After the heartfelt goodbyes with Kureha, the Straw Hat Pirates were now sailing toward the Kingdom of Alabasta, as they had promised Vivi they would help her liberate her homeland from the control of the Warlord, Crocodile.
"Where's Ace? Didn't he come with you earlier?" Douglas asked as he looked around the deck of the Going Merry, noticing that Ace was no longer on board.
"Oh, Ace? He said that since his business here is done, he's going to visit some friends before heading back to the Whitebeard Pirates," Luffy replied with a cheerful grin.
'Hmm... Since there's no Blackbeard to capture Ace, would Marineford still happen? If it does, would Luffy still end up training with Rayleigh and learning Armament Haki?' Douglas pondered, briefly lost in thought. But he quickly shook it off—he knew that his presence had already begun changing the course of the One Piece world, and dwelling too much on the original canon wouldn't help now.
The Straw Hat Pirates then brought out drinks, pouring sake for everyone—including Chopper and Douglas.
"YOSHHH! Let's drink to our newest nakamas—Douglas, Chopper! Welcome to the crew! Shishishishi!" Luffy cheered as he raised his cup high.
Everyone joined in the toast, clinking their glasses before drinking and diving into a night of celebration.
While the crew enjoyed the feast, Douglas and Sanji sat quietly near the railing of the deck. Sanji had just finished serving all the food and drinks, while Douglas wasn't much of a party person to begin with. The stars above reflected in the ocean, and the calm waves rolled gently under the ship as the two men sat in companionable silence, the laughter of their crewmates echoing softly behind them.
"What's the dream you mentioned earlier?" Sanji asked, curious about the ambition Douglas had spoken of.
"I'm going to become a scholar—one who uncovers the entire truth about the world," Douglas replied proudly. His words carried weight, drawn from a deep desire for knowledge. The world of One Piece was full of contradictions—technologies from the past that could produce power sources beyond the reach of even Vegapunk, the smartest man alive. Douglas wanted to understand it all, to recreate it, and ultimately, to surpass the peak of the Forgotten Kingdom.
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The days aboard the Going Merry were going great, as Douglas and Chopper integrated with the crew without any problems. Usopp and Zoro were the main people who could talk with Douglas easily—Zoro with his continued persistence in Observation Haki training, using a cloth to cover his eyes as he was starting to sense something.
Usopp, however, was more interested in creating a stronger weapon. He frequently consulted Douglas about how to make his slingshot more powerful.
"Why not just use this?" Douglas said as he revealed an item he had taken from the Blackbeard Pirates. It was the sniper rifle used by Van Augur, and now Douglas was offering it to Usopp. When Usopp received the sniper, he was excited—it was the first time he had ever held a gun, much less a modified rifle like Van Augur's. Usopp immediately tested it out. Spotting a Sea Beast almost a mile away, he fired the gun and hit it without any problem. The gun was specially made for snipers like Usopp and Van Augur.
However, there was one problem—the gun's recoil was so strong that, after firing a single shot, Usopp was thrown backward to the other side of the Going Merry. Thus, Douglas and Usopp worked together to remodify the gun, aiming to reduce the recoil without affecting the firing rate. They succeeded fairly easily.
Then came Nami. She wanted Douglas and Usopp to make her a weapon—something Usopp had already begun working on back on Little Garden, though he hadn't figured out how to finish it yet. When Douglas saw the Clima-Tact, he nearly burst into laughter—he remembered it was mostly used for party tricks, which made sense since Usopp had built it for that.
But now, with Douglas's help, Usopp was able to combine those tricks with powerful offensive capabilities. The functions remained similar to the original Clima-Tact, but their strength was pushed to the extreme. The Heat Ball could reach temperatures comparable to fire, while the Cool Ball could go down to nearly -100 degrees. When the two bubbles were combined, they created a terrifying explosion. There was also the Electric Pole, which could release electricity similar to a thunderbolt.
When Douglas and Usopp presented the modified Clima-Tact to Nami, she was thrilled and immediately began practicing with it. When she executed one of the suggested combinations, she triggered an explosion as strong as a bomb capable of leveling a building—leaving even her shocked.
Usopp, ever the entrepreneur, immediately demanded payment for the materials and effort they had put into the weapon. But before he could finish, Nami vanished—using the Clima-Tact's invisibility feature.
Seeing Douglas's capability for invention, Vivi approached him one day.
"Can you make a desert kingdom rain?" Vivi asked, confusing the others. Douglas just looked at her calmly.
"Do you even know how rain works?" Douglas asked, which immediately angered both Nami and Sanji, who didn't like his tone toward Vivi.
"No," Vivi admitted, assuming Douglas was just brushing her off.
"Ah, good. That'll be 500,000,000 berries," Douglas replied, shocking Vivi, Sanji, and Nami at once. The others burst into laughter—they hadn't expected Douglas to act like a greedy person, much like Nami.
"Oi! Don't you have any shame? Why don't you do it for free?" Sanji protested.
"Ah, it's a service. Besides, I'll need money to buy the materials for the tech she wants. It won't be a one-time fix—I'll create a machine that can generate artificial rain without relying on those powders," Douglas explained.
"Ahhh, right, right," Sanji replied, now convinced. Vivi also seemed to accept the explanation. But Nami, a genius when it came to money and scams, wasn't so easily fooled. Once Sanji and Vivi left, she confronted Douglas.
"How shameless. You trick your friends just to get money," Nami scolded him, unaware of the irony.
"How about I give you 5%?" Douglas offered.
"HAHHH?! ARE YOU INSULTING ME? DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT COULD MAKE ME TRICK MY FRIENDS!" Nami shouted.
"How about 50%?" Douglas said.
"Deal," Nami replied instantly—then paused. Realizing she had just been tricked herself, her face turned red with anger, while Douglas laughed heartily.