"Michael… You…" Ziggy murmured.

He was crying and feeling sad, angry, guilty, and regretful all at once.

 

"No… It was an illusion…? All of it…?" Rebecca was also in shock.

 

The island, including the village, forest, and residents, was an illusion made by a dead man.

 

"Rebecca…" Ziggy called her after a brief moment of silence.

 

"Yes, Ziggy, what is it?" Rebecca replied, coming out of her shock.

 

"They were all my friends... They were not real in the end... but they were all my friends. Thanks, guys! I was never really lonely, thanks to all of you! Thank you, Michael, for taking care of me all these years!" Ziggy shouted, looking at the island.

 

"Rebecca, I've decided... Let's have an adventure. I want to visit every island and make friends with many people," Ziggy said passionately.

 

"We can do that, but first, we have to check on Happy. He is still unconscious. Then we have to check the gifts Michael mentioned and our next destination," Rebecca replied.

 

At that moment, a confused Happy walked out of a room on the ship.

 

"What happened, Rebecca?" Happy asked.

 

"Happy! You're okay!" Rebecca jumped and hugged him. "How do you feel?"

 

"Sleepy. Other than that, I feel fine. But what happened?"

 

"I'll tell you everything. Ziggy, you go and check on the gift."

 

"Okay."

 

Rebecca started to tell Happy about everything that happened and Ziggy patted Happy on the head on his way to the steering wheel. There was a big box about half his size. He opened it to find two boxes similar to treasure chests, a letter, some fruits and vegetables, some packed fish meat, and some gold. Ziggy was happy. He took the letter and read it.

 

~ "You thought it was Michael... 

But it was me, your Grandpa. 

Jihahaha... I am alive... probably... since I wrote this letter a few years before you received it. I asked Michael to take care of you, but he was dying from an incurable disease. He ate the Illusion Illusion Fruit and became the Illusionary human. He died when you were ten years old, and that was also when I stopped visiting you. I wrote this letter on that day. But before he died, he awakened his Devil Fruit power. That bastard... He awakened it with his desire to raise you and see you happy. With his powers, he created permanent illusions. And these gifts are from both of us, for when you're ready to sail the seas and have an adventure, and when you find a loyal friend to join your crew."

 

"Ziggy, you changed me. I couldn't visit you again after that day because I was afraid they would find out about you. After I heard what happened with Rogue, I couldn't take any chances. Don't forget that I love you, Ziggy."

 

"Now, about the gifts. One of the boxes should contain a Devil Fruit. It's for your crewmate if they haven't already eaten a Devil Fruit. The other box has a Log Pose and some Eternal Poses for important islands, along with my vivre card. If the card is still with you, it means I'm still alive, and you can find me on my island using the Eternal Pose. Only seek me out when you arrive on the Grand Line. With your Devil Fruit powers, it should be easy to get to my island."

 

"Ziggy, seek out Witch, Sister, Hermit, and Valkyrie and recruit them to your crew. They'll be in the South Blue. I only mentioned you, so it will be up to you to recruit them. Don't doubt your ambitions, Ziggy. Aim for the top. Jihahaha..."

 

"Yours lovingly, Grandpa." ~

 

 

"Grandpa…" Ziggy opened the two treasure chests and found some strange devices. One of them was a transparent sphere with a piece of paper inside it.

 

"You're still alive…" Ziggy muttered emotionally.

 

"When I find you, I'll punch you hard, you idiot Grandpa, for leaving me here alone despite the circumstances. And why did you write your laugh in a letter, you idiot Grandpa…" Ziggy screamed emotionally, looking at the sky.

 

He took out the Devil Fruit and its description from one of the boxes and put the letter in the other for safekeeping.

 

Rebecca and Happy came to Ziggy, hearing his screams.

 

"What was that, Ziggy?" Rebecca asked.

 

"It's nothing. My grandpa is still alive, and these gifts are from him and Michael. And here, it's for you. Eat it…" Ziggy tossed the Devil Fruit to Rebecca.

 

"What is this, Ziggy?" She caught it and examined it. It was a light blue-colored peach with swirls on it.

