5 Chapter 5

"Well, I should also see if those brats are training well."

Gin said with a nod, starting last month, Gin gave the boys combat training.

Whenever Allan visited the village and port, Gin would follow but would separate with Allan to visit the boys, although Allan also visited, it was only to ask about their situation and if they wanted anything, a kind big brother, while Gin was the strict brother.

"Hehe, you call them brats Gin, but aren't we both still brats too?"

Allan commented with a laugh.

"It's different, they are young and weak, if they come with us in the future, they might just die meaninglessly."

Gin said with a serious tone.

Allan also thought about this issue, the people he accepted were still young, undeveloped bodies even with proper exercise won't win against adult thugs or pirates.

"So unless they prove themselves as a worthy combatant, we won't allow any of them to join in battle."

Allan decided.

Gin was stunned, although he cared for the lives of the ten kids, with Allan's standard, worthy combatants meant that those ten boys might never find a chance to fight.

"This… Al, isn't that too much?"

Gin asked with concern.

"Don't worry, we'll soon find worthy combatants, those kids should just stand at the back for support, we'll be building an organization in the future, separate from our Jaeger Family, those boys should be competent personnel by then."

Allan explained.

Earlier on he'd already decided to go the elite route, maybe he'll find someone or a Devil Fruit like Cracker's who could produce soldier-like entities for cannon fodder in the future.

In fact, if Allan had to decide between logia type or paramecia type with creation ability like Cracker, Allan would have chosen the latter, when he played games in the past, he never chose the best class, he chose the classes with summons or pets.

But now that he got a Zoan-type, he chose to focus instead, in fact, with how fleas were, he might just be able to create eggs in the future and hatch fleas.

Hmm, or parasitism?

Allan suddenly felt a light bulb glow in his mind, if he could learn lineage factor to an extent, maybe he'll be able to hatch minions in the future, of course, by hatching eggs, Allan didn't mean something like laying eggs even in his animal form, rather, he wanted to create an egg directly like creation type Devil Fruit, otherwise, his dignity would not allow it.

But all these thoughts were just afterthoughts, he wasn't even sure yet if he could produce an egg in his animal form, nor perform paramecia-like abilities if he reached a certain level in the mastery of his devil fruit, only then would he truly be able to experiment further.

Of course, Allan was not blindly optimistic about his expectations, since Sasaki could use his Zoan fruit to mimic the Spin-Spin Fruit's ability to propel himself.

Or Boa Marigold's king cobra fruit's ability to produce fire, then his thoughts on devil fruit development should be possible to an extent.

Allan and Gin quickly arrived in the village, while Gin stayed to assess the boys' progress, Allan left after a few greetings and questions.

"It seems like this merchant ship is large."

Allan said with wonder.

The huge ship in front of him was really an eye-opener, although he knew he was in the world of One Piece, the ships he'd seen so far were small ones, he hadn't even seen medium ships not to mention the large ship in front of him.

Picture Going Merry on Enies Lobby surrounded by Marine Warships, although the merchant's ship was only half the size of Marine Warships, it was still extremely huge compared to small ships.

The port hustled and bustled with the arrival of the merchant ship, many tourists appeared after the news of the merchant ship appearing, especially because the merchant ship would stay for two more days.

"They must be confident with their security forces."

Allan murmured, if pirates heard about it, the merchant ship would be in trouble, but since the East Blue was considered the weakest sea, as long as they had a decent enough security force, then the merchant ship should be fine.

"Books, books, where are the books."

Allan hummed while looking for a bookstall.

Book stalls were rare but there would at least be one each time.

"Oh, there you are."

Allan said with a smile, hopeful that he'd find something useful, but after looking through the available books, he only bought a bunch of fairy tale books.

Fairy tale books might not be too useful, but sometimes they contain information about mysterious islands and weird phenomenons, reading some could be handy in the future, after all, this world was filled with mysterious powers, just like the Great Adventurer Mont Blanc Noland who was dubbed a liar for many generations.

Although that person really wasn't a good friend in Allan's opinion, didn't he know what would happen if anyone with ulterior motives found Shandora? Yet he still bragged about it like it was no big deal, and tried to bring his king to Shandora just to prove he wasn't lying.

But the main point was that Mont Blanc Noland was not a liar, so there might be legends and locations in these books that might contain hints of treasure or even devil fruits.

After Luffy's awakening, things about Mythical Zoan Fruits became clearer, since the Rubber Fruit's true name could be hidden, then what about other fruits? Hawk Fruit Horus? Jackal Fruit Anubis? Maybe Sweet Fruit Gorgon or Medusa?

Arabasta with a rich history and a desert country, not to mention the Hawk and Jackal Fruit would always be born in Arabasta similar to the Mythical Zoan Fruits in Wano.

Allan also thought of other countries that might have similar conditions like the Kano Country which was based in Ancient China.

Maybe Kaido's Fish-Fish Fruit Model Azure Dragon originated in Kano Country, if so, there might be three more similar level Mythical Zoan Fruits hidden in Kano Country.

Allan even tried to find some history in Apple Island to see if it had any flea or insect-related legends or myths.

But so far, there wasn't anything, nor was there any legend, so Allan gave up, in the future, he might ask some people to do some research about it or even comb through Apple Island's neighboring islands.

"Hmmm, what else."

