Kuma

After the execution of King Glamour, the Revolutionary Army worked towards helping the residents of Gleam Island. Both the members and people of Gleam Kingdom who would cook used the large amount of supplies which were in the kitchen to distribute food for everyone. One of the members had the power of the feather-feather fruit, and used his powers to create pillows and bedsheets for those who needed it.

Big Mom used her power and intelligence network to obtain food based devil fruits for her family, while Dragon did the same with fruits which are useful with his campaign. It was for that reason he had fruits like Betty's and Joe's.

Meanwhile, members like Kuma assisted the medical team to help whoever was injured, while Morley and Lindbergh went to the gold mines to extract the gold from there. It was decided that 80% of the money gained from the gold mines would be used towards repairs for the kingdom and supplies that they needed, while the other 20% would go to the Revolutionary Army.

Dragon was currently in discussions with a council of people to discuss a matter of things. Dragon took August to the meeting with him to observe them and learn for the future. With no current King, Darius was elected to be the new one to help put the country back together after Glamour's awful rule. Darius was a nice person with a heart of gold, always caring about the wellbeing and health of others despite his own problems.

When the mercenaries bought by King Glamour patrolled the streets, people were often taken advantage of and the guards saw fit to do as they pleased, spending their patrols drinking and causing chaos in the city. Darius was one of the first few people to fight back and show that these people with guns were not invincible, and shouldn't abuse their power exactly like King Glamour does.

Dixie, a former accountant for a clothing business, would handle the finances of the kingdom and many other positions would be filled by highly skilled workers in their respective fields.

At the end of the day, the efficiency of the Army was clear as they managed to build the foundation towards fixing the country in just a single day. On the surface, Gleam Kingdom would be a part of the world government, but in reality it was the opposite. The next day, all traces of the Revolutionary Army's involvement was removed, and it was staged to look like the citizens themselves overthrew the king and established order.

Currently, the members were on the ship, the Wind Granma, which was covered by a thick concentration of fog to avoid any detection. August was back in his room with Sabo, who couldn't be having a worse time.

"Arghhh" Sabo slammed his fist against the chessboard, sending the pieces flying up. "How is the Queen so op?"

August shrugged, picking up the fallen pieces. "Game's the game man."

Sabo sighed and leaned back into his chair, deciding to call it quits and forfeit for what was the tenth time tonight.

"I'm going to sleep" He grumbled as he swiftly jumped into the top bunk without a sound. August decided to do the same, putting the chess board away and turning the lights off. He hopped into the bottom bunk and sunk into the pillow.

"Hey…" August started, eliciting a grumble from Sabo. "You remember my devil fruit mission?"

"Yeah…What about it?"

"Well I met a guy called Liam, he's pretty strong, and he's a swordsman. The sword he uses is some cool red scissor blade, I think you'll like him."

"If he's strong and not an arrogant kid then I'll like him."

August chuckled, "That's true. Also, speaking of devil fruits, which one would you prefer? Paramecia, Zoan or Logia, which one?"

"Hmmm…" Sabo was silent for a couple of seconds before he told his answer. "Probably a Logia. Being able to turn your body into an element would make you pretty unbeatable. Of course, there's most likely something to hurt Logia's, but if that thing can be used by your opponent, then it can be used by you."

He put a finger to his chin and continued: "Plus, most elements are beneficial in some way or another, and being able to produce a large amount of it would be brilliant. The element would also most likely also help me enhance my dragon claw fist…so that's that."

August nodded, "You put up a compelling argument, I'm inclined to agree with you."

"Would you trade your current devil fruit for a strong logia?" Sabo raised an eyebrow.

"No, not in a million years." August said seriously. "I like my fruit, it's basically a part of me, and I can feel it getting stronger everyday. It's one of a kind." August clenched his fist. He believed there were so many more applications to his devil fruit he hadn't used, and should be using. From now on, he would focus on improving the applications and power of his devil fruit.

"I wish I had something like that…" Sabo said hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe one day. Let's get some sleep" Sabo agreed with him, and decided to close his eyes and not think about it anymore, but August stayed completely awake.

'Looks like a need to pay a visit to east blue.' August thought as he anticipated getting the fruit that Sabo ever so much wanted. With those thoughts, he went to sleep peacefully and dreamed of an orange fruit on an abandoned island.

================================================================

(1 week later)

The group arrived back at Baltigo soon after, and to August's surprise Dragon immediately called for a meeting and his presence was to be expected. Dragon had recently been giving more responsibilities to August, such as listening in on meetings and doing important missions, which is something he was proud about.

