303 Chapter 303

303

After a while, Gin looked far better after getting some food and water in his belly. His wounds had stopped bleeding and as an ancient zoan user, his passive recovery was already bringing him back up to optimal health.

Cricket and others were curious about what happened, so they asked Gin.

The so-called man-demon explained his story without getting into too much detail or revealing his identity. It wasn't that he was afraid or anything, no, he would be able to take on the full ship if needed but he didn't want any unnecessary trouble.

"So you are telling me that for the past six hours or so you were inside a sea king?" Mashira asked, his jaw on the floor. "And you are a devil fruit user?"

"Dude, how did you even survive?" Shoujou asked. Even Cricket didn't know what to say… he was equally shocked.

Gin, after getting dropped into the sea, was eaten by a sea king. And because of that, he was able to get some of his powers back, but as he was still inside water, he wasn't able to fully turn into his zoan form, or he risked sinking down again.

The main issue was drowning, but Luffy had trained every devil fruit member of his crew to at least hold their breath under the sea for a few hours. In case something like that happened.

Though that wasn't needed as the sea king was quite large, the air pocket inside the stomach might stink. But he could use that to survive a bit longer.

With that in mind wait patiently inside a sea king. Which was quite a disgusting experience, he was soaked with the stomach acid, guts, and feces of the sea king. Gin was somehow able to survive, but the stink was quite unbearable.

Even now he needed a bath. And after hearing what had happened, Mashira suggested spraying him with water for a quick cleanup. Gin was more than happy to get the stink off of him. And after everything was said and done, Gin finally looked a bit more humane.

"Thanks for freeing me… Who knows how long I would have been trapped if you guys didn't help." Gin said, honestly, "My crewmates must be worrying about me…" A large explosion rang out from the island of Jaya, cutting him off. He gaped, seeing the destruction, "They are still fighting?!"

"Of course they are…" Cricket said loudly, "Everyone, grab onto the ship, this one is a big one!"

Gin and everyone grabbed on the ship's structure, as the shockwave from the previous explosion came in, messing up the sea and violently throwing the ship back. This went on for a few minutes before the sea calmed again.

"Those guys are beasts," Gin mumbled.

Cricket snorted, "That they are, mate." Taking a drag from his cigarette, "From what I heard, the newest Warlord is fighting some New World Pirate there… Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the island's destroyed by the time the day is over…"

Shoujou and Masira both gasped, "You can't be serious, Captain? What about your mission to find the City of Gold?" But both of them shut up when they remembered that someone else was still in their ship.

Gin blinked, "City of Gold?" he asked, "Oh, you mean the legend of Noland… huh, so you are a man of dreams?" He asked looking at Cricket.

Cricket's brow twitched as he tensed up a bit, feeling a bit insecure. "Yeah, so what?"

Gin shook his head, and crossed his arms before nodding, "That's good… my Captain's a man of dreams as well…"

"Well… uh, your Captain's must be a great man I guess…"

Gin nodded again, his back straightening up a bit, "Yup, and he's going to be the World's Strongest Man and the King of Pirates…" he said with a solemn expression.

The others in the crew looked at him with a stupefied expression. Wondering who was the man that would not only go for Roger's title, but Newgate's as well.

Cricket looked at Gin and held eye contact, before nodding. "He's definitely a great man."

Gin smirked, already liking the blond chestnut-haired man.

"Gin!" Right then, all of the people on the ship saw a man flying… no, running in the sky towards them. The man was completely soaked due to the rain and had a worried look on his face, but seeing Gin, he sighed.

"Sanji?" Gin asked, giving his crewmate a smile, as the blond cook landed on the ship. "Oh, man, I'm glad you are here."

The blond cook sighed, "I'm sorry it took so long… but it seems you are safe." He said, "But even with your Vivre Card, you are changing locations… so finding you was quite tough. Not to mention you were in the sea… and you know I can't swim and all. Hatchan and Momoo were also looking for you, but you know how the Grand Line sea is…"

Gin blinked, "Wait, what's a Vivre Card?"

Sanji frowned, showing him a small paper. "This… didn't Chopper take all of your blood samples one time in Alabasta? Well, he was trying to make this… The people in Alabasta knew how to make them, and well, everyone in the crew has this in case something like this happens…"

"Oh…" Gin said, before his eyes widened. "Wait, were you guys all looking for me for the past six hours?"

Sanji smacked him on the head, "Of course we were…" he grumbled, "Do you know how worried we were that you were under the sea? Everyone in the Going Merry was going wild before Masked Deuce told us that since your Vivre Card was only slightly burned, it means you were still alive."

