"So, which one of you is the Captain?"
As the trio began walking towards the docks, Zara spoke up, curious about the hierarchy of the crew. James looked towards Layfey, as she set sail to start her own crew, but seeing as her dream was to marry the pirate king, James felt that her gathered crew was going to be gathered to serve on the future pirate king's crew, so James awaited her decision.
"Hmm, James will be the Captain! He will be the future king of the pirates, and I as his future wife will serve as his Vice-Captain. Zara, you will be the first mate and lead combatant! Does this sound like a good roster?"
When Layfey finished speaking, Zara looked puzzled, as Layfey only mentioned the three of them, making her wonder about the rest of the crew.
"Ah, Layfey, how many people are in your current crew?"
"Current crew? Huh, it's just the three of us, why?"
When Layfey exposed the crew roster, Zara felt like she was joining a train wreck, but then she remembered her purpose in joining in the first place, that was to learn from and surpass James and become the world's greatest swordsman, and with this reassurance, her tensed nerves had come back to a calm.
"So, where's our ship?"
Zara asked the next biggest question on her mind, and upon hearing it, Layfey seemed happy she asked, as she pointed out towards a single roomed fishing boat, something she had stolen after saving Koby from the Alvida Pirates.
"There she is! Our pirate ship! Although it's not much, but once the crew gets bigger we can find a better ship"
Both James and Zara were surprised to see Layfey so excited about such a beat up ship, and Zara, seeing Layfey hold pride in such a ship, made her want to chop her with her swords.
"James, I think I want to back out now. I don't want to die out on the seas before I achieve my dream"
"Ah, no worries about the ship, I can fix this"
While Zara was planning her escape route, James' words caused her to look towards him for an answer to his previous statement, while Layfey was more intrigued as to what James planned to do.
"Just stand back and watch me!"
James, wanting to make the scene more visually appetizing, came closer to the water and clapped his hands together before crouching to the ground and slamming his palms onto the ground while shouting.
"Wood release! Grand Vessel Creation Art!"
With that, a large and sturdy black trunk tree with silver tree leaves sprouted from the ground and began to bend and contort as it continued its wild growth while terraforming into a giant, beautiful, black ship with silver leaf accents around the railing and along the ship hull, etching a beautiful and mystical leaf pattern. Inside the ship James used creation magic to turn the barren ship into a luxury vessel, equipped with 5 bedrooms housing massive luxury beds and walk in closets and luxury bathrooms, a hefty training room capable of altering gravity and even altering time to make training faster, a massive kitchen with state of the art kitchenary appliances, a music room filled with instruments, a library full of assorted books, an entertainment room filled with board games and card games, even a room for apothecary concoction. The ship was the epitome of luxury, and when both Layfey and Zara set their sights on such a massive ship, their mouths dropped open in amazement, while James just chuckled and began boarding the ship while waving to the two who still had yet to react.
"Hey, are you two coming, or what?"
With the call, both Layfey and Zara regained their senses and quickly ran aboard as they both began exploring the ship while James made his way to the navigation room where he began conversing with an invisible crew member, one who would be one of the closest yet most unknown crew member of the future Straw Hat pirates.
"I need you to steer the ship to Orange Town. take your time, no need to rush though"
Although the spirit was just recently materialized by James, it still had an instinctual connection with the sea, as information transmitted through sea currents and passing mammals and sea life, the ship spirit was easily capable of finding Orange Town, even without any navigation equipment, but James still made sure to create the proper sea charts to make the trip easier.
"James, James! What's with this place?! It's so cool!!!"
Layfey was the first to arrive as she threw herself into James' arms while rapidly kissing his cheeks, hoping this would get him to spill the secrets.
"Oh? I guess you only gave the ship a passing look, but are you aware of what each room offers?"
When Layfey heard that there was more than what appeared, Layfey began to pull James around while begging him to show her what is special about each room. James then found Zara and began leading them both around the ship, and explaining the purpose of each room and its capabilities.
"First, we have the bedrooms, there are 5 in total, all of them the same size and all of them have a neutral aesthetic, completely up to change to their occupants. There is nothing truly special about the bedrooms aside from their comfortable atmosphere and soft bedding. Next we have the kitchen, the kitchen is special because you can use this screen to pick off a menu when hungry and the food will be made and served automatically"
James showed off the bedrooms and kitchen and watched as both Layfey and Zara's eyes sparkled, and upon showing them the automatic kitchen, they began sending orders immediately, but James felt the need to remind them of some important aspects.
"While the food can be automated, it doesn't taste particularly good, so we will still need a chef in the future to provide better and more nutritious meals… As for the other rooms, we have the library, the apothecary, the music room, and finally the training room.
James took both Layfey through each room while glossing over them due to the obvious lack of interest in these rooms, but when they got to the training room, both Layfey and Zara were interested.
"The training room uses increased weight to help put the body under pressure and strain while working out, in this way all the muscles in the body will be under strain, and in turn will strengthen upon rest. This room also has the ability to increase the time spent within, so you can train at a much faster pace. So far, one day outside is 10 days inside. The training room also connects to the kitchen so you can order meals inside and not have to worry about coming out to eat"
When Layfey and Zara heard this, their eyes gleamed with eagerness, as James dismissed the two of them and watched as the both rushed into the training room to start training with the equipment inside, while he himself had decided to take the time to use the last remaining voucher coupon. With the flip of his hand, James took out the coupon and tore it in half, unexpecting how the system creation voucher worked, but soon he found out, as a light blue light screen appeared in his vision as he began reading the creation method.
