Chapter 16
While Nami demands that Luffy explain what he is, Buggy and Cabaji emerge unharmed from the reflected cannonball attack by using their own crew as a shield. Mohji briefly regains consciousness before being knocked aside by both Buggy and Luffy. Cabaji goes to attack Luffy, but Zoro intercepts the attack. However because of his injury from Buggy earlier, Zoro is at a disadvantage, but he grows tired of Cabaji attacking his wound, and decides to show him a real fight.
Versus The Buggy Pirate Crew
Nami demands that Luffy explain more about who he is, because she does not understand how he survived an attack from Richie. She also asks how he inflated himself, to which Luffy responds with the attack's name, much to Nami's dismay.
Buggy and Cabaji rise after having survived the attack from the reflected Buggy Ball, doing so by using other crew members as shields. Cabaji remarks that their current situation is the biggest humiliation their crew has ever received under their flag. Mohji regains consciousness and becomes upset at Cabaji, because Cabaji is holding an unconscious Richie. Cabaji tells Mohji that he used Ritchie as a shield so that his clothes would not get dirty. As Mohji goes over to check on Ritchie, he notices that Luffy is present.
Mohji warns his captain that he should be careful of Luffy, explaining that Luffy has eaten a Devil Fruit just like Buggy, and he is made of rubber. Nami, shocked, turns to Luffy who demonstrates his power by stretching his cheeks out. Buggy realizes that this is how Luffy reflected the Buggy Ball, and loses his temper with Mohji for not telling him about Luffy's powers sooner. Mohji is thrown by Buggy towards Luffy, who in turns slams him into a nearby wall and remarks that the fight has begun.
Cabaji, now on his unicycle, attacks Luffy, but Zoro intercepts the attack. Zoro remarks that if anyone is fighting with swords, he will be their opponent, and Cabaji replies that it would be an honor as a swordsman to kill Zoro. Luffy notices that Zoro is struggling by his wound from his earlier encounter with Buggy, and suggests that he should fight Cabaji while Zoro rests. Cabaji also notices the wound, and begins to attack Zoro using a fire-breathing trick, although Zoro evades the attack. Cabaji uses the opportunity to kick the wound, and Zoro falls to the ground in agony. Cabaji uses another trick to cause a dust storm to blind Zoro and strikes again. Zoro blocks the attack, but once again Cabaji kicks him directly in the wound and Zoro once again collapses in agony.
Cabaji mocks Zoro, saying that it is pathetic to see a grown man on the ground, and that it was a mistake for Zoro to make an enemy out of their crew. Nami decides that Zoro should have never started fighting, and begs Luffy to interfere; however, Luffy does nothing. Cabaji launches into the final attack, but Zoro gets up and knocks him aside. Zoro asks if Cabaji enjoys hitting his wound, before cutting himself again in the same spot. He declares his goal to be the world's greatest swordsman, and asks Cabaji if these additional wounds will satisfy him. Zoro then promises to show Cabaji the true difference in power levels between them, which leaves Luffy impressed.
Mission 1
In Ostania, a diplomat from the western country of Westalis has his driver take him to the embassy. On their way to the embassy, the driver discovers the brakes are not working, causing them to die in a car accident when the car drives off the side of a bridge. The Westalian Intelligence views it as an assassination by the far-right-wing political party from the eastern country of Ostania, attempting to spark a war between the two countries of Westalis and Ostania. They decide to put a stop to this scheme by leaving it to their most skilled agent, "Twilight."
Meanwhile, an investigator is handing photos of the Ostanian Minister of Foreign Affairs wearing a wig to an old man, who intends on using the pictures to force him to resign. He drives away in a black car, and the investigator slinks away, only to be interrupted by the same man demanding the photos, much to the investigator's confusion. It is revealed that the old man earlier was the skilled Westalian spy, Twilight, in disguise.