Gin rubbed the back of his head, "Oh," he rubbed the back of his head, feeling kind of embarrassed, "I… Thank you."

Sanji snorted, "You don't say thank you for that shit. You would have done the same for us."

Gin opened and closed his mouth before just nodding.

While this was happening the others in Cricket's crew were awed and scared. Even if they didn't recognize Gin, they recognized Sanji. The pirate with no bounty was one of the Fallen Hero's men.

One that played a key role in taking down Slender Swift in the G-3 incident. Because of Luffy's Warlord status, all of their bounties were paused. But almost everyone in the first half of the Grand Line knew about most of the Straw Hat crewmembers. And they were also able to recognize Gin because of it.

"'Black Leg' Sanji!"

"'Man-Demon' Gin!"

Everyone in the ship gulped and whispered quietly amongst each other. Even though their bounties were paused the fact that they were associated with a warlord spoke much. Because of that, everyone in the ship were now wary of them. Well most of them at least, not Cricket.

"So you are from the new Warlord's crew?" He asked taking a step forward, his hands on his sheeted blades.

Both Gin and Sanji noticed that action, but ignored it.

"Yes?" Gin said. "Will there be any problem?"

"Ugh… Captain…" Masira said, looking a bit sweaty, "We shouldn't…"

Cricket held his hand up, shutting the man, before narrowing his eyes on Gin, "You wanna know my problem, eh? Well, your captain is the reason why my home's destroyed… I left two of my good ships back there, that was filled with diving tech. For all I knew it could destroyed… destroyed, all my years of work…" he narrowed his eyes, "Who's gonna pay for that…?"

Sanji and Gin looked at each other, not sure what to say. Right then a the sea around them shook and another giant sea king rose up to the sea, this was much smaller then the previous one. But this one also looked scary, looking like a sea king that was made out of iron.

"What the… what kind of Sea King is that?" Mashira asked taking a few steps back.

"The scary kind." Shoujou responded.

Cricket prepared to unsheathe his blade, but Gin appeared in front of him, holding his hand. The blond man was wide-eyed at the sudden speed, "Don't worry, that's Momoo. He's part of our crew…"

As if answering him, the sea king gave a thumbs up with his fins, "Mooooo!"

Hatchan climbed off from the sea king's back and looked at Sanji and Gin. "Guys, Sanji found Gin!"

Right behind the sea king was another ship. This one being smaller than them. But most of its parts were covered in steel and metal. It was the new and improved Going Merry.

"Gin." Gin!" "Big Bro!" "Gin?"

Several of the Straw Hat pirates called out to Gin. Some visibly sighing in relief, while others looked happy to have finally found Gin. A few even jump onto the new ship to greet him. And one of them was Anchor who had Sparky on his shoulder.

While Anchor wasn't part of the crew very long, he had bonded very well with Gin 'cause of his straightforward attitude. Gin also appreciated the blacksmith for upgrading his tonfas, so both of them hit it off.

And so when Gin got lost in the sea, Anchor had volunteered to search for Gin. And did so, but with the sea being so messed up due to the ongoing fight, he couldn't do much. He was an exceptional swimmer, but the water of the Grand Line was too chaotic for him.

"Wait… you are Anchor, aren't ya?" Cricket said bringing all of their attention to him. "What's a marine…"

Anchor cut him off, "Ex-marine." He gruffed, "I'm a pirate now. But damn, Noland, hadn't thought I would see you still alive and kicking…" he said with a challenging smirk.

Cricket growled, "Watch it, Popeye…"

Anchor just grinned.

Sparky, who was on Anchor's shoulder, spoke up, "So you guys knew each other?" the monkey asked.

Cricket was surprised about the speaking monkey, but didn't say anything. He just glared at Anchor. "Oh, we know each other all right… this scumbag's the reason for a lot of my early troubles when I went out to the sea."

Anchor just rolled his shoulder, "What, I was a marine back then. Had to catch the bad ol' pirates before they let loose."

Cricket felt his brow twitch before growling, "I find myself hating your crew more and more the time passes. Gin, get off my ship with your crew and be ready to pay me back for the damage your captain cost."

Before anyone could say anything, all of them noticed a blue light. Everyone snapped back their heads towards Jaya. Where a shining blue light was radiating heat and power.

Everyone felt their skin crawl from the power, even non-combat fighters felt their instincts warn them. And just right after that, the heat wave hit them, completly drying of the rain, and calming down the sea.

"Wh-What was that…?" Usopp asked, gulping. Like others he was sweating prefously, not from fear. But from the heat.

"I-I don't know…" Coby said, fanning himself with his arm, "But, that power… that's…"

Masked Deuce grinned, "That's Ace. The bastard just got stronger…"