Sailing away from Jail Island, Bill stood on the deck of the Frontier Run watching scores of new recruits moving to-and-fro.
In the end they signed up just under two-hundred people, for most of them the prospect of seeing the world was the most important reason for joining but for a good number of others it was to learn technical skills that only the Science Division could offer.
Taking raw recruits out to sea in the New World was a troubling prospect, and if they hadn’t had the whale Fish-men it would be too dangerous for them to even consider. This was even more so the case now that the ship was slightly over capacity, but he figured it would be worth the hassle.
After all, even if the Fish-men were not going to be helpful in other ways, they were expert sailors who could demonstrate proper techniques and far from scaring them off, most of the new recruits were fascinated to share a ship with rarely seen Fish-men.
Besides gaining sailing experience Bill and the others had set up classes that would start the recruits on things like tactics, call signs, and other general Marine responsibilities.
There obviously couldn’t be any physical training or shooting drills on the crowded ship and so Bill was firmly of the mind that they wouldn’t seek any conflict for the rest of the journey.
Lastly, he looked down and saw Yoko leading a boy named Roule Render around. This boy was an orphan who came to the ship the day before they set sail to see Yoko, and after their pleading and some research on his part, Bill decided to take the kid on as a Chore Boy.
Chore Boy’s were a mixed bag in Bill’s mind. On one hand, due to how poor many places were, a child losing their parents in this world meant almost certain death and so at least the Marines could give them a chance at life. On the other hand though, it was easy to see how the Marines used this as a tactic to gain lifers in the navy.
It was just a simple fact that most Chore Boy’s went on to spend their careers in the navy, even finding spouses and raising families while in the organization. Shrugging his shoulders, Bill knew he would be hypocritical to condemn the Marines when he himself mainly allowed the boy the join so that Yoko could have a friend besides Boss.
Turning around, he watched Jail Island disappear over the horizon and thought about the last couples of weeks. Although he had lost much since entering the New World, it was undeniable that he had gained as well.
It wasn’t as simple as getting Isaac’s Robotics and Fuel technology, though that was great in itself, Bill had also come into contact with several influential Marines during the trip.
He had spoken to Sengoku twice since arresting Vergo, and one of those conversations had been a social call! Bill knew firsthand how time consuming running a Department could be, and he couldn’t even begin to imagine how much more work was needed to be done by the Fleet Admiral, so for the man to call him just to talk it showed just how much he favored the young Captain.
Besides Sengoku, Bill had made dozens of other connections at Marineford. Ranging from the Marine Hero Garp and his apprentices Koby and Helmeppo who knew the pirate Monkey D. Luffy, to a slew of officers who associated with his parents.
More than any of that though, Bill had valued his time with the former Admiral Zephyr and was thankful that before leaving Jail Island that he was able to mend their relationship.
When he had gone to see Zephyr before leaving, he hadn’t known really what to expect, and was shocked when the old man actually apologized for his behavior that day.
He didn’t renounce the position that Vergo should have been killed, and Bill didn’t have to read his mind to know that, but he said that the former Vice Admiral was Bill’s prisoner, and he had no right to interfere with the arrest.
The two spoke with each other for the better half of a day, and for Bill it was like the time he spent with Yoko’s father all those years ago. He never read the former Admirals mind but it was evident that the old man saw a bit of himself in the young Captain.
Except, as the older man pointed out more than once, if only he had been as strong as Bill at such a young age, then how different things could have turned back then!
To these compliments, Bill naturally just smiled and moved the discussion along. Mostly they spoke about the world, the Marines, and current trends that Zephyr found worrying and like that the hours passed by quickly.
That afternoon the former Admiral had been an unsuspecting wealth of information and that started with the old man bringing attention to the alarming raise in Buster Call’s.
“The Grand Line is stirring.” Zephyr had started by saying and then continued: “It hasn’t been since Rock’s time when so many new abilities have shown themselves and some of them are truly malevolent.” Then as if thinking to himself, he said aloud: “Level 6 only has so much space…”
Seeing that the old man had paused, Bill had asked: “Level 6?”
Hearing this question, Zephyr had looked at Bill for a long moment before telling him in a low tone: “Impel Down officially has 5 levels, but there is a 6th level reserved for the worst of the worst.”
He then went on to explain that due to the fact that only one Devil Fruit of its kind could exist at once, when the Marines came across particularly nasty abilities, they went to great lengths to secure the villain alive and keep the villain alive as long as possible.
