The Marine

Walking into what looked like a naturally formed cave system, Bill looked up and whistled.

From the outside it was impossible to tell, but the inside the structure of the cave was actually a wide rocky valley.

‘It looks like something out of one of those old Badlands western movies’ Bill thought to himself with a chuckle as he scanned the two sides of the canyon.

The size of this stomach was truly mind boggling, and while Bill could easy Moon Steep and speed through all of these sights, he wanted to savor the experience.

He was sure he had beaten Mad Treasure and his lackeys to a pulp, and even if he didn’t, if Foxy worked in combination with Miyagi, Bill was sure the two of them together could beat the mad man.

‘Or at least hold him down long enough for Nelson to get the seastone cuffs on him.’ Thought he, unable to imagine that in the event of a shipwreck Nelson wouldn’t think prioritize those potentially life-saving tools.

Of course, unconsidered by Bill was that the effect of being eaten alive would affect others much more than he. After all, Bill himself could hold up an actual island, much less punch his way out of an island eater, so naturally he wouldn’t be as fearful as others would be.

With those concerns absent in his mind, he walked through the rocky canyon neither quickly nor slowly, and seeing all shapes of lizards, birds, snakes, and dinosaurs make way he just laughed some more.

In his last life Bill was raised in rural America, and even though he had played in the woods, calling him an outdoorsman would have been wrong.

In this life though, Bill had spent years being tested by Aramaki in the varied climates of Vallipo Archipelago and so naturally understood nature a bit more.

He couldn’t explain it, even with his superior senses he never had an inkling as to why, but somehow a forest knew when there was a new predator around.

Case and point, these dinosaurs and other animals inside the canyon had never seen him, but unlike those who attacked him on the beach or the first couple who attacked him in the forest, they knew to run away.

Bill wondered if the souls of animals were linked in some ways that humans weren’t and he was irritated, not for the first time, that he couldn’t sense spiritual things like he used to.

He could barely still ‘smell’ when Devil Fruits were being used around him, and the idea of full [Nullification] was just a dream for the time being.

Thinking about his Haki, the animals, and other things, Bill turned a corner and saw a few pink dinosaurs run away and he almost ignored it, but something then caught his eye.

‘Huh?

Did that Dinosaur have a tear in it…?’

He had only caught a glimpse, but Bill was sure that one of the dinosaurs had white stuffing hanging out.

Naturally intrigued by this, he sped up and jumping through the air was quickly over top what could only be called a ‘herd’ of carnivorous beasts.

And sure enough, there on the outer edge of the herd, was in fact not a dinosaur, but what was clearly a stuffed dinosaur suit!

Had this been just a few years prior, this sight would have spooked him enough to actually sit back and observe, but after defeating Shiki and rebuilding his body with Aramaki’s [Elixir of Life] Bill wasn’t so much confident in himself as he was just matter of fact about his personal strength.

He would be the first to agree that he wasn’t the strongest person in this strange new world that he was reborn in, but unless there was a Marine Admiral or Pirate Emperor in the belly of this island eater, he naturally had nothing to fear!

Even if he couldn’t defeat every other powerful person in the world, Bill was sure that except for those two groups, no one would be able to stop him from withdrawing.

This was Bill’s assessment of his own strength, and if he was called arrogant, he would only point out that he had lived a lifetime of struggle – since the first time he saw his monster of a father entering his nursing room to the time he defeated a legendary pirate from yesteryear.

He had been beaten, shot, stabbed, sliced up, bludgeoned, and besides had his entire body torn apart twice!

What did he have to fear from some guy dressed up in a dinosaur suit?!

So, moving fast, Bill snatched up the dinosaur in question and could immediately feel its stuff, and ignoring a wild shriek, he [Moon Stepped] to a ledge high above the dinosaur herd.

The ledge was small, but still plenty large for two people to sit and stand on, and sitting the person down, Bill asked deeply: “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”

Shrieking again, but this time muffling his cries, the man in the suit turned away to the ledges wall and using his arms covered his head.

‘….’ This time Bill didn’t react suddenly.

No matter what, he could tell that whoever this man was – and Bill could be sure it was a man now – was absolutely terrified.

Even without his heightened hearing, Bill could have heard the man’s heart beating out of his chest.

So, now talking softly, Bill said: “Calm down, calm down. You’re going to be fine…

Look, I shouldn’t have snatched you up like that, but imagine my surprise when I saw a man dressed like a dinosaur in the belly of an island eater…”

Hearing the mans heart start to slow down, Bill continued to speak for nearly half and hour before the man turned around.

Looking at Bill with shifty eyes, he answered with a husky tone: “Ar…are you re.al?”

Not needing to read this man’s thoughts – as it was impossible for someone to fake the wild feral expression he held – Bill answered: “Yes, I’m real. My name is William D. Ox, I’m a Marine Commodore who was recently swallowed by this island eater known as Lord Bonbori.”

