One Piece: Gambling to The Top

A/N: Advanced chapters ahead at patréon

www.patréon.com/Blazuki

-x-X-x-

A day after getting tricked by Josh, Akainu came back to the headquarter of the Navy and reported Josh to be dead.

A day after, new bounties were announced.

Kalifa gained 190 million Berries. Robin became 100 million worth. Mikita got 50 million. And Marianne's didn't increase.

One bounty was cancelled, and, of course, the journalists didn't forget to make a story about the guy who tricked the Buster Call and sank one of their ships, alone.

While resting on one island, Robin was holding the newspaper and reading the article about Josh.

The other girls were next to her, who by the way are trying to get a ship to go to Water 7.

[The Gambler break the legend of Buster Call]

[The bounty of the Gambler is cancelled]

While muttering the content of the article to the other girls, Robin's voice was shaky.

She knows about Josh ability to swim in the ocean, but it didn't change the fact that the article says that Josh's grave is made of a large island of obsidian.

Robin was so paranoid.

"He… is…" She couldn't continue reading.

Robin had never expected fate to be merciful toward her, as it had been always hard toward her. Now that she felt so much love toward Josh, who did everything for her, she felt like cracking up at any given second.

Mikita, on the other hand, was sitting on a stool, kicking with her feet while staring in the sea's direction.

If one looked carefully at her green eyes, they would see some redness around them.

Slowly, her eyes were getting wet.

Usually, she is a talkative girl. But it has been a full day since she didn't say any word.

"Mikita…" Robin called. Mikita didn't reply.

Robin continued. "Josh said he will bluff. Believe him, don't be bluffed too."

"Why your voice isn't so sure," Marianne said. She was sitting on the ground, her head buried on her knees.

"I'm just emotional." Robin regained her calm appearance and breathed. While Josh isn't around, Robin is the most experienced. She has to keep the group together until Josh is back, she hoped.

"I miss daddy. He always lifts me and kisses me on the cheek." Marianne rolled on the ground.

"I know he is alive… It's just…" Mikita didn't complete her words. "It's the first time we are desperate from each other. I and Joshy have always been together ever since joining the Baroque Works. I've always been happy with him. But in the last days, I'm not feeling well not seeing his face." Mikita lowered her head and covered her face with the bangs of her blonde hair

"He will be fine." Kalifa, who was in the back, said. "Otherwise, why am I still a vampire."

It's known that curse type Devil Fruits loses their ability after the user is dead or knocked out. (Sugar is an example)

Kalifa is still vampire, horny, and she can't help but wait for Josh while taking breaks to play with herself. But it's not pleasurable like Josh's hand. Josh's hand to Kalifa gives life a purpose.

Unlike the other girls, Kalifa didn't cry from her blue eyes. Her pink eye was the one that cried, missing Josh.

"I know." Mikita talked. "But Josh is lost in the sea… He would be hungry, and he won't talk to anyone. He would be lonely, and he knows no direction. He is just a sweet guy… How will handle it? Waa…" Mikita burst out a cry in sorrow.

Marianne, being the calmest one around, put her hand on the back of Mikita and she patted her back.

"The World Government bastards… I'll destroy them!" Mikita, while sobbing, promised herself.

Robin's eyes started streaming with tears. Mikita is right. Josh would be now in the middle of the Grand line with no way to navigate.

'There is no food for him.' Robin rubbed her eyes. 'He will be sleepless, as there may be a Sea King or a Sea Monster around him…'

Josh is a gentleman. In Robin's eyes, Josh is the kind man who saved Alabasta and has a very kind heart.

Robin had faced many hardships, and the one that Josh is facing now wasn't one of them.

"Kalifa." Robin turned to Kalifa, eyes full of determination.

"Yes."

"Teach me Storm Legs, Finger Gun, and Iron Mass," Robin said, clenching her fists. If she had been focusing on getting stronger ever since she was a kid, she wouldn't be at the mercy of the World Government. That had been confirmed to her after she ate the fruit.

