Chapter 48: 00048. Trying to change a persons fate.
"Milk?" Everyone seemed to ask at the same time.
Marcus just shrugged as he said, "What else am I supposed to say to my absentee father, the first time we meet?"
"We have a father?" Luffy asked as he looked between the three people in the room.
Marcus dropped his head down and pinched the bridge of his nose as he mumbled to himself, "It's Luffy, he can't help himself."
Kuma didn't react to the news at all and stood stoically as he looked down at everyone. The person with a large face glanced between the boys and Dragon as he said, "Da. Da. Da. Dragon has kids!?!"
"Tone it down with the antics, Ivankov." Dragon said as his deep voice rumbled throughout the room.
Ivankov pouted as he said, "You're no fun Dragon-boy."
Marcus finally let out a sigh before he grabbed Luffy by the shoulder and pulled him forward as he said, "Luffy, meet our father, Dragon."
Luffy raised one hand as he said, "Yo."
"It's good to see both of you boys again… And I'm sorry I had to send you away. But it was for your own safety… Even though visiting me isn't the best idea."
Marcus waved his father off as he said, "It's fine, I know why you did it and Luffy is an idiot who forgets anything that isn't food related."
"Hey, that's not true!" Luffy said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Here Luffy, have some meat." Marcus said as he pulled a big piece of jerky out of his pocket.
"Oh, thanks." Luffy said as he happily took the jerky and started to eat it.
"Why do you carry meat in your pocket?" Ivankov asked as he got close to Marcus and looked down at him with interest.
"Uh? You don't carry pocket meat?" Marcus asked.
"Pocket meat? Why would someone carry around meat in their pockets?"
"It makes a great snack when you're hungry." Marcus said as Ace, Sabo and Luffy all nodded in agreement and showed they also had jerky in their pockets.
Marcus then turned back to Dragon and the others as he said, "Anyways, I know visiting you isn't the best idea. But I needed to tell you a few things."
Dragon nodded as he said, "Sure, but first tell me who your friends are."
Marcus glanced at Ace and Sabo as he said, "These are our sworn brothers, Ace and Sabo."
Dragon had a hint of a smile as he said, "I see. So what did you want to talk about?"
Marcus glanced at Kuma as he said, "I mostly came to tell Kuma that Ginny is coming back."
The only reaction from the man was that his hand tightened around the book he carried. Dragon glanced at Kuma as he asked, "How do you know about Ginny?"
"Did grandpa tell you about my dreams?"
Dragon shook his head so Marcus said, "I have dreams about the future sometimes. I didn't realize what they were at first, but after a while I figured it out. Since then I've been trying to prevent those dreams from becoming reality."
"Why?
"Because almost all of them involve people getting hurt or worse." Marcus said as he turned his focus to Kuma.
"Ginny is dying from an experiment one of the world government elders performed on her."
Kuma appeared in front of Marcus and asked, "Where is she?"
Marcus shook his head sadly as he said, "I don't know. My dreams are never clear… But I can tell you where she will be sooner or later."
"Where?" Kuma asked in an anxious voice.
"Do you want to see her or possibly save her life?"
"Of course I want to save her!" Kuma said with a tinge of anger in his voice.
Marcus nodded as he said, "Good, then I'll give you the best shot I can to save her…"
Marcus locked eyes with Kuma as he said, "But it's not a guarantee, so don't blame me if it doesn't work."
"I. I understand, thank you." Kuma said with a curtain nod of his head.
"Good. So to have a chance for this to work you'll need a good doctor and the best two I know of are the lighthouse keeper Crocus from Twin Cape Lighthouse at the start of the Grind line and Dr. Kureha on Drum Island. Get at least one of them to help you."
"How do you know about them?" Dragon asked with interest.
"Same way I knew you would come here. I've seen both of them in my dreams for different reasons." Marcus said as he glanced over to Dragon for a moment.
"The next person you'll need is Trafalgar D. Water Law, current user of the Ope Ope no Mi. He should currently be on Shallow Island in North Blue or around that area. He is a young kid and might still be suffering from Amber Lead Syndrome." Marcus said as he focused back on Kuma.
Marcus thought about it for a moment before he added, "To get his help, just tell him the person who saved his and Rosinante's life is asking for a favor."
"You've met him before?" Dragon asked, wondering when Marcus left East Blue.
