"Alright then. I will we going back now with Ramiris to help these people settle down there. Thankfully we have a lot of workforce thanks to her, so it won't be a problem"
"Hehe Looks like Great Ramiris's time to shine again!" said Ramiris excitedly, and then the two of them went back to the island with all the slaves.
'Yosh. Now that that's done, lets check on Lumi-chan'
"So did you manage to find anything?" asked Rimuru
"Nothing much. Seems like this one didn't bother about anything else other than his personal pleasure" said Luminas annoyed.
"Well no matter. At least he will be useful as our little puppet. I have plans for him. Make sure to train him well"
"Right. Leave it to me. The next time you see him, he will be better trained than the most highly trained dog in the entire existence!" said Luminas with an angry expression, and went back inside the torture room.
*
The next day-
"Lemme go and check on Koby and co real quick"
Suddenly he heard a loud shriek.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!"
"Get up brat. We are just getting started"
As soon as he reached there, what he saw was a painful sight. There was Koby lying on the ground, with half his limbs missing, remaining half broken, and a hole in his abdomen, almost on the verge of dying. Similar was the fate of Helmeppo as well. Akuta was the only one who was somewhat able to hold his own, but he didn't last more than a few seconds as well before entering the same condition.
"Looks like you guys are having your fun" said Rimuru with a casual look on his face, with snacks in one hand, proceeding to sit on a chair.
"Yo Rimuru. I just got started and they are down for the count already" said Guy.
"Ye I can see that. Just hurry up and heal them before they die" said Rimuru, and then Guy proceeded to splash them with Luminas's elixir.
"Ah looks like I m not dead yet!" said Helmeppo in relief.
"But you will be soon if you keep slacking off like this" said Guy, and started attacking them again.
'How is Luminas's Elixir still working, even though she isn't here?'
<Hai. It is concluded that her powers are still in effect within a certain range>
'Makes sense I guess' said Rimuru, while munching on chips and enjoying the show in front of him.
*
2 Days later. Navy headquarters-
"Damn it! How the hell is this possible!" said Sengoku in rage.
"It is indeed quite rare to see Akainu san fail and humiliated so miserable" said Kizaru with his usual monkey face, trimming his nails.
"Just tell me what I m supposed to do now! Not only is one of the celestial dragons missing, on top of that someone strong enough to go toe to toe with Akainu suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and was not only able to stall him, he actually stranded him in the middle of nowhere leaving him with no other choice than to pathetically wait for a ship to rescue him. If this goes out, the world government's image will basically be ruined. HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO RESPOND TO THIS!" shouted Sengoku angrily.
"Tch. The next time I see him I am going to kill that bastard" said Akainu angrily.
"Lets me go there this time. I will be sure to complete my job without fail." said Kizaru, which seemed to piss off Akainu even more "So Akainu san, were you at least able to find out the enemy's identity?"
"No I wasn't, but that scrap metal can was trying to stop me from reaching Jameri island for some reason, so I assume that's where the celestial dragon is"
"But how come such a technological beast, which makes our pacifiesta project seem like a child's play, just appear out of nowhere? And on top of that it was even immune to detection by haki? I have never even heard of such a thing in my entire life!" said Sengoku.
"So what are your thoughts on the culprit being the new warlord Rimuru?" asked Kizaru
"That's what I m thinking as well. Among all the well known pirates in that area, he is the biggest name. But we need more proof. Right now we don't have anything linking that freak to him, and we can't go around suspecting a warlord so casually" said Sengoku.
"Of course of course, they are our allies afterall, and these stardom pirates have grown so much in such a short amount of time, even more so than those straw hat pirates. I can't help but wonder where the world will be going in the future"
"Well for now I have called a meeting with all the other warlords. Lets see their opinions on them as well"
"Do you really think they would show up?"
"Some should. Hawkeye, Doflamingo and Kuma even showed up when we were discussing straw hat"
"Sorry to keep you waiting" said Kuma, just as he entered the meeting room
"About time. So are you the only one?"
"I suppose I will be joining in too" said Hawkeye
"Didn't expect to see you again so soon"
"Well I just wanted to tell you something regarding the stardom pirates. They have piqued my interest recently" said Hawkeye
"Ho? The great hawkeye being interested in a bunch of rookies? That unusual" said Kizaru in his monkey voice again.
"Bunch of Rookies huh? Right" said Hawkeye with a mocking smile on his face.
"I would like to hear more" said Sengoku, since as much as he knew Hawkeye, his reaction meant that he had something big to tell them about, and just as he was about to reveal it, a guard suddenly barged in.
"I have very important news sir!"
"Can it wait? We are in the middle of a very important meeting right now" said Sengoku.
"It is regarding the missing Celestial Dragon sir!"
"Go on"
"We just received a message from Sir Arnold. He said he has been safely rescued by the warlord Rimuru, and is now being returned to Mary Geoise"
"WHAT! And what about the ones who kidnapped him?"
"Sir Arnold has refused to elaborate any further, and has demanded more personnel and aid for him to settle losses he had to suffer"
"Ugh I understand. I will see to it soon. Is there anything else?"
