Chapter 29: Volcanic Island
In the New World...
Stussy, the Queen of the Pleasure District, sat elegantly in her chair, casually applying nail polish.
"What an interesting person," she murmured, gazing at the photo of Kuke. "I bet the Five Elders are having headaches over him again."
"Dring... dring... dring!"
A secure and encrypted call came through a special Den Den Mushi.
Stussy's eyes widened, and she immediately dismissed all of her subordinates from the room.
"Stussy, we have a new mission for you: infiltrate the Sun and Moon Pirates. Your task is to gather intelligence on them, hide your identity, and wait for the right opportunity," came the direct order from the Five Elders.
Stussy's expression slowly stiffened.
This mission?
"But, Five Elders, I've already gained Big Mom's trust. If I leave now, all my hard work will be wasted," Stussy replied with a hint of frustration.
Years of effort, all gone with a single order.
"The Sun and Moon Pirates are more important than the Big Mom Pirates!"
Stussy's mouth dropped slightly in surprise.
In the eyes of the Five Elders, the Sun and Moon Pirates held more weight than the entire Big Mom crew?
Stussy knew very well how powerful the Big Mom Pirates were. They were terrifyingly strong.
Charlotte Linlin was the most powerful woman in the world, and her children were all incredibly formidable. The entire crew numbered in the thousands, with influence spread over dozens of islands.
To compare that crew with the Sun and Moon Pirates?
To Stussy, the Sun and Moon Pirates were nothing more than Kuke and Gion.
How could two people be more important than the entire Big Mom Pirates? Stussy couldn't understand.
"If I leave now, not only will all my efforts be in vain, but Charlotte Linlin's tea party next month, which she personally invited me to, will be ruined. If I don't go, I'll offend her, and there will be no more chances to get close to her in the future."
"Your only concern is to carry out the mission. Begin at once and infiltrate the Sun and Moon Pirates as quickly as possible."
The Five Elders' orders left no room for debate. Without caring about Stussy's objections, they ended the call.
Stussy stared at Kuke's photo for a moment before breaking into a smile.
"Little brother... big sister might just eat you up."
She tucked away the Den Den Mushi and immediately summoned the leaders of the Pleasure District.
The next day...
Stussy set sail.
Leaving the New World, she had no clue where the Sun and Moon Pirates currently were. However, she speculated that they were likely still in the first half of the Grand Line.
...
Meanwhile, on the Radiant Eclipse...
Kuke and his crew were now sailing in the early seas of the Grand Line near Jaya Island.
"The Knock Up Stream won't appear until after May," Kuke noted after gathering information. He didn't linger long.
His goal was to guide the ship to Skypiea.
The main objective was to obtain the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, which Enel likely had not yet acquired.
In order to become stronger, Kuke not only wanted to gather new crew members but also wanted to boost the strength of his existing ones.
Take Gion for instance. After acquiring the Mythical Zoan Phoenix Fruit, her strength shot up by more than fifty thousand points. In less than a month, she had grown by another ten thousand points.
Her current battle power stood at 221,035.
A powerful fruit could lead to an extraordinary increase in strength.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was said to be the strongest of all Devil Fruits. Naturally, Kuke wanted to get his hands on it.
"In addition to the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, there's also another perfect fruit I know the location of," Kuke said, referring to the Mythical Zoan Vampire Fruit, which was located in the New World.
"I need to hurry and get my hands on a Supreme Grade sword like Ace, and I have to recruit more crew members too."
There were still too few people on the ship.
Finding strong female fighters was a challenge since there weren't many options available. Most were already part of other forces, many in the New World.
"Let's go!" Kuke ordered.
The Radiant Eclipse set sail toward Reverse Mountain once again.
The Sun and Moon Pirates:
Captain: Kuke (Bounty: 800 million)
Vice Captain: Gion (Phoenix Mythical Zoan, Battle Power: 221,035, Bounty: 750 million)
Quartermaster: Boa Hancock (Love-Love Fruit, Battle Power: 28,963, Bounty: 140 million)
Helmsman: Boa Sandersonia (Boa Constrictor Zoan, Battle Power: 4,365, Bounty: 33 million)
Crew: Boa Marigold (Cobra Zoan, Battle Power: 4,023, Bounty: 30 million)
Intelligence Officer: Shakky (Battle Power: 60,893, Bounty: over 500 million)
Apprentice: Koala (Battle Power: 56, Bounty: 100 Beli)
The bounties had risen sharply, and the crew's strength had also increased.
In particular, Gion's power had skyrocketed.
As for Hancock and her sisters, their training in Haki had led to rapid improvement. Hancock's strength was growing at an especially fast rate.
Kuke's own battle power had reached around 280,000.
Current Achievement Points: 145,360.
Achievement Reward: Ship Spirit – granting the pirate ship one hour of invincibility per day.
The next reward, unlocked at 200,000 achievement points, was something Kuke had long anticipated: each crew member would be granted one resurrection per month.
Though Kuke had known about this for a while, seeing the reward in writing made his breath quicken.
"I need to increase my achievement points as soon as possible to get that resurrection ability."
Kuke couldn't help but feel grateful toward Akainu and the World Government. They had been so generous. Not only had they delivered him a Devil Fruit, but they had also helped him accumulate so many achievement points.
...
The Radiant Eclipse continued sailing along a more remote route.
Each day brought them closer to Reverse Mountain, the entry point to the Grand Line.
Three days later...
A mist-shrouded, uninhabited volcanic island appeared on the horizon.
"That's an active volcanic island," Gion reported, peering through her binoculars. "Kuke, should we stop to rest? We could replenish our fresh meat and water supplies."
Kuke nodded. "Alright."
"Kuke, I see someone on the volcano," Gion said.
Kuke looked up quickly.
The distance was too far for him to sense anything with Observation Haki, but he could faintly make out two figures atop the towering volcano.
A gleam appeared in Kuke's eyes.
"Looks like we might be able to recruit another crew member."
The Radiant Eclipse sped up, heading swiftly toward the volcanic island.
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P.S.: This story was never completed, and I want to finish it. If you'd like to help me financially so I have the time to translate it as fast as possible, you can join me on my Patreon at Patreon. com / Emik01 and you can read up to chapter 45.
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