Destination is set

Leaving Paradis island to the Revolutionary army, Akane said her farewell to her friends and went to her ship along with the rest of her crew. The previous encounters had been interesting to say the least, but Akane yearned to be back on her ship, already imagining what kind of island they would be going to next.

Seeing her ship coming in sight, a small group of people had gathered on the shore, clearly waiting for Akane and her crew to arrive.

Those that had gathered were those she had spent most of her time with, the Survey corps.

"Leaving without saying a word? That's so like you."

Eren yelled, a scowl on his face, yet his lips twitched till they rose into a grin.

"I did say it to those I spent time with. Hange, Erwin, the scowling imp... Are there more to say goodbye to?"

Akane replied, tilting her head in confusion.

Those mentioned just nodded their heads while Levi averted his gaze from the scene.

Ban and Shinobu chuckled, while Lafitte and Soren just boarded the ship to ready it for departure. Dazai followed after them, ready to explore the ship he would be living on for the coming time.

He had already familiarized himself with the rest of the crew and was already certain they were an odd bunch. A lot like his collegues back home. Now he just needed to find a nice lady to bring back home. He would plan the most gorgeous double suicide there has ever been!

Dazai disappeared into the ship, humming a happy tune.

"Then why didn't you tell us!?"

Eren yelled, getting agitated once more.

"Um, I forgot?"

Eren only got more exasperated at Akane's reply.

"Not that it was much to say about."

Levi grumbled, receiving a slap on the shoulder from Hange in return.

"With you maybe. Shinobu has given me a communication device. I'm sure there are many more interesting things to be found beyond our island. Can you already imagine what we can do with the resources found here? I am already getting tingly just thinking about it."

Hange jovially responded, sharing the same smile Shinobu had.

"Enough chatter. We should leave. My friends will be sure to help you gain a bit of strength. Maybe we will see each other on the ocean in the future. If you meet my brother, do say hi to him. He can't be missed, tall guy, red hair and a scar across one of his eyes. Oh, he has only one arm, can't be missed."

Akane dismissively said, jumping on her ship as her crew followed.

"Train hard. Now that your titan powers are gone, you definitely should power-up to survive here. There are worse things on the ocean than titans. Trust me."

Giving her piece of mind, Akane ordered for departure, the sails unfurling as the ship began to move away from the shore.

"Just you wait! I'll kick your furry ass the next time we meet!"

Eren screamed, the scowl back on his face.

"I'd like to see you try, runt."

Akane taunted back as the island became more and more distant.

Eventually it had disappeared completely.

"So, where do we head to now, captain?"

Lafitte asked, the three needles on his log pose each pointing to their own destination.

"I've three, maybe four places in mind as to where we could go to next."

Entering the inner quarters of the ship, she soon came back with one eternal pose, as well as a vivre card.

"First. We could go to Totto land, the territory of Big Mom. We could get the soul-soul-fruit that Ban could use by killing Big Mom. It would also cause a big enough ruckus to attract my brother, Shanks. It doesn't come without its difficulties though, as she has a lot of strong kids."

Placing down in front of them the Totto land eternal pose, Akane placed the Vivre card down after that.

"Another option is Zou. As Zou is situated on top of a giant elephant, it would be hard to guess the direction without a vivre card, one that Soren has kindly provided to me. There we can find a tribe called the Mink, family Soren wants to meet again to let them know he is safe and well. It doesn't have any dangers, probably..."

"Thirdly, Wano would be a nice place to visit as well, as the other and last Yonkou is currently based there, Kaidou. He would be a lot harder to deal with than Big Mom or Whitebeard, as we do not have enough intel on their entire manpower. I wonder what that country looks like?"

"Finally..."

Akane gestured to the log pose on Lafitte's wrist.

"We could just follow the log pose and see where that takes us. Building up our forces would be a good choice too, as it would increase our chances of catching the Yonkou of guard. Not that they even know we are targeting them."

Having laid her plans bare, the minimum of them at least, Akane left the choice to her crew.

Dazai just looked in confusion at the two items in front of him, not up to speed with how the items in front of him operated. A piece of paper and a glass orb are leading them somewhere? He could guess their uses, but not how they truly worked.

"Ah, let me explain. An eternal pose registers the magnetic waves of an island. It only points towards the direction of that specific island."

Akane said, as she gave the eternal pose to Dazai.

Dazai observed the eternal pose, turning it around and around, the needle only pointing to one direction.

"I see. So it operates like a compass. One that only points towards the northern hemisphere."

Dazai muttered, putting the eternal pose down, in case he might drop and break it.

"Next, we have the vivre card. This piece of paper, the vivre card, is made with the genetic material of a specific person. In this case it is made from someone residing at Zou at the moment. The vivre card only moves towards that person. The state of the vivre card indicates if that person is in good or bad health. Everyone on the ship currently has a vivre card from each other, in case we are seperated. I'll make sure Lafitte makes yours in the coming days."

Akane said, directing her attention back to the others, who were still debating on where to go.

"So, what are the current state of things?"

Akane asked, looking at Shinobu.

"Lafitte has agreed with me that we should follow the log pose. It is better to create allies if we are to fight against strong enemies. Numbers won't always win a fight, but it is better to have them."

Lafitte nodded, sharing a piece of his mind as well.

"Added to that, we are not strong enough yet to take on a Yonkou. While Ban will come out unscathed, the same can't be said for the rest of the crew. We should slowly acclimate our strenght, conquer our enemies, steadily increasing the territory we have. Fighting strong opponents will not always yield high rewards."

Lafitte softly tapped his cane to the ground in a steady rhythm, his eyes following the three needles on the log pose on his wrist. While they weren't too erratic, they were moving a lot, indicating the danger the islands posed.

"I agree with Lafitte and Shinobu, though I would like to go back to Zou soon. They are worried, especially since we don't have that much contact with the outside world."

Soren muttered, sharing his point of view on the situation.

"Then everything should be fine then. We follow the log pose, gather our forces and attack the Yonkou when we are ready. If they come early, then that is bad luck. Not that I would reject a good fight. I sure hope the Big granny will come before Kaidou. Getting that soul fruit early would be the best outcome for me."

Ban lay back, hands cupped behind his head, concluding the answer from the whole debate.

"Then we will. Lafitte, we will follow the log pose. Decide for yourself which one we should go to."

Akane ordered, as they all got ready to get to work.

"And Dazai."

"Yes?"

"Don't forget to say hi to Indra."

Dazai remained quiet, not quite knowing what to say, as he only wondered.

Who is Indra?