"Ahh, I see, so it's like building a custom character in a game, except instead of clothing and appearance, it's system modules"
[Ding! System Creation in progress… Module #1_____]
James began looking through all the countless modules available to him and then he began comparing them to how he wants to utilize the system to his advantage. He knew that with his current strength, he could play with this world in the palm of his hand, but he also started to grow attached to the people in it. James wanted to take both Layfey and Zara with him to experience a higher plane of existence, so the system would be focused on increasing the strength of his partners, and for that he wants to add a dual cultivation module. James then spent the next 30 minutes designing the system he required that would best help him and the people around him until he was satisfied.
{System Name: Partner Cultivation System
Module #1- Dual Cultivation
Module #2- Emotional Enhancement
Module #3- Lucky Spin
Module #4- Task and Shop
Module #5- System Sharing}
After picking 5 of the multitude of module options and naming the system, James felt that this system was perfect for him and his partners, and with a thought, the system began being synthesized.
[System Creation in progress… 10%... 20%... 60%... 90% 98% 99%... 100%... System Creation completed! The System Partner Cultivation System is now ready for host binding… Binding complete! Partner Cultivation System is now online!]
With the last blue information screen flashing past, a new light screen appeared, this time the light screen was a transparent pink color with a hint of red, and soon a sultry and beautiful female voice resounded in James' head.
[Greetings, host! I am the Partner Cultivation System. I am at your service 24/7, would you like to check your current status panel?]
'Ahh, yes, please introduce my status panel'
[Ding! Status Page Opening!...
Name: James
Status: Healthy
Partners: None
Cultivation: Multiversal Dominator (Cultivation realms low - high: Martial Artist, Martial Master, Martial Grandmaster, Martial Supreme, Planet Buster, Star Buster, Galaxy Buster, Universal Lord, Universal Emperor, Universal Supreme, Multiversal Terror, Multiversal Dominator, Supreme Multiversal Overlord)
Love Points (LP): 0
Relationships: Layfey, Zara
Affection Level: (Affection points range from 0-10 strangers, 11-30 distant friends, 31-70 close friends, 71-90 intimate, 91-100 complete loyalty)
Monkey D. Layfey - 80 points
Roronoa Zara - 40 points
Quest Page -Open-
Shop Page -Open-]
James was happy to see the status panel, and when he realized that there was still a realm above him, he felt that he at least now had a goal to achieve, so life wouldn't be too boring. After swiping away the status page, James noticed that he had five awaiting gift packs, and upon checking them he was shocked to see that each time one of his affection targets increased their affection stage, they provide him with relevant gift packs which are meant to help in future exchanges.
"Let's see what we got here… Let's open Zara's gift packs first"
James began by opening the two gift packs issued to him through Zara, and surprisingly, both gifts were finely crafted blades on the same level as Zara's Wado Ichimonji, standing on the same level as one of the 21 great blades.
"Zara will definitely like these two blades, I guess I hand them to her at a later date when I can get her alone and possibly raise her affection for me to the next level"
James stowed away the two blades in the room he had claimed as his own on the ship and while laying in bed began to open the three gift packs issued for Layfey's affection stage.
"Hmm, the first two aren't that bad, a devil fruit development guide for the Nika fruit, and a special Conqueror's Haki training manual. While I feel that perhaps having all three haki manuals would have been preferable, I'm aware that nobody in the world has a method to actively practice and train Conqueror's Haki, so this single manual is practically invaluable in itself!... As for the last gift pack? Hehehe, seems this gift can only be used by the two of us together!"
James took a long moment to stare at the third gift as a lewd grin spread across his face, eagerly anticipating the night to try and convince Layfey to test it out with him. James was happy with his gifts and prepared to find the perfect time to present them all to his partners, but now he has to prepare to welcome their third member, and future navigator, a woman James had dreamed about countless times before.
"James! James, we arrived at the next island!"
As James was still deep in thought about how to convince Layfey to play with him later that night, his musings were interrupted by Layfey's loud shouts from outside his room. Upon getting up to check what was going on, he realized they had arrived at Orange Town, and not far from the harbor where the ship was docked, James could see a group of rough looking men holding weapons ranging from guns, swords, daggers, and spears as they chased down a beautiful orange haired beauty who seemed to be trying to escape their encirclement and return to the docks to flee on her ship.
"Seems that our navigator needs assistance"
James mused to himself as he looked to Layfey who was standing next to him, and with a bright smile he pushed forward the suggestion.
"Hey, Layfey, you see that orange haired girl fleeing over there?"
"Hmm? Yeah, I see her, what's up?"
"Well she's the best navigator in the world, don't you think she would be perfect to fill the role of a navigator for the future pirate king?"
When James mentioned her role as a navigator, her eyes sparkled with a glimmering brilliance as she shot out like an arrow, propelling herself towards the orange haired beauty who was finally surrounded by the group of burly pirates, seemingly unwilling to embrace whatever fate awaits her.
"Stop right there, you villains! Release our navigator!"
As Layfey approached, her shout caught the attention of the surrounding pirates along with Nami who caught the specific phrase 'Navigator' from Layfey's words and felt the tension rise as she tried to think of a way to escape capture from both these pirates and this new unknown threat.