49 Well Earned Rest
After taking a bath, Cherry went to find Chopper to share the information regarding devil fruit she obtained via her experiment on Serene.
Although the Devil Fruit Suppression Seal had nothing to do with medicine, she learned certain principles of devil fruit behavior he could potentially learn something from. Perhaps he could even make a medicine with similar effects some day.
"Wait, how did you suppress her devil fruit?" Chopper asked, realizing it was strange.
"I just used my own devil fruit to do it. Plus, I'm a super genius, don't you know?" Cherry gave the same excuse she always did when the adorable little reindeer started asking sensitive questions.
Chopper never really bought that excuse, but he always accepted it regardless. He respected her privacy and she respected that he didn't try to pry further.
Cherry pestered King Cobra about the Hero Water some more then went to bed. She'd wear him down eventually, she figured.
In the morning, Luffy finally woke up.
His injuries weren't too bad after his fight with Crocodile, he just exhausted himself with his new technique. He called the technique "Gear 2nd". Apparently his enthusiasm for finding a way to "transform" as well as some inspiration from Cherry's Hasshoken enabled him to think it up.
Cherry was surprised at that. He seemed like an idiot, and he is, but he had to have a shocking level of perceptive ability to discern anything that was happening within Cherry's body while using Hasshoken. Then to create a technique from that information in less than a week, it was simply astounding.
"By the way Luffy, what's that thing in your hat?" Cherry asked, sensing some vital energy fluctuations from it.
"Hm? Oh, it's a piece of paper that Ace gave to me. He told me to keep it and that I could find him with it." Luffy responded, barely understandable while shoveling food into his mouth.
Cherry studied the piece of paper, marveling once more at the ingenuity of mortals. She felt she could replicate this fairly easily and even improve upon it, which should come in handy.
Cherry left him to his food and headed into town to find a decent blacksmith. She planned to add another Blood Bound Artifact to her arsenal, in case she came across a devil fruit that wasn't suitable for her sword.
She spent the day inside the forge crafting her new weapon, while the resident smiths watched in awe.
The finished product was a work of art. A relatively enormous 6-shot revolver with intricate designs, including cherries to match her sword, etched into its black metal body.
The material was a custom alloy of her own making, naturally. Don't tell anyone, but she secretly took some of the Poneglyph's stone for it when she "accidentally" broke off a piece yesterday.
She would have to craft her own ammunition for it as the design is based off her previous life's firearms rather than this world's technology.
She returned to the palace and found a secluded place she could perform the blood binding ritual, and told the servants not to disturb her.
Once that was finished, there was one more thing to do in regards to the revolver. That was to find Usopp and make him drool with jealousy over it.
Usopp beheld the marvelous pistol in Cherry's hand as she aimed it towards an armored target.
*BANG*
The sound was like thunder, far louder than any handheld firearm he'd ever heard. It was almost as loud as a cannon. The reason for it was that Cherry compressed an insane amount of gunpowder into each bullet casing.
The lead for the bullet was also compressed, as evidenced by the massive hole through the chest and out the back of the target. As well as the hole through the thick stone wall behind it.
"Can you make me one of those too?" He asked.
"What? Are you abandoning your chosen path as a sniper so easily?" Cherry asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.
"No, no you're right! I'm dedicated to the slingshot and I will not be tempted!" Usopp resolved.
"Well, you can shoot it if you want to." Cherry tempted him.
"Yes, please!" He kowtowed to her.
She handed the revolver over to him. "Do be careful now, Usopp. It's got quite the kick to it."
"How bad could it be-" *BANG*
Usopp soared backwards, slamming hard against the wall behind him.
"Hehehe, I warned you didn't I?" Cherry said, picking up the revolver and Usopp, dusting him off.
"Not a bad shot though..." Cherry praised, looking that the new hole through the helmeted head of the target.
"Hehe, of course! Naturally, I did that on purpose!" Usopp bragged. Cherry only rolled her eyes at him.
Cherry went for a walk and found Zoro training. He mumbled about cutting and not cutting, blah blah blah, typical swordsman nonsense. Still, she admired his dedication to his art, so she decided to lend a hand.
Cherry leaned in close. "What are you doing?"
"Go away, don't distract me." Zoro said, annoyed.
"If you say so. I'll just leave you with some words a crazy beggar once told me." Cherry said, then started to whisper into his ear.
Zoro tried to ignore her at first, but soon enough he was hanging onto each word she spoke.
The "crazy beggar" she spoke of was one of the most famous sword immortals in the myriad worlds of her last life. He was a man who rejected all the pleasures and luxuries of life and dedicated his whole self to the sword. He roamed the myriad worlds in search of inspiration, his only possessions being his sword and the rags upon his back.
She had met him by chance and he told her a load of gibberish. She did not walk the road of sword immortals, however. She had her own art to focus on.
When she left, Zoro took no notice of her absence. He was lost in his own little world.
Later, when everyone gathered for the promised banquet, Zoro entered the dining hall in a foul mood and sent Cherry a mean glare.
"Who the hell are you glaring at, Moss head?!" Sanji started a fight with him.
Cherry knew what he was angry about, of course, and smirked at him.
What she had given him was like cursed knowledge to a man like Zoro. The crazy beggar had given up all pleasures and luxuries in the world, and Zoro was a man who loved his booze. She had shown him a path to ultimate supremacy, but at the cost of his favorite pastime.
"Hehehehehe!" She laughed maniacally.
The banquet was as rambunctious as one would expect with a bunch of goofball pirates attending.
They stayed for a couple more days to recover from their wounds somewhat before setting off. They gave Vivi a choice to make: to stay or to become a pirate. Cherry knew that she wouldn't leave Alabasta, just as Luffy would never abandon his friends. She just loved her country too much.
After they had already set off, Igaram (formerly Mr. 8, current head of the royal guards of Alabasta) burst into their room to find them gone. Vivi explained they had already left with the super spot-bill duck squad.
"We have to warn them! Look at these new bounty posters!" He sounded desperate.
"I'm sure they would just be happy any-" The words got caught in her throat.
Luffy's bounty had gone up to 100 million Beri and Zoro had gotten a bounty of 60 million Beri. These weren't what shocked her though, rather it was the third bounty poster that didn't make any sense.
On it was the picture of a demonic looking woman with great black wings and silver hair, a massive explosion detonating behind her.
Wanted Only Alive
Cabernet
250,000,000 Beri!