Twilight, now under the identity of "Robert," has a meal with the daughter of the old man, Karen, who talks about how mad her father was about the photos. Seeing a couple proposing in the restaurant, she brings up marriage to Robert, but Twilight, who no longer has a use for her, decides to break up with her instead. He walks away and disposes of both his fake glasses and his mask of "Robert," claiming he has long abandoned hopes of marriage and normal life as a spy.
Twilight is at a train station where he exchanges newspapers with a mysterious old man, who walks away and meows as a secret code for a cipher. Twilight gets on the train for Berlint and reads the given newspaper, revealing a secret message from his organization, WISE. They praise his efforts on his last mission and assign him his next mission: to investigate the Leader of the National Unity Party, Donovan Desmond, who threatens the peace between the two countries. To do this, Twilight is instructed to get married and have a child, which he responds to in shock by spitting out his coffee. The organization further explains that Donovan is rather paranoid and only comes out to the regular get-togethers held at his son's prestigious school, Eden Academy. Thus, he must enroll his child in this school to infiltrate these meetings and is given only one week to do so. The plan is introduced as "Operation Strix," the key to maintaining peace between the two countries, as well as the whole world. Twilight begrudgingly accepts the mission for the sake of a better world.
Twilight purchases a family unit in Ostania, going under a new identity as "Loid Forger," a psychiatrist. Loid goes to a rundown and shady-looking orphanage, seeking to adopt a child for Operation Strix. He asks for a child that can read and write, to which the orphanage owner introduces Anya, wanting to get rid of her due to her "creepiness." Loid is initially reluctant due to her young appearance and height, but Anya reassures his concerns by claiming she is six, then completes a crossword puzzle from a newspaper. After Loid adopts the girl, it is revealed that she is a telepath. Formerly known as Test Subject "007," Anya was created by accident and escaped from the facility of a mysterious organization. Loid brings Anya home and presents the setting that she has always been his daughter, but she introduces herself too honestly to their neighbor, to his annoyance.
Loid goes out shopping, and Anya insists on tagging along in the hopes of experiencing adventure. Loid's cautious spy mindset and Anya's mind-reading abilities cause some miscommunication between the two. Anya misreads a bakery sign as bacon and attempts to buy a 1 dalc poster with a 10 pent coin, causing Loid to wonder if the girl is dim-witted. He contemplates replacing her with another child, which causes Anya to burst into tears as she begs not to be "thrown away." Loid, confounded by her illogical behavior, borrows books and guides on raising a child. Although he initially reads the books earnestly, he eventually gives up, believing it to be a waste of time, as he and Anya will simply part ways when his mission is over.
The next day, Loid tries to get Anya to study for the enrollment test, but she is adamant about not studying, intending to depend on her telepathic powers to cheat instead. Frustrated, Loid decides to head out without Anya, but she persistently follows him until he barricades the entrance of their home and traps her inside. Loid meets with Franky, an information dealer at a tobacco store, who gives him an application form and appointment for the exam, along with a copy of the test. Franky also conducted a background investigation of Anya, revealing that there are no records of her birth, age, and parentage and that she has gone through various foster homes in the past year under various names, and he jokes that Anya is the perfect child for Loid in that regard. Loid leaves, but not before Franky warns him not to become too attached.
Back at the house, Anya is bored and disappointed that spies are not as exciting as she thought. She eyes a door that Loid locked up, containing his spy gear. Before Loid left, she read his mind to obtain the combination of his locked-up spy gear, which she uses to open Loid's transmission device. Anya fiddles with the equipment, resulting in her sending a transmission that is intercepted by the old man's organization. She sends a playful message, not realizing it is being read and interpreted as a mockery. Anya, now satisfied, hurriedly tidies everything to avoid Loid finding out. Anya flashes back to her past as a test subject, where the scientists remind her not to reveal her powers. She recalls being forced to learn how to use her powers by the scientists and not being allowed to play, solemnly realizing she must also hide her abilities from her new father.