"I'll train later, after moving to Water 7." Mikita stared blandly at the sea.

They all felt bad, sad, sorry for Josh who is now in the middle of nowhere. No one knows if he will be back alive. Even the bravest pirates don't move around the Grand Line without a navigator and a ship. But they didn't want to lose hope.

-x-X-x-

Josh was sitting on a boat, which happened to an item he had won, which was an Average rank item.

The boat was small, enough for three people to say on.

Other than Josh, there was an obsidian rock.

Next to the obsidian rock, there was a volleyball.

The volleyball had a slit on the top, full of straw that made it look like hair. On the surface, there was red drawn eyes and a smiling mouth.

On the first day, Josh had to spend on the sea, he tried his best to keep his mind intact, in hope that he reaches an island soon.

After the second day on the sea alone, Josh started feeling bored, and that if he doesn't talk to anyone soon, he would lose his mind.

On the third day, Josh felt he needed a talking buddy. Not talking for three days made Josh talk to nothing, literally.

Unlike Luffy, Josh has a mind to lose. He needed to keep it.

What Josh ended up was making this volleyball homie.

Wilson.

"I swear, Wilson, I tell you, you should have seen Akainu's expression when I cut his boat," Josh said, standing up while eating a banana. "He thought I was desperately attacking him."

Wilson smiling mouth didn't twitch, and it kept looking at Josh with its eyes.

Josh smiled and nodded. "I know you are excited as well."

At first, Josh had thought it's crazy that he would talk to a volleyball.

But after four days of loneliness, he can swear that he can understand Wilson's reaction to his words, even though Wilson wouldn't talk back.

Josh threw the rest of the banana back to the sea. Given the fact he has many common grade items, and some of them were food, he wasn't worried about starving.

Standing up, he looked at the stars in the sky. The night was calm, and Josh was feeling bored.

"Alright, how about we play a song."

Wilson seemed to nod to Josh.

(A/N: Wilson is the Volleyball that Josh uses to deal with his loneliness feelings)

Taking a guitar from his storage, Josh didn't feel any shame from doing the things that he wouldn't do in front of the others.

Why? Because no one is to see him.

Playing the instruments, which he had adapted to thanks to his talents, Josh started singing for the Wilson.

"Do you have the time, to listen to me whine, about nothing and everything all at once?" Josh seemed to be on the verge of losing his brain.

"I am one of those~ melodramatic fools. Neurotic to the bones, no doubt about it~"

He felt it's karma punishing him for mocking the edgelords online back at his beginning.

Josh continued. "Sometimes I give myself the creep. Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me. "

"And All keeps adding up, I think I'm cracking up."

"Am I just paranoid, or am I just stoned."

From Josh's perspective, the volleyball seemed to agree.

Josh, after a half-hour, stopped playing music.

One of the factors that made his mind play tricks on him was the fact that it has been days since he didn't sleep. Although Josh is strong enough to deal with sea monsters, he can't say the same if he slept on the boat.

Josh has 6 mystery boxes with Epic Tier, but he feels that his luck is bad currently, so he would wait until he finds a land. Not like he needs them now.

"Wilson, I'll take a nap, you wake me up when there is a monster approaching," Josh said.

Some sleep may help him to regain his mind.

Josh, however, upon remembering that Wilson can't talk, opened his eyes widely and looked around, his arms turning into a demon's. Josh raised his guards.

He can't just sleep and leave things to a volleyball.

When the morning came, Josh stared at his reflection in the water. It has been one hour, and the water didn't move at all. Josh took some coffee out of his storage and drank it.

While sipping, the reflection of Josh shook with the ripples. Underneath the boat, there were very large shadows moving. The shadows were the length of 5 kilometres.

In One Piece, there is one place with no wind, and it's called the nest of the Sea Kings.

"Wilson, I think we are in the Calm Belt."