During his introduction, the man peaked his head out from the suit and holding a hand over his face cried and cried.

When Bill asked him if he was OK, he answered: “y…yes, I’m f.fine, it’s just be.en a lon.g time sin.ce I last spo.ke to anoth.er human…

T..hank y.ou…”

Letting the man cry himself out, Bill didn’t touch him, but sat near enough that if the man wanted to touch, he only needed to reach out.

He had a thousands thoughts running through his head, but if this man had been from Olga’s island that meant he had been alone with only carnivorous dinosaurs for two hundred years.

Bill shuddered at the implication.

Of course, Olga had been the same way, and she had without doubt suffered for it, but at least she had befriended the water lizards who could more or less understand human speech.

Sitting there for a while, when the man was done crying, Bill asked him for his name.

Looking confused, his eyes drifted off into space and talking slowly he said: “M.my name?” as he spoke these words realization seemed to dawn on him and then in one breadth he continued: “My name is Acier Myskina.”

Then, turning his head to Bill, he pulled off the dinosaur suit and said: “I’m a Chemist from Alchemi Island… at least… I… was…”

Still looking Bill in the eye, the fat man slowly sat down and continued to say: “William Ox… I think I’ve been here for a very… very long time…”

Nodding to this statement, Bill also sat down and not breaking eye contact replied: “200 years or so I’ve been told.”

Of course, once Bill had heard this man’s name, he knew the man’s identity was in all likelihood Olga’s estranged father.

‘If they could even be called ‘estranged’ after so long’ Bill was thinking when Acier said ‘maybe that’s right…’ then quickly asked Bill where he got that information.

“I met a girl a couple days ago. She was very dehydrated, but my ships doctor got her better.

Anyways, when she woke up, she told me about Alchemi Island, about a mad scientist who created Pure Gold, and the fate of that island.”

Watching Acier more closely than he let on, Bill saw a mix of pain and resolve in the man’s not-so-wild eyes.

Still looking in Bill’s direction, Acier was not really looking at the man in front of him but was looking into the past as he answered: “I am that very Chemist, and creating Pure Gold cost me greatly… but… it was a price I was willing to bear, and I would still do so…”

“Because you wanted to live forever?” Bill asked evenly.

When Acier heard this, he snapped back to the present and started laughing.

“No, heavens not at all! I had theorized [Pure Gold] over a decade before I attempted to synthesize it, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and I was unwilling to bear the consequences.”

“You mean because people would covet it?” Bill asked again, but to his surprise, Acier just shook his head saying: “No, well, that’s one thing… but… the main drawback with the Pure Gold is that when a human is under its effect, they’re unable to have children!

My wife… she had fertility problems, and we wanted kids more than we wanted to live forever… so the Pure Gold wasn’t something I was interested in.”

“I see” Bill started to say before asking a genuine question: “Why would Pure Gold prevent a person from having kids?”

Rubbing his knees, Acier just shrugged and said: “When a human body is perpetual, reproduction isn’t stimulated.”

Thinking this was novel, Bill said instinctually ‘Hold on, are you saying…’ but was cut off by Acier’s answer: “Yep, you can’t have sex under its effect…well, a woman could still do it, but she would never ovulate and according to my wife, she had no interest...”

Then, using his hand to glibly cut sideways through the air, Acier added: “Pure Gold creates a steady state.”

“But you’re still thinking, so energy has to be used.” Bill said in a statement that was also a question.

“Yes, it’s a very peculiar formula.” Acier said before adding: “You still need nourishment because it doesn’t stop the brain from thinking… and if you add more nourishment than you need you can even stimulate fat cell growth, but normal circumstances, everything is held in a stasis.”

After that, the two spoke for a while longer, Acier didn’t claim to know the exact mechanism behind Pure Gold himself but said he hypothesized that he stumbled upon a formula that only half existed in reality.

The implications of that statement had Bill immediately want to go into Chaos and look around, but naturally wouldn’t under these circumstances.

Other than the revelation about Pure Gold, Bill learned that Acier had created it for his daughter who was dying of a terminal illness.

And that was why to the genius Chemist, any price was worth it.

Nodding at the end of the conversation, Bill started to stand, and looking down said: “Acier, that girl who told me the story of Alchemi Island is named Olga Myskina.

I left her back on the ship, and I’ve been gone for too long now. I need to return, Acier, are you coming with me?”

Hearing all of this was still too much for the Chemist, and crying his eyes out, he thanked Bill over and over, and naturally said he was coming.

Acier was too happy to care when Bill told him Olga’s thoughts about the situation, and repeatedly said that he would explain everything, and they could be a family again.

For this, Bill decided not to interfere.

It had been half a day at this point, and even though he trusted his men, he needed to get back to his crew.

Zooming back to the wrecked battleship, Bill thought about everyone’s obsession with Pure Gold, and seemingly out of nowhere just started laughing.

Indeed, in life, there is no free lunch.