 

"Apparently, it's a Devil Fruit. Let me see." Ziggy picked up the paper describing the Devil Fruit. "It's the Leap Leap Fruit. It'll make you a Leaper-Human. It'll increase your jumping ability, giving you great speed and agility."

 

"Wow… a real Devil Fruit… This is my first time seeing one. Can I have it? Wasn't it from Michael and your Grandpa? Is it okay for me to eat it?" Rebecca asked.

 

"They said it's for my crewmate. I already have a Devil Fruit, so I can't eat it. If you don't want it, we can give it to Happy."

 

"I can't eat it. Because I'm also a Devil Fruit user. You can have it, Rebecca." Happy said.

 

"Woah!!! You're also a Devil Fruit user? Show me… what type? Is that why you can talk?" Ziggy excitedly asked.

 

"I can talk because I am a Mink. And I ate the Feather Feather Fruit, becoming the Feather-Mink." Happy manifested a pair of wings and flew above the ship. "I can manifest wings with my feather powers, and with them, I can fly."

 

"Awesome!!!" Ziggy said with stars in his eyes. "And what's a Mink? I haven't heard about it. Is that what they call cats?"

 

"No, Minks are a race of humanoids with furry mammalian features. They are actually from the New World. This guy was caught in a storm because he tried to fly with his powers and ended up on my island. I found him, rescued him from some bad guys, and left the island." Rebecca explained.

 

"Wow… there are all kinds of stuff in the world," Ziggy said excitedly.

 

Rebecca took a bite of the fruit, and her face scrunched up in disgust.

 

"This tastes horrible. But I ate it," she said.

 

Then she tried to activate her powers, resulting in her face-diving into the sea.

 

"Help me….!!!" she screamed.

 

"Rebecca…" Happy and Ziggy flew over to catch her before she fell into the sea.

 

"Let's not test the powers of a Devilfruit on a ship surrounded by sea. Let's wait until we reach the next island," Happy reprimanded Rebecca.

 

"Aye," Rebecca meekly replied.

 

Ziggy then brought over the other treasure chest.

 

"Guys, look... I don't know what these are, but Grandpa says they'll help with navigation. Do any of you know anything about this?" he asked.

 

"These are Log Pose and Eternal Poses. Log Pose is used for navigation in the Grand Line, but we only need a normal compass in the four blue seas. We have a normal compass with us, and with a map of the South Blue, we can sail around it," Happy started explaining. "Log Pose records the magnetic field of the islands in the Grand Line, which we can use to sail. It'll start recording the next island after we reach the first one. And these are Eternal Poses, which permanently record the location of a single island. So we can go there anytime. And this is a vivre card, which shows the direction of the person it's from."

 

"Whoa, Happy, you know everything," Ziggy praised.

 

"They taught basic stuff in school in my country," Happy said.

 

"So, Ziggy, where should we go now? What's the plan?" Rebecca asked.

 

Ziggy looked at the map of South Blue and started thinking.

 

"We need more people in our pirate crew. Grandpa said to find and recruit Witch, Sister, Hermit, and Valkyrie. Let's start with the nearest island. Let's go to Norma Island," Ziggy decided.

 

"Okay, let's go to Norma... Wait, did you just say pirate crew?" Rebecca was flabbergasted.

 

"Yeah... we are pirates now," Ziggy nodded.

 

"No, we can't be pirates... The Marines will be after us," Rebecca cried in disbelief.

 

"Nah... It'll be okay. Obviously, we can't be Marines. Bounty hunters are meh, and the last option is pirates," Ziggy sagely answered.

 

"We can be normal adventurers..."

 

"That's boring... Pirates are awesome. So we are pirates. And I am the captain, so the captain's decision is final."

 

"When did we select you as the captain?" Rebecca asked.

 

Happy was laughing at the back and forth between Ziggy and Rebecca.

 

"As your captain, I order us to go to Norma Island," Ziggy said, pointing in a direction.

 

"Aye, sir!!!" Happy shouted.

 

"No..." Rebecca shouted in failure.

 

"Ziggy, Norma isn't in that direction," Happy added.

 

"Then that way," Ziggy pointed in another direction.

 

"That's not it either," Happy sighed.

 

The newly formed, nameless pirate crew sailed to Norma in peace.