And sometimes, even the person wasn’t a villain, even if their only fault was that their ability had too much potential for danger, they would either join the Marines and be watched carefully or they would be jailed in level 6!
As he spoke, Bill remembered something his mother had told him ten years ago when she claimed that the Marines would typically only execute moderately strong criminals whereas the weak would be put to work and the very strong would be jailed.
At the time it hadn’t made much sense to him, but thanks to Zephyr’s explanation it became crystal clear!
“We keep these… people… secret-” Zephyr had said, seeming whether or not to call them ‘people’ before continuing: “-there’s no sense in putting the information out there that some small girl suddenly gained the power to cause random mutations and turned her entire island into a grotesque freak show.”
Nodding along to this, Bill didn’t like the idea of taking away an innocent person’s freedom, but what could reasonably be done when that person was a walking natural disaster waiting to happen?
This also explained why he had never heard of really nasty abilities, and when he asked about some specifics, Zephyr had directly told him: “Hm, I’ve never heard of a direct Mind Control Devil Fruit, but for certain there exists the Hate-Hate and Change-Change Devil Fruits in Impel Down. That girl I mentioned before is still alive, her Change-Change Fruit causes random mutations that affect everything. They are the things of nightmares.”
Zephyr didn’t mention the Love-Love Fruit because it was well known to exist and even who held the power, but after a weighing his next words, he had said in finality: “The Rot-Rot user is known, in fact your father is constantly searching for him.”
“Really?” Bill asked, surprised.
Nodding his head to this, Zephyr then had adjusted himself in his seat before saying: “He’s the one who attacked your mother’s ship and nearly killed you before you were born. He calls himself the ‘Fragrant Elder’, but we only know for sure that his first name is Rung.”
Bill wasn’t surprised that the former Admiral had looked into his family, what he had thought about was the look on his father’s face when he discovered the Wood-Wood Logia. The Commodore was aiming for a man who had the Rot-Rot Fruit, and he stumbled across the Nature System Fruit that could be considered opposed to it!
It was even more of a testament to how much his father loved his family that he had not just taken it for himself, but first offered it back to his son since he was the one to discover it.
They spoke for a few hours longer before he started to leave the White Tiger. It late into the afternoon by then and Bill was glad he had gone to see the former Admiral.
Returning to the present, he still thought about the experience now as he watched Jail Island disappear from the horizon.
Then hearing clops coming from behind him, Bill turned to see Miyagi walking towards him.
Smiling slightly at his Departments head doctor, Bill spoke first and asked how the new recruits were settling in.
“Absolutely brilliant!” replied the goat Mink, who was thrilled when ten of the new recruits wanted to learn medicine.
Their Department had many scientists and engineers but there was a serious lack of professional medical personnel. Some of the pirates they recruited from Hannibal Island could be called so-called doctors and they had a few from the former Clockwork Islanders, but mostly they had relied on people trained as Field Medics which was clearly not optimal.
Miyagi himself was mostly a doctor but had a bit of experience as a surgeon, and thanks to that they had been able to save many from Foodvalten who would have otherwise died.
Nodding to the Mink, Bill then added: “We’ll be relying on you to find Zunesha.”
Nodding enthusiastically Miyagi said that any Mink could find their way home, but then turned to ask what he had come to see Bill for: “Captain” he started off, and when Bill replied, he continued: “My home is marvelous, but due to its isolated nature we are further behind in certain fields.”
Telling his doctor to ‘go on’ the Mink indeed continued: “The Science Division has so much absolutely fantastic knowledge in the realm of medicine, I wanted to know if it would be possible to secure some of it for my home?”
Nodding his head to this, Bill replied that much of the medical knowledge was not classified and when Miyagi returned home, he could spread the wisdom he gained while in the Department.
This had been something they had previously spoken about when the Mink had first joined the Department, but apparently Miyagi had some concerns about it. Bill didn’t press the issue when he saw his doctors gratified look and after speaking a bit more about the new recruits, they went their separate ways.
For the next month the Frontier Run traveled across the New World following directions given by Miyagi. In that time they had seen several pirate ships but neither they chased nor the pirates came to plunder.
The new recruits were getting along with the Fish-men and, so far as it went, they were adapting to life on the open ocean as well as could be expected.
Classes were held every day with giant feasts of Mini-Express Shrimp almost as regular of occurrences. Communications with Ranse in the East Blue and various other Marines happened, and in general everything was going according to plan.
