Chapter 24: Present
Present day on Zou on the edge of Zunesha stood many minks who were helping to lower a large ship that looked like it could be lived on by up to seven or more people down into the water.
The ship was mostly made of wood and metal but there were still many parts which had been fitted properly with wood or other materials to avoid slipping over the wet floor while and for other situations at sea.
It had the same shape and similar design to the perfume yuda which is the ship of the Kuja pirates with a waterwheel at both sides at the back.
The ship was a smaller design but big enough so that it also had enough space for a small crew to live in which had a meeting room or lounge which was also used for cooking and other things, mens room, storage room, cannon deck and anchor room but also a bathroom.
After much trial and error but also considering the cost to build it, she decided to only partially help build the ship and request for it to be built with the help of others.
She helped mainly with the metal working and other engineering based jobs but her main focus was on helping design and equip the cannons on the ship with Nica and the old man and also adding other appliances to help with their daily life.
Alyssia knew that she wasn't exactly the richest mink in Zou even with her job as a guardian so she had no choice but to not go with her idea of building a metal ship because she still lacked the skills and knowledge to be able to produce a more modern ship but also the funding needed to make it.
Among the many minks who lowered the ship into the sea a tall figure was among them.
Much like the female shape of one piece that was overly curvy and thin, the teenage mink had a similar body to Nami pre timeskip but had longer and slightly different shaped legs like a kangaroo but not as obvious as she was still a humanoid beast person.
Strangely enough… her form had not changed from what she had chosen from her character creation menu and would not be changed no matter how much she seemed to work out.
She expected that with enough training she would become more muscular but it seemed like her power was being contained within her fixed body shape much like how Luffy barely shows any physical changes besides adding on some extra muscle definition throughout the manga so she concluded that she had a weird physique that only changes as she grows to fit what she saw during the character creation.
Her curvy black hair had grown past her shoulders and on top of her head was a dark grey fedora hat with a white stripe on it, flat top and a neck strap attached to it.
On the hat there were two parts where her long pointed grey ears came out and pointed upward.
After getting a grasp on Sulong, Alyssia began to wear a hat to cover her eyes during a full moon but soon it became a habit to carry or wear her hat at all times.
On her body was a sleeveless white tank top, black shorts that went down to the middle of her upper leg, a pair of knee and elbow protectors and a pair of black slip on shoes.
At her waist was a small attachment with small parts hanging by her waist which seemed to be parts of a staff but on her back there seemed to be an additional attachment which looked a lot like sheathed blade attachments.
While she had focussed solely on her leg martial arts she was not yet fully confident in dealing with many opponents at once without practice who intended to capture or harm her so she began to work on her staff skill changing between different configurations and also learning shooting in her free time.
The staff was long but could be separated into two and at the ends it was able to use different attachments so she began to experiment with it.
One attachment was to better make use of blunt attacks while channeling her electro into the staff but the other focussed more on sharp attacks.
The reaper like blades could be fixed in place on each end while the staff is spun or one could be used while the other attachment was on the other end but the balance would be affected so she found that she preferred to only use the reaper attachments when she wished to split the staff in two so she could dual wield them.
She named this staff the black electro staff after it had been modified to better suit using electro and tried to train in both uses of the staff with each attachments so that if she was up against many enemies she would have a weapon to better defend herself from their many swords and spears.
She could choose between using the blunt attachment for to knock out or injure her enemies but if she needed to kill or injure her opponent badly then the reaper blade attachment was also there.
Carrot, Tristan and Nica had grown up over the years but many things remained the same about them.
Carrot was wearing clothing a little similar to Alyssia but on her shirt was a cartoon picture of a carrot and she had also carried on her back a backpack which was full of carrots and other useless junk.
Tristan was dressed a little more conservatively and carried a bag full of her medical tools and supplies.
Nica was the smallest of the four of them and was barely even half of their size so in the crowd she was barely noticeable as she watched the boat being lowered with a studying gaze as she carried a bag full of tools with her and had a small version of a sniper on her back and little pistols at her waist.
By them there was also another two male minks who had wished to follow along with their journey but were on the weaker side of the crew compared to the four of them.
One was a dog mink named Clifford and a bear mink called Archie, both of them possessed Electro and the ability to fight but their specialties lied elsewhere.
Clifford had an interest in swords while Archie had more of an interest in ship building or repairs and wishing to be a helmsman of a ship one day.
It took some time to lower the ship safely and when it was about to reach the bottom along with their future supplies everyone began to say their goodbyes.
Suddenly Alyssia was attacked by her parents who looked a little sad to see their daughter leaving on her own adventure without them. "Garchu! Stay safe out there my child."
Her mother also joined in as she rubbed against her daughters cheek with her own. "Protect yourself well my daughter."
Alyssia who had grown used to these attacks by now could only smile helplessly and reply. "Do not worry mom and dad. I will do my best to return to you unharmed."
The two parents eventually released her from her grip and she saw Cat Viper who was off in the distance with the guardians who were waving to her.
Acknowledging their presence she bowed to them all to express her gratitude for their help to make her what she is today and set out on her journey as she climbed down the rope towards the ship along with her companions.
Not long after they had landed on the ship and released the ropes to set sail, Alyssia began to order Carrot, Clifford and Archie around. "Carrot your job is to be the lookout and Clifford your job is to make sure everything is ready and secured with Archie and then Archie can begin to take up the position behind the wheel. Tristan and Nica you make sure to check our inventory and weapons."
Alyssia took out a bag as she entered the lounge and took out several globe like things with different name tags on them that she had brought along from the minks collection to help with her journey.
On some of them the names were recognisable to the eyes of many one piece fans like Fishmen Island, Alabasta, Water Seven and Sabaody Archipelago.
Although some of those places were sensitive for the stories original timeline being messed with it did not mean that she could not visit there quietly on her journey around the grand line.
After they set sail and left Zou out of sight, Cat Viper returned to his home and found a letter among his documents.
A smile was on his face as he knew who it was from but as he read it his face became serious.
On the letter it read. [Master, I hope that you will make up with Duke Dogstorm over the past events and forge a stronger Zou that is not divided by factions. Also from what you had mentioned about your past I have come up with a theory. Among you lurks a traitor which you all know but would not dare to identify because all of you scabbards were so close so you cannot possibly guess so I will do it for you. For such a person to be able to deceive everyone they must have superior acting skills, those that possess such traits sometimes have an artistic side to them of some kind shown but sometimes they also use certain ways to hide that side in their own way by downplaying their true skills. If there is such a person within the scabbards then I hope that I have helped to identify them. Best of luck master."
After reading everything Cat Viper's eyes glinted with a look of betrayal as an image of a person appeared in his mind. "It couldn't be… if so then we have all missed it-nya. We have been so blind to the truth-nya. Why would he do it-nya?!"
After thinking for a while he made up his mind and went to see Duke Dogstorm to report what had been discovered from an outsiders perspective.
From this day onwards would spark the minks revival and the two leaders crazy quest to grow stronger so that they could avenge their master and strike down the traitor.
It was not long until Pedro returned to Zou with his crew after giving up their pursuit of the Poneglyphs and deciding against raiding Big Mom's island just to get a copy of one.
After he gave up on the idea after receiving Alyssia's reminder, when the time came he wished to witness the new generation and how they affect the world so he decided to continue his journey for a little while longer before returning home with his crew so not long after Alyssia left he had returned to help Cat Viper with what he had planned for the future.