Marcus squinted into the distance, trying to make out what Alvida had spotted. All he could see was a tiny black dot on the horizon.
He was very curious, how the hell had she seen that from so far away? Did becoming beautiful also give her enhanced eyesight or something?
The black dot was practically microscopic, but after about half an hour of sailing, it had grown into a proper island right in front of them.
Soon enough, Alvida found what she was looking for, her old ship anchored at the dock.
And her former crew members, the moment they laid eyes on her, immediately turned into drooling idiots with hearts practically floating out of their eyes.
This reaction made Alvida feel deeply uncomfortable. She'd been looking forward to seeing regret and shame on these bastards' faces when they realized who she was.
Instead, before she could even say a word, they all rushed over like moths to a flame.
"Hey there, gorgeous! Wanna have some fun with us?"
"The boys have been making good money lately, come live the good life with us!"
"Never thought this island would have such a stunner!"
Hearing this disgusting shit made Marcus frown. These guys were absolute scumbags.
"She's Alvida," he suddenly said.
His words made the lecherous men sober up briefly, but when they looked again at the smooth-skinned, smoking hot beauty in front of them, they burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, that's hilarious! That fatty could never look like this!"
"What a funny joke!"
"If she looked like this, I'd be happy to work on her ship until I died, even if she beat me with that spiked club every day!"
The group of pirates laughed heartily, completely unaware that Alvida had already hefted her iron mace.
Finally, a cold, dangerous chuckle escaped from her lips.
"So you're the one who said you'd be happy getting beaten by me every day?"
Her voice had changed, but the tone was unmistakable, and the sound was still familiar to anyone who'd served under her.
Instinctively, the group of pirates shrank back, suddenly feeling like they were right back under Alvida's brutal rule.
Then they noticed the spiked club she was holding.
The familiar weapon.
The familiar hat.
The familiar cape.
And now, somehow, that familiar attitude in a completely unfamiliar face.
A terrifying realization struck their minds like lightning.
But before they could react or run, the spiked club came swinging down.
Instantly, chaos erupted on the dock. Bodies went flying in every direction like bowling pins.
Marcus watched the scene and shook his head. "That's one way to handle a reunion."
---
A while later, as their ship sailed away from the now-distant dock...
"I thought you were going to kill them all," Marcus said, leaning against the ship's railing and watching the island fade into the distance.
"Kill them? That would be too easy for those bastards. I want them to live with the regret of betraying me," Alvida said proudly, lifting her chin.
"Now I've got the looks and the body to make them really suffer."
As she spoke, she pulled out a small hand mirror and started admiring her reflection.
"Ah~ I could look at myself forever and never get bored."
Marcus was speechless at Alvida's narcissism. She'd been like this ever since her transformation.
Though it made sense, really. After being ugly for over twenty years, of course she'd want to spend some time appreciating her new appearance.
It was kind of like how Marcus still hadn't fully adjusted to being in the One Piece world. Watching Alvida rampage through her former crew had felt like watching a TV show rather than real life.
But there was something he needed to seriously think about now, his own strength.
Because of the shock of transmigrating, the power of his Devil Fruit, and the inflated confidence he'd gotten from acquiring Minecraft abilities, he hadn't truly grasped the gap in power between himself and the people of this world.
But after watching Alvida's sweeping attacks just now, he suddenly realized something important.
He was still pretty fucking weak.
He looked down at his not-so-muscular arms and sighed.
"Yeah... I really should start training seriously. After all, the One Piece world isn't as peaceful as modern Earth."
But how exactly did a Minecraft player get stronger? Could he even awaken Haki?
He placed two wooden blocks on the deck and summoned a stone sword from his inventory.
If this were just a game, hitting blocks wouldn't even damage the sword's durability. But in reality...
He gripped the sword with both hands and slammed it down toward the wooden blocks with all his strength.
The stone sword remained intact, but its durability dropped noticeably. More importantly, he felt the impact vibrate through his hands, making his palms go numb from the shock.
The wooden block developed visible cracks from the impact, but within a second, it had regenerated completely.
He had to face an uncomfortable truth: he wasn't as strong as Alvida. Not even close.
Marcus' little experiment didn't go unnoticed, Alvida had been watching.
"You're a swordsman?"
"Something like that," Marcus didn't deny it. "By the way, why did you choose a spiked club as your weapon?"
"Because it looks powerful and shows off my strength, obviously," Alvida replied matter-of-factly.
Marcus nodded. That was very much her personality, she admired strength above all else. If she didn't, she never would have gone after Luffy in the original story.
Come to think of it, if she kept getting stronger at this rate... could she eventually become some kind of fusion between Kaido and Big Mom?
That would actually be pretty awesome.
But watching her admire herself in the mirror again brought Marcus back to reality.
"So, uh... which direction are we supposed to be heading now?"
"Uh..."
The air suddenly went dead silent.
As the captain, Alvida had always only decided where to go, navigation was always handled by a navigator. She'd never actually had to know how to sail herself.
And Marcus, being a modern Earth guy, was experiencing his first time at sea.
"If we're planning to look for that Straw Hat, we could head for Loguetown," Alvida suggested after a moment. "It's the last stop before entering the Grand Line."
"Do you know how to get there?"
"..."
"How about we recruit a navigator first?"
"Good thinking."
Raise the sails, turn around and head back.
They returned to the dock they'd just left.
After Alvida's rampage earlier, the dock should have been in complete chaos, but somehow everything was already back to normal, with dockworkers going about their business as usual.
When the workers saw Alvida returning, they all quickly scattered, knowing exactly how dangerous she was.
Neither Marcus nor Alvida thought much of their reaction. They simply went about their business.
Leave someone to guard the ship? No need.
Marcus had already dismantled all the doors at entry points and blocked them with wooden planks. The ship was still tethered to the dock with a stone rope connection, if someone wanted to sneak aboard, they wouldn't even be able to find an entrance. As for the windows, he'd sealed those from the inside.
"You're sure you don't know how to navigate?" Marcus confirmed again.
Alvida nodded emphatically. "Why would you think I'd know how to sail? I was always the captain, not the navigator."
Marcus scratched his head. He couldn't exactly tell her that he'd watched the anime and knew she'd somehow managed to sail with Buggy and even track down other pirate crews.
Wait, maybe Buggy could sense where his body parts were? That would explain how they'd been able to locate his scattered crew so precisely.
With that realization, he finally understood why Alvida had teamed up with Buggy in the original story. After all, even the lowest-ranking crew members in One Piece had picked up basic sailing skills after years drifting on the sea. Alvida had no clear goal at that time, so sticking with Buggy was like finding a guide, and they could search for Luffy at the same time.
In the end, it made perfect sense they'd stuck together.
"By the way," he asked curiously, "we're supposed to pay crew members, right?"
"Of course! Why else would they work for you?" Alvida replied without hesitation.
Marcus' expression became a little troubled.
Right.
Money.
But then again… it did make sense.