A few days before Miyagi had assured them that they would see Zou, Bill stood on the deck of his ship and saw a flock of News Coo.
As much as he disliked the World Economic News Paper, he couldn’t say that the sight of the newspaper didn’t liven up the sailors’ moods.
Throwing a Beli in the air a Coo dove to catch it while another dropped the product.
Then, looking at the headline, Bill could only shake his head and read.
[Straw Hat Pirates Cause Havoc at G-8!]
Sources familiar with the case report that approximately three days ago the Straw Hat Pirates dropped from the sky and landed in the harbor of the most fortified Marine Branch. Their entry method remains unknown but despite the presence of both a Vice Admiral and Special Inspector the small and dangerous crew managed to escape without a single pirate being captured. It must be noted that the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates is worth 100,000,000 Beli and could be said to be a Super Rookie pirate! Follow along as we start our next ‘Rookie Pirate’ series! Learn about the several new crews making a splash all around Paradise!Shaking his head again in distaste, Bill disliked the glamor that the WENS put on violence and figured that no matter which world you were in ‘If It Bleeds; It Leads’ was the hypocritical calling card for mass media.
Besides the pirates, the paper spoke about some reported sightings of monsters appearing in the East Blue. There were grainy photos of huge hairy lizards and other animals that somehow looked familiar, and Bill decided to keep that in mind.
Closing the paper, he went about his business and didn’t stop the crew from speculating on events. The next couple of days past by quickly and sitting at his desk, he heard two sets of feet running in his direction.
Knocking twice, Yoko burst in with Roule behind her while she exclaimed: “Bill! Come look! There’s a huugggeeee elephant!”
UberNuber If you enjoy the fanfic hit the heart icon and consider leaving a rating!
I think I'm going to use words like Logia/Zoan/etc interchangeably with their English translations. It's going to be based on the syntax and whichever I think looks better. I know it's kind of late to be making this choice but when I started the fanfic I was very much against using Japanese words over English ones when there were clear translations. Obviously some words (like Haki) had to stay in Japanese because they aren't easily translated, but now I think it should just depend on how it looks in the sentence.
Lastly, this won't be the last you hear about Buster Call's but this chapter should show basically that they aren't just something the Marines do to project power. Whether or not you think they are totally evil is up to the reader.
Sailing away from Jail Island, Bill stood on the deck of the Frontier Run watching scores of new recruits moving to-and-fro.
In the end they signed up just under two-hundred people, for most of them the prospect of seeing the world was the most important reason for joining but for a good number of others it was to learn technical skills that only the Science Division could offer.
Taking raw recruits out to sea in the New World was a troubling prospect, and if they hadn’t had the whale Fish-men it would be too dangerous for them to even consider. This was even more so the case now that the ship was slightly over capacity, but he figured it would be worth the hassle.
After all, even if the Fish-men were not going to be helpful in other ways, they were expert sailors who could demonstrate proper techniques and far from scaring them off, most of the new recruits were fascinated to share a ship with rarely seen Fish-men.
Besides gaining sailing experience Bill and the others had set up classes that would start the recruits on things like tactics, call signs, and other general Marine responsibilities.
There obviously couldn’t be any physical training or shooting drills on the crowded ship and so Bill was firmly of the mind that they wouldn’t seek any conflict for the rest of the journey.
Lastly, he looked down and saw Yoko leading a boy named Roule Render around. This boy was an orphan who came to the ship the day before they set sail to see Yoko, and after their pleading and some research on his part, Bill decided to take the kid on as a Chore Boy.
Chore Boy’s were a mixed bag in Bill’s mind. On one hand, due to how poor many places were, a child losing their parents in this world meant almost certain death and so at least the Marines could give them a chance at life. On the other hand though, it was easy to see how the Marines used this as a tactic to gain lifers in the navy.
It was just a simple fact that most Chore Boy’s went on to spend their careers in the navy, even finding spouses and raising families while in the organization. Shrugging his shoulders, Bill knew he would be hypocritical to condemn the Marines when he himself mainly allowed the boy the join so that Yoko could have a friend besides Boss.
Turning around, he watched Jail Island disappear over the horizon and thought about the last couples of weeks. Although he had lost much since entering the New World, it was undeniable that he had gained as well.
It wasn’t as simple as getting Isaac’s Robotics and Fuel technology, though that was great in itself, Bill had also come into contact with several influential Marines during the trip.
