Space-Space Fruit in One Piece

After arriving outside, countless people had already gathered on the streets, looking around in confusion. Their eyes were fearful but also empty, seemingly holding no will to live.

Those people had been completely brainwashed for at least a few months. Some of them for years. None of their actions had been of their own accord and it showed in their expression. They were not used to controlling their body themselves, so they walked around somewhat shakily.

As soon as the first of them noticed someone coming out of the now collapsed palace, they tried to run away, causing a mass-panic to spread out.

Eren sighed, before locking the space around them in a large circle, effectively closing off the city. 'It's only natural for them to be fearful. After all they are afraid to be controlled once again after just having regained their freedom, but for now I still have some use for them.'

He frowned at the chaos that had begun to spread around them, before raising his voice. "STOP RUNNING."

This didn't do much to stop the frightened masses though, as not a single person listened to him. The only effect it had was that it motivated them to run even faster.

But as soon as the first people reached the border of the area Eren had locked down, they started slowing down. After all they were unable to move, so its not like they even had another choice.

Even the barrier didn't have the wished effect, as the inhabitants of the city did not calm in the slightest by the fact that they were unable to flee.

"Who could have expected that?" Enel said in a sarcastic tone, which led to Eren rubbing his eyes in exhasperation.

Realizing that words wouldn't work, he made a slow explosion gesture with his hands by opening his fingers slowly. Enel immediately knew what he meant and grinned, before calling down a giant bolt of lightning.

The bolt was aimed right at the top of the palace and caused large parts of the already dilapitated building to collapse even further.

"Stop running or we will kill you!" Eren screamed. This time his words combined with the loud explosion in the background seemed to have some effect, as the crowd calmed down quite a bit before turning towards the trio with fearful expressions.

"Now that I finally have your attention, I wanted to inform you about your cars ex- Ahem, I mean I want to tell you that Paolo Datura has died. You are now free. Well, almost free." Eren announced in a loud voice.

The crowd turned from confused, to cheerful, to fearful really fast, as they heard his words. What did he mean by almost free? At least it didn't really sound like he wanted to keep them here for long.

"I will lift the restriction binding you very soon. The only thing I need is a doctor for my injured comrade who also fought to free you from the warlords atrocities. After that you are free to go and rebuild your city, as I will also leave this island as soon as he is healthy again."

"Thank you so much!"

"You're our savior!"

"Paolo got what he deserved, you're a true hero young man!"

"Sister, you're finally avenged!"

The crowd broke out into cheers, many of them even began to cry. Almost all of them wer victims who had lost several good friends or family to the warlord. The news that they were finally free left them with new hope but also a void in their heart.

The fact that most of their loved ones are dead right now once again sunk in and left a bad taste behind, even with all the good news. Some of the people here simply didn't have a purpose to live anymore.

Seeing the crowds reaction also filled Eren with a sense of accomplishment. Saving the lives of so many people was an achievement he could truly be proud of. In this one day he had done more good deeds than in his entire past life.

But at the same time he also realized something. This wasn't just an anime on a screen, where the suffering of the people didn't affect him much. All of those people were real. Real humans with real emotions and goals.

This realization once again strengthened him in his desire to overthrow the world government. He was not just acting because the world's spirit told him so, but also because he wanted to do it.

'No wonder most of the Marines hated the system of 7 Warlords of the Sea. During the anime most of them except for Doflamingo and Crocodile didn't even seem that bad, but considering that such a scumbag used to be part of them really explains all the hate they got.'

While Eren was still lost in thought, a young woman of about 16 years stepped out of the crowd. She made her way towards him and stopped just a few meters away from the trio's position.

"I'm a doctor, so let me save you friend over there." It was a girl that Eren had already noticed earlier, as she was probably the only one who didn't run away in fear, but instead stayed calm and collected.

Even now she spoke without much emotion in her voice, almost as if the happenings around her didn't affect her at all.

Her looks were pretty average. She was about 1.68 meters (5'5) tall, with shoulder length black hair that was as straight as could be and brown eyes. Her body and face didn't stand out from the crowd. Her lips were neither small nor big, as was her nose, eyebrows, chin, chest and anything else for that fact.

Eren just looked at her with a raised eyebrows before stepping aside and letting her have a look at Wyper.

When she saw his state, she was slightly surprised, but not as shocked as a normal person would be if they saw someone with such heavy wounds still breathing. She quickly got to work and tended to his wounds.

The entire process took almost 30 hours, and Eren was watching her like a hawk the entire time. While he wasn't a doctor himself, he used to be a med student and would at least be able to tell if she did something extremely harmful.

After she was finished, Wyper had been mummified from head to toe, making him seem like a corpse. Eren judged the girls skills as somewhat average. Not bad but also not outstanding.

As soon as the last step was finished, she wanted to stand up and walk away, but Eren stopped her. He could feel that she was somehow special.

"Do you still need something?" She asked Eren without much emotion in her voice.

"Well, why don't you tell me your name first? Don't be so quick to run away now, I would like to reward you for helping us. With money of course." He said.

"Names Ava A. Rich. And I don't need your money. I do not need much to live and can get by with what I make as a doctor." She spoke, wanting to walk away again if Eren didn't stop her by putting his hand on her shoulder.

As soon as she spoke her name, he knew that he wanted to recruit her. Come on - someone with a one letter second name couldn't be average. Even if her name might suggest otherwise.

'Seriously. Who names their child average?' Eren wondered. But he honestly didn't care.

"How about you join my crew instead, I still need a doctor, and you seem like a good fit." Eren just asked her directly. Meanwhile Enel in the back felt slightly offended. Shouldn't he discuss such a decision with his vice-captain first?

Ava was slightly taken aback, but answered immediately. "If you want me to."

"Come on, just tell me your demands. As long as I can fulfill them, I will do-" Eren was already prepared to give a convincing speech, only to abruptly stop in the middle of it.

Did she just agree without even asking for any details? He certainly didn't mind, but this new crewmember of his was truly weird. Eren cleared his throat awkwardly before continuing.

"Sure, I knew you would agree. How about we head to the boat first and speaking about the remaining details over there?" Eren was truly shameless and simply threw the packaged Wyper over his shoulder before walking towards the port.

Of course not before snipping his fingers and lifting the manipulation he had applied to space that kept the people here trapped. After they noticed that they were free again, many of them quickly ran towards Eren and Enel to thank them before making their way towards their houses.

Feeling the gratitude all those people had for him truly warmed Eren's heart. Even Enel found it hard to keep up his aloof image.

This significantly drew out their journey to the ship, but they eventually arrived nonetheless. As they stood before the boat, Eren handed Wyper over to Ava and signaled her to go onto the deck already. He said that he and Enel would arrive soon, but still had something they needed to take care off.

Afterwards he traveled a few kilometers with Enel until they reached an open clearing between two mountains. Thanks to Eren's fruit ability this journey barely took a few seconds though.

As soon as they arrived, both siblings tensed up slightly, their awareness at its peak.

"Don't you think you have watched long enough? I feel like its time to come out, now that we're alone. Kizaru."

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Truly scary-ne. If you don't drop some power stones or reviews, then Kizaru will visit you.

Amount of RAW(!) Onions consumed during the islands celebratory feast on the following day: 83!!!

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OnionLover