"No sir. But according to our intel, Sir Arnold has gifted his entire treasury to Rimuru as a reward for saving him"
"Alright you are excused"
Then there was silence in the room for a moment.
"Now what? No way we are making it public that a mere pirate saved a celestial dragon. It will damage our reputation in more than one ways even if that pirate happens to be a warlord" said Sengoku.
"Now I must say these stardom pirates have gotten even more interesting"
"Tch looks like nothing but more trouble" said Akainu.
"For now lets continue the meeting. So what were you about to say Mikawk?"
"Right. So..."
*
"Just what is going on in that mischievous head of yours Rimuru?" asked Luminas
"Oh you see I have some future plans for our country Star Tempest, and he is going to play a crucial part in it. And thanks to your training him so well Luminas, he has now become a mere puppet who will do anything we want, no matter what it is, so we can use him all we want." said Rimuru with a smile.
"Of course. I quite enjoyed it myself, killing him again and again in the most gruesome ways, breaking his mind and body completely so many times that he has become incapable of even breathing unless I allow him to" said Luminas with an evil smile.
"Of course. Now we just have to continue our journey and wait for the right time patiently. Augh I m getting excited just thinking about it!" said Rimuru while dodging a hand coming towards his face.
"Hey watch it Milim!" said Rimuru
"Opps sorry! Looks like I got too carries away. Teeheee" said Milim while continuing on to beat the crap out of Helmeppo with one hand, blood splashing all over her.....
*
Somewhere unknown-
"Sir we have confirmed news on the culprit who stole your devil fruit that day"
"Hmm Continue"
"The culprit was the newly selected warlord and the leader of the Star Demon pirates, Rimuru Tempest"
"Tch A warlord huh? How troublesome. Due to those bastards we had to suffer a loss in the North Blue, and I had to face the consequences. Alright good work" said a mysterious figure sitting on a chair. He then got up from his chair and walked around.
'Rimuru Tempest huh. I can't wait to crush you with my own hands!'
*
The next day, two big pieces of news were circulated in the newspapers around the world. How much of it was true and how much covered up was a different matter entirely, but the fact remained that they were still big.
First was the public announcement of the new warlord, Rimuru Tempest. As a result, the bounty on all the crew members was removed, otherwise the world would have shook if the true numbers would have been revealed, especially since the case with a certain someone.
Other was regarding the strongest vice admiral after the legendary hero Garp himself. He was confirmed to have been killed in action, while trying to protect the innocent lives of civilians and the famous singer Atla from a group of notorious pirates. He fought till the end, and as a result no civilian was harmed, although unfortunately, he did not make it until medical help could reach him.
As for the incident with the celestial dragon? It was nowhere to be found.
"What do you make of this Garp? Akuta was one of the best we had, and for him to be endling like this is just." asked Tsuru san, sipping a cup of tea.
"Something is definitely wrong with all this. Just what the hell is Sengoku thinking?"
"Are you worried?" asked Tsuru with a serious expression.
"About the brats you mean? Nah. I know there is no way Akuta is dead. And if he is alive, there is no way those brats would have died"
"Well then what are you gonna do?"
"Me? Nothing. Let those brats handle the situation on their own, and make their own choices. I believe in Koby. He has the heart of a true marine even if he is a wimp sometimes Gahahaha"
"Right. You are Garp afterall. But there is this eerie feeling like something big is about to happen, and I can't just shake it"
"What do you know huh? The world is changing, new waves are forming. There is only so much we can do as marines to maintain the balance" said Garp in a serious tone.
"Hearing you say it makes me even more unsettled you know?"
"Gahaha right right. Lets just enjoy the drinks for now!"
*
And so, the 7 days of the hellish training were finally over, and the trio finally were able to rest for the first time in 168 hours.
"Hah Hah Hah That was really hell we went through"
"Its over! Finally its over!"
"It is indeed worth celebration" said Akuta, unable to hide his happiness.
"Yosh Yosh good work everyone! As a reward for your hard work, we are going to have a feast! We have prepared a special festival just for us, with the famous pop idol Atla on the stage!"
"I-is this a dream?"
"Wake up Koby it is reality! Whoooo!!!!!"
With that, they spent the rest of the day in celebration, and finally slept the night in peace.
*
"So how strong do you guys think they are right now?" asked Rimuru
"Hmm lets see. I can just say that they are definitely a lot stronger now. Especially Akuta. He was very quick to adapt to his new devil fruit, and combine it with his haki to obtain excellent results. He seems like he is just a step below admiral level now, but he will close that gap eventually." said Guy
"Do you think they would have improved more if we had decided to spend more days?" asked Rimuru
"I seriously doubt that. They had already almost stopped getting stronger on the sixth day itself, so it seems like they have reached saturation, and will only get stronger slowly over time now" said Leon
"Just as I thought. Welp lets just see how this turns things around" said Rimuru "we need to prepare to leave tomorrow"
"Right. So what is our next destination?" asked Dagruel.
"Lets see... our next destination is-"
Author's note: And thus ends the Jameri island Arc. So what do you think about this arc? Are you excited for the upcoming arc? Share your views in the comments and do consider voting if you liked it. Thx for reading