Allan pondered while walking around aimlessly, his eyes would always stay on fruit stands to see if he was lucky enough.

Although nothing happened, he did end up buying some bananas.

This island didn't have bananas and Allan missed the flavor so he bought a bunch.

A whole sack to be exact.

This wasn't just for himself, but also for Gin and the other kids.

"Maybe I should grow some bananas in the future?"

Allan mused but unknowingly bumped into another person.

Neither of the two fell, but Allan was surprised instead.

"Usopp?"

Allan blurted out in astonishment.

"Who?"

The other person asked in confusion.

"Ahh, sorry about that, I just remembered someone I know, ahem, he has the same long nose as you."

Allan replied a bit embarrassed.

"Hahaha, that's fine, I usually get weird looks when people see my nose, this is the first time someone mistook me for another, I'd really like to meet this Usopp in the future."

Although the person in front of Allan talked like an older person, his stature and immature voice gave away his age.

"Sorry about that, my name's Allan by the way."

Allan introduced himself trying to keep himself calm.

"Hi Allan, my name is Kaku."

Kaku said with a smile.

The round eyes, and a square long nose, not to mention his name was Kaku.

Kaku! This was the genius of CP9 Kaku!

"Nice to meet you Kaku, how about as an apology, I'll invite you to my house for dinner?"

Allan said with a smile.

He was happy deep inside, since this guy hasn't entered CP9 yet, then he should do his best as a host.

"Is that fine? I hope I'm not intruding."

Kaku asked politely.

"No problem, no problem at all."

Allan answered with a grin.

"So, where are you from Kaku?"

Allan asked.

"I'm from Giraffe Island, just a few islands from here, luckily I was able to hitch a ride with the merchants."

Kaku replied.

"Giraffe Island? I've never been out of Apple Island, so I haven't heard much about nearby islands."

Allan said.

"So where are you planning to go?"

Allan asked.

"Well, before my grandfather died, he left me an address, saying that if I felt bored, I could go and take a look, see if I'm interested."

Kaku answered with a shrug.

"Sorry about that."

Allan said in a low tone.

"It's fine, It's already been a year, and Grandpa was already very old, he left with a smile too."

Kaku said with a slight smile.

At first, Allan wanted to ask about his parents, but thinking about it, there's a huge chance that Kaku's parents were dead already since he was raised by his grandfather and he didn't mention going to his parents.

Allan didn't want to think about it.

"How about you Allan? Didn't your parents tell you not to invite strangers?"

Kaku sensed Allan's struggle and voluntarily asked in jest.

"Huh? Me? Well, my parents already died…"

Allan answered abruptly.

Kaku was stunned.

The two stopped and stared at each other before bursting into laughter.

"Don't worry about it, just like you, I've already gotten over it, not to mention, I have a new family hehehe."

Allan said with a smile, all the depressing topics were swept away.

"New family?"

Kaku asked with interest.

"Yeah, you see when my parents died, I suffered really badly, I couldn't eat much and had to beg in the village and port, gangsters robbed me at some point and broke my arms, I thought I was going to die back then."

Before Kaku could talk, Allan gestured for him to stop.

"But as you can see, I'm doing quite well already, but from my experience, I understood that the weak fall prey to the strong, this is an immutable law of the jungle. What's funnier is that a gangster was the one to tell me about it. So I want to grow strong, strong enough to create a safe haven where the people have enough to eat and live a happy life."

Allan said with a smile.

Kaku was stunned.

Allan who looked no older than him actually carried with him such lofty aspirations, how hard his goal was, Kaku was very clear, his grandfather raised him under the standards of CP9, although his grandfather did not indoctrinate him about serving the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, his grandfather was still biased, but still told him about the pros and cons and gave him a choice, whether Kaku wanted to be in the CP9 was his own choice.

And Allan in front of him, probably did not have the same background as him, but already had a direction and dream he wanted to pursue.

So what about me?

Kaku suddenly thought.

Should he follow what his grandfather paved for him?

Become a CP9 and eventually become the Celestial Dragon's strongest shield?

Or should he find his own purpose like Allan?

"The sea is full of monsters, so I can't do it alone, I need friends, companions, I need a family! How about it Kaku? Would you like to join me, no! Join me Kaku! I need your help! My Jaeger Family needs you!"

Allan said with eager eyes after he saw a sense of loss in Kaku's eyes.

Allan knew he was getting carried away, but now that it had come to this, he couldn't stop.

Once Kaku refused, it would be almost impossible for him to recruit Kaku again.

But to Kaku, Allan's eyes seemed like glowing gems blinding him with inexplicable brilliance.

His eyes, his eyes won't accept a no.

Kaku was perplexed, he was actually quite curious about CP9, but that was it, he was just curious, when his grandfather died, he mechanically trained, but everything seemed uninteresting.

Now in front of him, was the most interesting person he's ever met.

Unnoticed by the two, Gin and the ten boys were already standing behind Allan.

Gin was curiously looking at the long-nosed boy, Allan had never been this enthusiastic.

But Gin trusted Allan's eyes, so either the boy in front of him was strong, or his potential might even be stronger than his.

It seems like I need to work harder, Gin thought.

"How about it Kaku! Join me! Join us!"

The sack of bananas as well as the books were dropped by Allan and his hands clasped Kaku's hands.