbcunt, empty your pockets and start swimming, since you were so kind to leave so many goodies with us I'm even willing to leave the job of killing you to the sharks."

He unsheathed the cutlass on his waist while I gave him a wry smile.

"I really was trying willing to trade with you too."

"What do you-!?"

"Fly away."

His expression twisted in anger and his hand moved but before he could swing at me I threw him to the air with Gale, and right after, Nue dived down, hitting him square on with an electric tackle. Divebombing him into the main decking and sending him crashing through it down to the lower deck.

Crash! Boom! Zap!

I could see the fear in the crewmates' eyes, those eyes clouded with greed desiring my goodies and booties were now filled with fear and apprehension after seeing their boss get treated like a mob. But as expected of people used to faring the cruel seas their fugue did not last long.

"W-waht the fuck!?" "Kill that bastard!" "Kill 'em!"

As the crewmates went to draw their guns, I drew faster, a quickdraw except I raised my hand and blasted with them with the wind equivalent of getting shoulder tackled. Throwing them all to the ground.

"Nue."

"Kieeeek!!!"

Crash! Zap!

The sound of lightning resounded as Nue slammed into the crewmates with an electrified tackle, I could see bodies fly as they were hit by what was essentially a lightning car crash.

"Feed the fish."

For those who didn't die, I made sure they were by blasting them overboard with wind as I passed by them. Once everyone in the main deck was dead I switched Gale with Strength. Putting my ability slot on the 5-minute cooldown. I couldn't use Gale indoors without risking sinking the ship.

And I did not want to sink it when so much booty was still inside.

I threw the door open to the lower deck and stepped forward with gusto.

"Wha-!"

The random balding crewmate didn't get to finish his words before I rushed at him and swung my fist, letting out a rather scary crack as it met his face and he slumped down.

Bang! Bang!

I pulled out my revolver and shot twice at the two more crewmates who left their beds and stepped out into the corridor. Although I wasn't a savant, aiming a gun wasn't too hard if you could keep your cool and recoil meant nothing to you.

Bang!

"Fuckin'... just die."

I winced as a musket struck my abdomen, it penetrated my skin but not much more than that, probably going about as deep as a fingernail into my abdomen. While Strength didn't give me that big of an endurance boost, it gave enough for me to be able to handle superstrength so poorly maintained flintlock pistols wouldn't kill me.

Hurt like hell though.

Of course, I shot the bastard who shot me with my own gun and unlike me, he wasn't a superhuman so the bullet went through his stomach and spine, dropping him head on the spot.

"S-stop him!"

Bang!

Honestly, this didn't feel very triumphant. The novelty and fantasy of boarding an enemy ship and executing the crew weren't so fantastical when they couldn't put up a fight. I felt like a grown man bullying kids.

Still, I didn't let my guard down, doing that is the best way to lose your life. Don't drop your guard in enemy territory unless you are sure your enemy is dead and gone.

Thankfully, it did not take too long for me to decimate the rest of these pirates. Going into room after room, playing a scary game of hide and seek, for them of course. And then proceeding with elimination.

I even found the wanted poster for the captain, Pegged Man Baggar 500,000 Berries. I decided to cut off his head and put it in a sack and throw it on Nue's back. As for the ship itself, it had goodies but it certainly wasn't rich.

To my relief, the beddings in the captain's quarters seemed recently washed so I took them with me. And they had a decent lot of berries in their storage and corpse pockets too. Adding up to 800,000 berries in total. I think that was like the equivalent of 8000 dollars, which obviously had far higher buying power in a time like this compared to my time.

There were also things like jewellery with them but those would have to be pawned and stuff, so I put them all into a chest that I also tied to Nue. Thankfully that he had supernatural strength, as long as the total weight was less than around 5 tons he could carry it.

My true haul from this journey however was a small chest containing a... strange-looking fruit inside.

An egg-shaped fruit topped with brown feathers with swirl patterns all around.

Now, I am not an expert, but I am damn fucking sure that is a devil fruit.

Seems like got a bit lucky, didn't I? Now, I obviously had no intention of eating it since I could keep getting powers without losing my ability to swim.

Maybe if I found Kaido's fruit that would change but currently I had no plans for trading away my pool privileges.

I strapped that chest to Nue too before taking flight back to my own ship and organizing everything as well as upgrading my bed before readjusting the sails so that I could look at my gacha spoils as my ship rode towards my destination.

Feat Achieved! Destroy the Red Hail Pirates

+1x Silver Ability Gacha Ticket

Feat Achieved! Kill a total of 50 people

+1x Silver Trait Gacha Ticket

Feat Achieved! Loot your first Devil Fruit

+1x Gold Item Gacha Ticket

Hell yeah, baby! Piracy is the way to go! No way I would have gotten as many good things if I became a sea cop/soldier. Now then, these oughta be good.

Starting from Silver Ability first, gimme!

Rolling Silver Ability Gacha...

An Elite Ability!(A/N: Lucky fucker...)

[Ozone Baby]

|Rarity: Elite| |Class: Alteration|

Allows you to control atmospheric pressure with zones that you can increase and decrease the pressure of. The more energy you expend, the more you can alter the pressure of a zone and the larger of a zone can alter.

...Damn, it certainly did give me.

Seems like the gacha has decided that I am going for an Aerokinetic Build. That's fine I guess. Hell, I ain't complaining the least, Aerokinesis was the best kinesis.

Air nation for life!

Alright, Silver Trait Gacha this time. I'll play with Ozone Baby later.

Rolling Silver Trait Gacha...

A Common Trait.

[Flexible]

|Rarity: Common|

You are inordinately flexible, even more so than an expert contortionist.

Eh, good enough. Only useful for daily life but you do not strike gold every day.

Speaking of gold.

Rolling Gold Item Gacha...

An Uncommon Item.

[Yellow Stoneplate Ring]

|Rarity: Uncommon|

Stoneplates, the symbol of a true knight, grant the strength to face various hardships. The yellow stone plate symbolizes lightning and storms and boosts defence against lightning and wind.

Now now, statistically speaking, this wasn't a very good outcome. But it was good for one specific thing.

The biggest threat in Paradise, Enel.

This thing could let me fight him, not only that, but Ozone Baby could even let me nullify his lightning if my knowledge of physics and chemistry serves me right. He could still do it, but passing lightning through an extreme air pressure zone would be way harder than doing it normally.

If I could defeat Discount Eminem I'd have access to the gold of Skypiea and its unique resources such as special cloud types and dials.

Man, with the amount of Air and chemistry-based stuff I get I should probably start writing my own chemistry textbooks so I don't start forgetting stuff.

But still, I'm glad.

With Ozone Baby and Gale, I should be up there in terms of East Blue. I can definitely defeat Buggy now, though I don't fancy my chances against someone like Arlong.

He can definitely muscle through a High-Pressure Zone and cut me in half. I need to increase my physical stats and energy reserves to be able to be confident in facing the big shark.

But I relish the challenge.

A/N: The first pirate battle goes swimmingly but that is expected of the East Blue. Not much the average chum can do against someone with abilities. Yuji is ruthless but he is not a monster, he does not prefer killing if it isn't needed. Also, don't expect that Devil Fruit to be anything good, it's the average Zoan.

Yuji's luck is bullshit, bullshit I tell you. He got the <1/16 to roll an Elite from a Silver Ticket, and not only that but it's also an Aerokinetic ability like the one he already has. He also got a counter for Enel too. But considering the amount of One Piece bullshit, he will need everything he can get his hands on. What did you guys think about the fight and rolls? I'd love to know.

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