He had spoken to Sengoku twice since arresting Vergo, and one of those conversations had been a social call! Bill knew firsthand how time consuming running a Department could be, and he couldn’t even begin to imagine how much more work was needed to be done by the Fleet Admiral, so for the man to call him just to talk it showed just how much he favored the young Captain.
Besides Sengoku, Bill had made dozens of other connections at Marineford. Ranging from the Marine Hero Garp and his apprentices Koby and Helmeppo who knew the pirate Monkey D. Luffy, to a slew of officers who associated with his parents.
More than any of that though, Bill had valued his time with the former Admiral Zephyr and was thankful that before leaving Jail Island that he was able to mend their relationship.
When he had gone to see Zephyr before leaving, he hadn’t known really what to expect, and was shocked when the old man actually apologized for his behavior that day.
He didn’t renounce the position that Vergo should have been killed, and Bill didn’t have to read his mind to know that, but he said that the former Vice Admiral was Bill’s prisoner, and he had no right to interfere with the arrest.
The two spoke with each other for the better half of a day, and for Bill it was like the time he spent with Yoko’s father all those years ago. He never read the former Admirals mind but it was evident that the old man saw a bit of himself in the young Captain.
Except, as the older man pointed out more than once, if only he had been as strong as Bill at such a young age, then how different things could have turned back then!
To these compliments, Bill naturally just smiled and moved the discussion along. Mostly they spoke about the world, the Marines, and current trends that Zephyr found worrying and like that the hours passed by quickly.
That afternoon the former Admiral had been an unsuspecting wealth of information and that started with the old man bringing attention to the alarming raise in Buster Call’s.
“The Grand Line is stirring.” Zephyr had started by saying and then continued: “It hasn’t been since Rock’s time when so many new abilities have shown themselves and some of them are truly malevolent.” Then as if thinking to himself, he said aloud: “Level 6 only has so much space…”
Seeing that the old man had paused, Bill had asked: “Level 6?”
Hearing this question, Zephyr had looked at Bill for a long moment before telling him in a low tone: “Impel Down officially has 5 levels, but there is a 6th level reserved for the worst of the worst.”
He then went on to explain that due to the fact that only one Devil Fruit of its kind could exist at once, when the Marines came across particularly nasty abilities, they went to great lengths to secure the villain alive and keep the villain alive as long as possible.
And sometimes, even the person wasn’t a villain, even if their only fault was that their ability had too much potential for danger, they would either join the Marines and be watched carefully or they would be jailed in level 6!
As he spoke, Bill remembered something his mother had told him ten years ago when she claimed that the Marines would typically only execute moderately strong criminals whereas the weak would be put to work and the very strong would be jailed.
At the time it hadn’t made much sense to him, but thanks to Zephyr’s explanation it became crystal clear!
“We keep these… people… secret-” Zephyr had said, seeming whether or not to call them ‘people’ before continuing: “-there’s no sense in putting the information out there that some small girl suddenly gained the power to cause random mutations and turned her entire island into a grotesque freak show.”
Nodding along to this, Bill didn’t like the idea of taking away an innocent person’s freedom, but what could reasonably be done when that person was a walking natural disaster waiting to happen?
This also explained why he had never heard of really nasty abilities, and when he asked about some specifics, Zephyr had directly told him: “Hm, I’ve never heard of a direct Mind Control Devil Fruit, but for certain there exists the Hate-Hate and Change-Change Devil Fruits in Impel Down. That girl I mentioned before is still alive, her Change-Change Fruit causes random mutations that affect everything. They are the things of nightmares.”
Zephyr didn’t mention the Love-Love Fruit because it was well known to exist and even who held the power, but after a weighing his next words, he had said in finality: “The Rot-Rot user is known, in fact your father is constantly searching for him.”
“Really?” Bill asked, surprised.
Nodding his head to this, Zephyr then had adjusted himself in his seat before saying: “He’s the one who attacked your mother’s ship and nearly killed you before you were born. He calls himself the ‘Fragrant Elder’, but we only know for sure that his first name is Rung.”
Bill wasn’t surprised that the former Admiral had looked into his family, what he had thought about was the look on his father’s face when he discovered the Wood-Wood Logia. The Commodore was aiming for a man who had the Rot-Rot Fruit, and he stumbled across the Nature System Fruit that could be considered opposed to it!
It was even more of a testament to how much his father loved his family that he had not just taken it for himself, but first offered it back to his son since he was the one to discover it.
They spoke for a few hours longer before he started to leave the White Tiger. It late into the afternoon by then and Bill was glad he had gone to see the former Admiral.