The meeting started, and Dragon greeted everyone with a simple nod. He straightened the stacks of paper against the table and set them down, looking across the room.

"Is that everyone? Good. Onto our first matter, which involves the recent bounty increase for most of our members which was coincidently shortly after the Reverie. Looks like someone finally realised how much of a threat we are to them now."

The members at the table grinned in victory. They were finally picking up speed, and they needed to keep this momentum all the way until they couldn't be stopped. The World Government was finally seeing them for the threat they were.

"My bounty has been increased to 2 Billion, while Ivankov's is now 600 million. Also, the 4 commanders now have a bounties exceeding 300 million. We need to be more careful for any achievement hungry marines or pirates who wish to test their worth, be careful out there."

"What about Kuma?" August pointed out, speaking for the first time. He was genuinely curious why Kuma wasn't mentioned when he was the second strongest member here behind Dragon.

"Good question August, which moves me onto my next point. Kuma often stays on the sidelines helping other people, and his speed is usually too fast to be properly identified. It's for that reason he has no bounty."

Dragon took a sip of water before reluctantly continuing: "That's precisely why Kuma will be going undercover and becoming a pirate…"

"What!?" August shouted, perfectly conveying the thoughts of practically everyone in the room.

"Please listen." Dragon asked, trying to calm down the room. "The World Government has an ally that would help us greatly, and we need a way to establish contact with him. His name is Vegapunk, a genius whose work is considered to be 500 years ahead of the rest of his peers. If we establish a line of communication with him and find his allegiance, we could see if he is truly on our side, which I'm 99% he is." Dragon paused, taking the moment to observe everyone's facial expressions.

"Vegapunk's help will be crucial in taking down the current world government and advancing the new one we will build above it. I may be thinking too far ahead, but when we die we need to die knowing the world will bloom with peace and prosperity, and I believe Vegapunk is our key to that. We can advance the world into a new age never dreamt off before."

"I understand all of this, but why Kuma?" Ivankov asked. Being second in command, he was obviously aware of Vegapunk's existence and his importance, but he was unaware of the plan to establish contact involving Kuma.

"Our information team managed to wiretap some communication between higher ups in the world government. The details of the call told us some very important information, that Vegapunk was interested in starting his "PX" project, which is the creation of Cyborgs. The World Government agreed, but it will be another year or so before the project is picked up due to Vegapunk working on other things. In that time, Kuma will do his best to become a Warlord of the sea and volunteer himself for the program. He will have direct communication with Vegapunk, and could establish a way for us to communicate with him." Dragon finished his explanation, letting out a heavy sigh as he did. August could tell that this decision put a heavy weight on Dragon's shoulders.

He took one last look at Kuma, who nodded with a smile on his face, signalling he wanted to do this.

"Kuma has agreed to do this. Please trust this decision." Dragon said solemnly. He certainly didn't want to do this, but Vegapunk was practically invisible to Dragon, and communication was impossible without measures this drastic.

"I trust you." August said, nodding towards Dragon and then Kuma. "If this is what you believe you must do, do it." August said to Kuma.

The statement caused a chain reaction, as most of the members found themselves saying something similar. It certainly hurts them, knowing that their friend could possibly turn into a lab-rat, but they understood why Kuma agreed to do it, it was in his nature. The reason wasn't without merit, and it's benefits could be huge. As long as Kuma consented, they couldn't do anything but cry and mourn him.

The meeting was adjourned, and everyone left with a solemn attitude. They all prepared their goodbyes for Kuma, giving him presents and gifts as a parting present and something to remember them for.

Kuma's departure for August was a tough one, and August barely held back his tears as he gave him his present which was a couple of books, a pair of warm gloves and his very own pirate flag.

Kuma left shortly after, sad but resigning himself to his fate. He needs to do this, both to atone for his past and to save the future, nothing could change that now. He put on his new pair of warm but slick gloves and began reading his new book.

1 week later, a newspaper that came along with a bounty poster was shipped across the entire Grandline. The words on the front page painted a picture, a very violent picture in which the Judas pirates who recently raided a small island were completely slaughtered and wiped out by a single man.

Although the Judas pirates weren't that notorious, the news picked up headlines due to the brutal methods of execution the man used on these pirates. The bounty poster that came attached with the article gave a visual representation of the slaughter, showing one single man surrounded by dead bodies. His name was Kuma 'The Tyrant', and his name etched itself into the hearts of many people despite a bounty of only 70 million.

================================================================

Author's Corner:

Question: Do you like the new cover? If you don't and want to suggest a cover photo, just post it here.

Question: I'll ask the same question August did to Sabo. Zoan, Logia or Paramecia, and why?