Marcus shook his head as he said, "No, I had a dream about him in trouble and told grandpa about it. Grandpa went and helped him out."
"Why did he do that? Was it because of his devil fruit?" Ivankov asked with interest.
Marcus turned towards Ivankov and said, "Grandpa wouldn't care about that. He went because Sengoku's adopted son was going to be killed."
Marcus glanced back at Kuma as he said, "Just in case, you should also collect some criminals that are going to be executed. They can be used as spare parts for Ginny in whatever treatment plan they come up with."
"As for Ginny, she should be making her way back to the Sorbet Kingdom with her daughter. You will also need them to heal her daughter because she is affected by Sapphire Scales disease too." Marcus said before he rubbed his chin for a moment and added, "Make sure you cut off all natural sunlight wherever you will perform the surgery because it makes the disease worse… I think that's about it. You should hurry and go collect those people and head to Sorbet Kingdom to save Ginny."
Kuma nodded his head and said, "Thank you."
Kuma glanced at Dragon for a moment who said, "Good luck."
"Good luck Kuma-boy, I expect to hear good news soon." Ivankov said with a smile.
Kuma quickly rushed out of the room and after he left Marcus turned to Dragon as he said, "We should probably leave soon, but I need to ask you for a secure den den mushi and to warn you about the Dressrosa kingdom in the New World."
Dragon glanced at Ivankov and said, "Go grab one from the communications room."
"Ordering me around like a little servant..." Ivankov spun around and transformed into a beautiful woman before she said in a sultry voice, "Would you like me to get a hot maid outfit while I'm at it, Dragon boy?"
Dragon gave Ivankov a flat look which made her click her tongue and walked out of the room as she swayed her hips. Dragon shook his head for a moment before he asked, "What is happening in Dressrosa?"
"Doflamingo is going to take it over if no one steps in. I'm not sure if you can help, but a lot of people will die for no reason if nothing happens and even more will be turned into toy slaves."
Dragon frowned as he asked, "Someone found the Hobi Hobi no Mi?"
Marcus nodded as he said, "A girl in Doflamingo's crew, she has green hair and looks like a little child."
"I don't think I can help them.. But I will see what I can do." Dragon said after a few moments.
Marcus shrugged as he said, "I was thinking about warning grandpa too, but I am not sure if he would do anything. That said, if you can at least warn the royal family, it might help. Or maybe give them an escape route from the island for when Doflamingo shows up."
Dragon nodded as he said, "I'll see what I can do."
Marcus glanced over to Luffy who was still eating his pocket jerky and asked, "You have anything you want to talk to dad about?"
Luffy with his mouth partly full of jerky asked, "Do you have any good food?"
"And that's my brother…" Marcus said with a tinge of disappointment as the door opened and Ivankov walked back in.
He was back in his male form and handed Marcus a small den den mushi along with a small book as he said, "Here is your den den mushi and that is a book on how to use it properly and take care of it."
Marcus took them both before he glanced at Dragon and asked, "You wouldn't happen to know how gramp's does those weird things like moving fast or flying through the air by kicking it, would you?"
"He showed you Rokushiki?"
Marcus nodded as he said, "He showed them off and said if we wanted to learn them we needed to join the marines."
Dragon had a hint of a smile before he said, "That sounds like him… I know a couple of them myself, but I don't really know how to train them if that's what you're looking for because I was never properly trained on how to use them."
Marcus shrugged as he said, "It's not a big deal, I was just wondering."
Marcus and the others spent a few more minutes talking before they left the ship and headed back to Makino's. It was a little early but they planned to take it easy for the rest of the day. Since Marcus met Dragon, all the boys knew that over the next couple days they needed to stock their ship before they set sail around East Blue and collect bounties.
It was something Marcus came up with, but he also wanted to use it as a way to hopefully meet some people at the same time. Over the next two days Marcus and the others went around and collected supplies, double checked the ship and loaded up everything they might need. They didn't tell anyone they planned to leave and it was hard to hide what they were doing. So instead of leaving during the day, the boys awoke in the middle of the night, left a note for Makino and set out to sea.
Once they were out on the open sea Sabo asked, "Do we have a plan or are we just gonna sail around looking for pirates?"
"I was thinking we can visit all of the islands in East Blue or at least most of them." Marcus said as he looked out over the dark sea waters.