As the Going Merry sailed under the sun, Jack suddenly smacked his palm against his forehead.
"Wait a second… we don't even have a pirate flag!"
Everyone froze.
"Eh?" Luffy tilted his head.
Zoro sighed. "You're right. What kind of pirate crew sails around without a flag?"
Nami crossed her arms. "If we don't put one up soon, other pirates will laugh at us."
Luffy face lit up with excitement. "Alright! Then I'll draw it!"
He grabbed some paper and a pen, sat cross-legged on the deck, and began sketching. After a few minutes, he proudly held it up.
"TA-DA! Our pirate flag!"
Everyone leaned in to look and froze.
"…What is that supposed to be?" Jack blinked.
"It looks like a melon that got stepped on," Zoro deadpanned.
"It's scary… but in a really ugly way," Nami muttered, trying not to laugh.
Usopp couldn't hold it in. "Bwahaha! Luffy, that's the worst flag I've ever seen!"
Luffy pouted. "Oi! Don't laugh! It's awesome!"
Usopp wiped his tears from laughing and grabbed the pen. "Leave it to me! I'm the artist here."
He quickly sketched a new design and held it up proudly.
"There! Our new flag!"
Everyone stared at the drawing… which was just a giant skull with Usopp's nose and bandana.
Jack tilted his head. "…So we're the Usopp Pirates now?"
Nami facepalmed.
Zoro smirked. "Yeah, I'm not sailing under that."
Luffy cheeks puffed up in frustration. "Usopp! It's MY crew!"
"Fine, fine," Usopp said, grinning. "I'll make it look like you then."
This time he drew carefully, adding a straw hat on top of the skull, giving it a wide grin that almost seemed alive.
When he was done, he held it up for everyone to see.
"…Whoa."
Jack's eyes widened. "That's actually… really good."
Nami nodded in approval. "That looks like a proper pirate flag."
Even Zoro smirked. "Not bad."
Luffy face lit up, his grin stretching ear to ear. "YOSH! That's our flag! The flag of the Straw Hat Pirates!"
Together, the crew worked to raise the freshly painted flag to the top of the Merry's mast. The black cloth flapped proudly in the wind, the smiling skull with the straw hat glaring down at the endless sea.
Luffy stood at the front of the ship, hands on his hips, grinning like a king.
"From now on, everyone will know we're the Straw Hat Pirates!"
Zoro rested his swords against his shoulder and smirked. "Guess there's no turning back now."
Usopp puffed out his chest with pride. "With a flag this good, the whole sea will fear us!"
Nami sighed, but a small smile tugged at her lips. "Well, let's just hope it doesn't attract too many enemies…"
Jack, watching the flag flutter above them, felt a strange sense of pride swell in his chest.
"This… this feels like the real beginning of something big."
The crew cheered, their laughter echoing across the sea as the Going Merry sailed onward, their flag flying proudly for the first time.
..
Everyone was busy with their own tasks, Nami steering at the helm, Zoro napping as usual, Usopp scribbling ideas for new gadgets and Luffy sitting on the merry head, staring at the endless blue sea with a big grin.
Jack, however, wasn't smiling. He sat alone.
(System… can I ask something?)
A soft ding echoed in his mind as the familiar mechanical voice answered.
[System: You may ask your question.]
"Can I eat a Devil Fruit?" Jack whispered under his breath.
There was a short pause before the answer came.
[System: Negative. Your current body is not compatible with Devil Fruits. You are classified as another entity, I believe you have watched eternal movie and your body is similar to robot.]
Jack's eyes widened slightly. "…A Robot?"
He clenched his fists, his mind flashing back to the memories that he had forgotten. The image of the Eternals standing on the assembly line and it is similar to robot in a factory.
"Wait… am I really here? Or am I just sitting somewhere in a pod, controlling this body like some kind of VR avatar?"
The system stayed silent for several seconds.
[System: You do not have permission to access this information.]
Jack frowned. "So… I might not even be real here?"
[System: Reality is subjective. You are here, interacting, thinking, feeling. That is enough.]
He stared at the endless horizon, feeling a strange weight in his chest.
[System: Your primary directive is to experience this world. To have fun. To grow stronger. To see where this journey leads. Do not waste time questioning existence... live it.]
Jack let out a small laugh. "You sound almost philosophical, System."
[System: …Perhaps.]
He leaned back against the rail, the salty wind blowing against his face.
"Fine," he said at last, a small grin forming. "If this is my world now, then I'm gonna enjoy it. Devil Fruit or no Devil Fruit, I'll make my own power enough to stand with them."
At that moment, Luffy shouted from the bow, waving his arms.
"Jack! Stop being gloomy! We're gonna find a cook next!"
Jack smiled faintly and stood up. "Yeah, Captain. Let's go find him."
He glanced one last time at the endless sea. Maybe I'll figure out the truth one day. But for now… let's just have some fun.
...
Suddenly Jack saw a tiny boat drifting endlessly.
"Captain!" Jack called out. "There's a boat up ahead... looks like it's falling apart."
Nami quickly adjusted the rudder to bring them closer. When they finally approached, two men were waving frantically from the wreck.
When Zoro saw himself
"Zoro Bro! Zoro Bro!"
His eyes widened slightly. "…Johnny? Yosaku?"
Sure enough, the two figures were Zoro's old friends, fellow bounty hunters who used to hunt pirates with him before he met Luffy.
"Zoro bro! We thought we were done for!" Johnny shouted, tears streaming down his face.
"Yeah, we were almost fish food!" Yosaku added dramatically.
They were quickly pulled aboard the Merry. Both of them collapsed on the deck, breathing hard.
"You two look like hell," Zoro said bluntly.
"Well, excuse us for nearly starving to death!" Johnny shot back.
"Yeah! If you hadn't shown up, we'd be skeletons by now!" Yosaku sniffled.
Luffy crouched next to them with a big grin. "You guys are bounty hunters, right? That's cool! Wanna join my crew?"
Both Johnny and Yosaku froze.
"Join… a pirate crew?" Johnny blinked.
"Uh… thanks for saving us, but…" Yosaku scratched his head awkwardly. "We're bounty hunters, not pirates. Our job is to catch guys like you."
Jack chuckled softly. "Yeah, but if you stick around for a while, you might see that this crew is… a little different."
Zoro smirked. "They're not bad people."
The two bounty hunters exchanged a look.
"Well…" Johnny rubbed the back of his head. "We don't have a ship anymore."
"And no food, either," Yosaku added. "So… maybe we'll tag along for now."
"YOSH!" Luffy cheered, grabbing both of them in a big bear hug. "That means you're part of the crew!"
"Temporary!" both bounty hunters shouted at once.
"Jack did your power return?" asked Luffy.
"Nope, I don't think hiring more swordsman would return my power," replied Jack.
"Eeeghhhhh," Luffy shocked.
p/s: I saw the latest chapter of one piece and I was shocked.
Blackbeard mom name is Eris some translate it as ellis and one of the spell that Imu used had a name Eris D Star.
Maybe, Rocks D Xebec infected by Domi Reversi after he was being threatened. So his willpower collapse and Imu manage to overwhelm him.
Garp and Roger was forced to kill Rocks after he turned into Imu puppet.