"A neuro-transfer headset," Micheal exclaimed, his pupils dilating in shock.
"You know your stuff. I knew you were the one I was looking for," Ironbeard's voice sounded, elated.
"He was looking for me," Micheal thought, confused.
From Ironbeard's tone, it felt as if he had truly found a long-lost treasure.
One he had fervently been searching for.
Now that the situation had calmed a bit, Micheal's mind, a bit clearer, realized that the whole situation seemed fishy.
Mr. Dickson was probably killed when they thought he had contacted someone, but he, despite tailing them, wasn't killed; instead, he was interrogated.
"Was he truly looking for me?" Micheal began to browse his memory for any encounter with cyberpunks.
He couldn't fathom why cyberpunks like the Ironbeard Pirates would be after him.
He was a model student, true and true, avoiding any and all trouble. Though trouble did find him, it wasn't at the level of the Ironbeard pirates.
"Mr. Ironbeard, if I may, what are you looking for me for..." he inquired in the most polite tone.
"Arg," he winced, the sudden jolt of pain, reminding him of his broken jaw.
His jaw was bruised, shards of bone visible, dried blood coating his chin.
The sudden realization of pain brought a ripple of pain from the rest of his body.
The several wounds he had accumulated throughout the encounter pained him.
He had been bruised all over, especially the hole in his side.
"Sorry about that, you shouldn't have called..." Ironbeard's paused, seemingly pondering something.
"Wait, how did you even call them..." he inquired, more to himself than Micheal, a bit surprised by the turn of events.
There was a jammer in the room, as well as the commercial ones used by the hotel, yet Micheal easily bypassed all of them and contacted police.
"Hahahaha, you really are the creator of the C.C.," he laughed, further confusing Micheal.
"C.C.? What's that?" Micheal thought to himself.
Slowly, he tried to bite past the pain and ask Ironbeard, but before he could form a word...
Boom!!!
A loud explosion sounded, the Lucy slightly shaking.
"Ironbeard, my guy, get out here!" a thundering voice boomed, friendly with a tinge of mockery.
"That fucking heavenly monkey," Ironbeard cussed as he strolled out, leaving Micheal confused and alone.
On the deck, countless crewmates stood, their weapons brandished, ready for an imminent battle.
This wasn't the police they had expected but a different party, a supposed ally.
Flying above them was a jade-green mechanical Eastern dragon, half the size of Lucy yet imposing in its own right.
It shone with numerous neon lit graffiti of chaotic and incomprehensible drawings, not in the least diminishing its dominance, seemingly adding more menace, like the rose tattoos of a yakuza.
"Heavenly Monkey, what do you want?" Ironbeard's voice boomed as he directed the question to the aircraft above.
"Old friend, you know what I want..." A figure stepped out of the opened mechanical maw of the dragon, walking with drunken grace.
Seemingly suicidal, he jumped down, skillfully landing on the deck. "Let's quit with the formalities and hand it over..."
He wasn't human, neither was he fully a cyborg, but a cyber soldier, at least he used to be.
A test subject for cyberware before it made it to the market, an ape.
He was adorned in heavy black armor and headgear that closely resembled a boxing headguard, fitting perfectly on his head.
Cables ran from the helmet to his suit, the chest plate bearing an insignia of an Eastern dragon.
The Heavenly Monkey, one of the oldest and earliest cyberpunks of T.hill city.
"Do you think I am easy to bully just because I am in your territory?" Ironbeard looked down at him, standing a whole head taller than him.
"Punks these days don't have any respect for their elders," the Heavenly Monkey chuckled, his gaze forward, unwilling to look up.
He snapped his fingers, and taking that as their cue, the mechanical jade dragon shot a laser directed at Ironbeard.
But before the attack could reach him, he sidestepped rather effortlessly, his gaze still on the Heavenly Monkey.
"Even in such an injured state, you haven't lost your edge," the Heavenly Monkey finally looked at Ironbeard, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"But it doesn't matter. You have entered my territory and also have something I want... If you won't give it to me freely, I will pull it out of that iron skull of yours if need be." The Heavenly Monkey jumped up, levitating in the air by the power of the anti-gravity suit.
"Bring it on, ye blasted monkey! We ain't that weak ." one of Ironbeard's crewmates spat.
His sudden outbursts enraging the Heavenly Monkey.
"It seems you want it the hard way. So be it. Rain down the heavenly tribulation on these fools," he ordered, flying up to join his crew.
"Crew! Them landlubbers reckon the Lucy's naught but a slug... Let's show 'em we be krakens " Ironbeard roared, his fist raised for morale.
"Aye , aye Cap'n!"
The pirates quickly ran to their posts, each to man a weapon, either for defense or attack.
They weren't from T.hill but that didn't mean the locals could bully them.
Ironbeard, seemingly assured of their victory, returned to his cabin.
He had something to do, and looking at the current circumstances, he felt he needed not worry, after all the were in board the Lucy.
...
"Hey kid, get ready." Ironbeard sat in the other mechanical chair, the two opposite each other.
He strapped himself in, Micheal quietly observing him.
Just like Micheal, he too placed a neuro-transfer headset on his head, ready to transfer Micheal's memories into his.
A process of complete transfer that, if not done properly, could leave the other person brain damaged.
And looking at the old cyberware, the safety precautions were long thrown out the window.
It was almost assured that this would fry his brain.
The machinery hummed to life, the neon lights blinking rapidly.
Sparks occasionally flew, evident the equipment wasnt well maintained, but Micheal wasn't having it.
He wasn't going to die that easily.
Life hadn't been fair and he wasn't going to opt out of it that easily.
He had been busy since Ironbeard left, his iris running with code, blood oozing out of his nose as he tried to do the impossible.
He wanted to reverse the flow, something that should have been impossible.
But for him, an 'A+' student in software engineering, it was just difficult.
His hazel eyes turned green as a smile tugged at his lips. "Got you."