Returning to the present, he still thought about the experience now as he watched Jail Island disappear from the horizon.
Then hearing clops coming from behind him, Bill turned to see Miyagi walking towards him.
Smiling slightly at his Departments head doctor, Bill spoke first and asked how the new recruits were settling in.
“Absolutely brilliant!” replied the goat Mink, who was thrilled when ten of the new recruits wanted to learn medicine.
Their Department had many scientists and engineers but there was a serious lack of professional medical personnel. Some of the pirates they recruited from Hannibal Island could be called so-called doctors and they had a few from the former Clockwork Islanders, but mostly they had relied on people trained as Field Medics which was clearly not optimal.
Miyagi himself was mostly a doctor but had a bit of experience as a surgeon, and thanks to that they had been able to save many from Foodvalten who would have otherwise died.
Nodding to the Mink, Bill then added: “We’ll be relying on you to find Zunesha.”
Nodding enthusiastically Miyagi said that any Mink could find their way home, but then turned to ask what he had come to see Bill for: “Captain” he started off, and when Bill replied, he continued: “My home is marvelous, but due to its isolated nature we are further behind in certain fields.”
Telling his doctor to ‘go on’ the Mink indeed continued: “The Science Division has so much absolutely fantastic knowledge in the realm of medicine, I wanted to know if it would be possible to secure some of it for my home?”
Nodding his head to this, Bill replied that much of the medical knowledge was not classified and when Miyagi returned home, he could spread the wisdom he gained while in the Department.
This had been something they had previously spoken about when the Mink had first joined the Department, but apparently Miyagi had some concerns about it. Bill didn’t press the issue when he saw his doctors gratified look and after speaking a bit more about the new recruits, they went their separate ways.
For the next month the Frontier Run traveled across the New World following directions given by Miyagi. In that time they had seen several pirate ships but neither they chased nor the pirates came to plunder.
The new recruits were getting along with the Fish-men and, so far as it went, they were adapting to life on the open ocean as well as could be expected.
Classes were held every day with giant feasts of Mini-Express Shrimp almost as regular of occurrences. Communications with Ranse in the East Blue and various other Marines happened, and in general everything was going according to plan.
A few days before Miyagi had assured them that they would see Zou, Bill stood on the deck of his ship and saw a flock of News Coo.
As much as he disliked the World Economic News Paper, he couldn’t say that the sight of the newspaper didn’t liven up the sailors’ moods.
Throwing a Beli in the air a Coo dove to catch it while another dropped the product.
Then, looking at the headline, Bill could only shake his head and read.
[Straw Hat Pirates Cause Havoc at G-8!]
Sources familiar with the case report that approximately three days ago the Straw Hat Pirates dropped from the sky and landed in the harbor of the most fortified Marine Branch. Their entry method remains unknown but despite the presence of both a Vice Admiral and Special Inspector the small and dangerous crew managed to escape without a single pirate being captured. It must be noted that the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates is worth 100,000,000 Beli and could be said to be a Super Rookie pirate! Follow along as we start our next ‘Rookie Pirate’ series! Learn about the several new crews making a splash all around Paradise!Shaking his head again in distaste, Bill disliked the glamor that the WENS put on violence and figured that no matter which world you were in ‘If It Bleeds; It Leads’ was the hypocritical calling card for mass media.
Besides the pirates, the paper spoke about some reported sightings of monsters appearing in the East Blue. There were grainy photos of huge hairy lizards and other animals that somehow looked familiar, and Bill decided to keep that in mind.
Closing the paper, he went about his business and didn’t stop the crew from speculating on events. The next couple of days past by quickly and sitting at his desk, he heard two sets of feet running in his direction.
Knocking twice, Yoko burst in with Roule behind her while she exclaimed: “Bill! Come look! There’s a huugggeeee elephant!”
UberNuber If you enjoy the fanfic hit the heart icon and consider leaving a rating!
I think I'm going to use words like Logia/Zoan/etc interchangeably with their English translations. It's going to be based on the syntax and whichever I think looks better. I know it's kind of late to be making this choice but when I started the fanfic I was very much against using Japanese words over English ones when there were clear translations. Obviously some words (like Haki) had to stay in Japanese because they aren't easily translated, but now I think it should just depend on how it looks in the sentence.
Lastly, this won't be the last you hear about Buster Call's but this chapter should show basically that they aren't just something the Marines do to project power. Whether or not you think they are totally evil is up to the reader.