Loid returns from his trip outside and notices that the barricade has been moved. He enters the house, revealing that a thug is hiding behind the door with a metal bar. The man attempts to hit him, but Loid dodges and counterattacks by striking his jaw with his palm, knocking him out. Another man inside tries to shoot at Loid, but Loid uses his groceries to guard against him and hits him with a chair while he is distracted. Loid searches for Anya, but she is nowhere to be seen. He initially panics and thinks of finding Anya but soon rationalizes that there is no shortage of kids. While Loid contemplates this, the first thug creeps up behind him and prepares to swing his bar.
At an abandoned supermarket, Anya has been gagged and bound. Her kidnappers, a gang headed by the old man, tracked the transmission signal and plan on using her as a hostage to force Twilight to take photos of the Minister's wig himself. An underling who suggests that they give up on the wig is shot in the head with a silenced pistol, frightening Anya. The thugs from the house arrive, bringing back a bound man with a paper bag over his head. The first thug, Nguyen, hobbles in pain and complains about Loid's abilities.
When the old man takes off the bag, the man is revealed to be Nguyen in Twilight's suit, to the shock of the others. The fake Nguyen has disappeared, along with Anya, and is now running away. Anya, moved by Twilight's decision to save her, bursts into tears, reminding him of his childhood as a crying war orphan. Outside, Twilight sets Anya down and lies that they are a team of pro tag players. He gives her directions to a police station, along with a note for them, now intending on putting Anya at a better orphanage and making a new plan without using a child. Anya tries to protest, but Loid chases her off and pulls off his disguise as he returns to the supermarket.
The old man and his gang run through the supermarket searching for Twilight, but one of them sets off a wire trap that releases flour into the air from bags on the ceiling, obscuring their vision. Twilight attacks the thugs one by one, using the flour as cover until they are all down. Standing behind the old man, Edgar, Twilight holds a gun to his head as he reveals he knows all of Karen's personal information and threatens her to ensure he is left alone for good.
Loid returns outside and is surprised to see Anya still there. Loid makes up an excuse for being there, not realizing Anya knows his identity. Anya clings to Loid, wanting to stay with Loid and return to their home. Loid is reminded that Anya has gone through numerous foster homes and brings her with him. On a tram, he lies that he found a venomous snake at their old home, and they must move houses.
Now taking the exam for Eden Academy, Anya tries to read the minds of other children for answers, but to her dismay, most of the children are panicked or in tears. Anya eventually calms down and remembers what Loid taught her, allowing her to pass when they see her exam number on the board. Loid is overjoyed with her success, relaxing and collapsing onto the ground from the fatigue. At their new home, Anya gets a letter from the mailman, then crawls into Loid's arms while he sleeps. Loid is startled awake, and Anya hands him the mail she received earlier, which turns out to be from Eden Academy. It informs them about the second phase of the admissions process is a mandatory family interview that needs both parents to be present. The father and daughter realize they are in trouble since there is no mother.
Hou Yi
In a time long past, an unexpected calamity came to be. From whence none knew, ten suns rose above the horizon. Such incessant light and heat ravaged the earth, wilting fields of grain, drying rivers, even melting forged metal. Bent beneath the scorching rays, the people begged the Emperor-God Di Jun to aid them. In reply, he called the great archer, Hou Yi.
Armed with a mystical red bow and a quiver of white arrows, Hou Yi traveled to Earth. What he found was a barren land. Shielding his eyes, he peered to the sky where the ten suns cruelly flared.
Nocking arrow to bow, Hou Yi loosed a warning at the suns hoping to frighten them away, but they impassively remained. So Hou Yi drew again and fired a killing shot. Pierced, the sun exploded in color and a giant red raven with three legs fell to the earth, slain by the white arrow.
Eight times more Hou Yi drew arrow to cheek. Eight shots more he let fly. Eight more bursts rent the sky, and eight more ravens fell dead. But one sun he left, and so fearful of Hou Yi's archery, this sun behaved, dipping below the horizon.
Now armed with the power of the red ravens he smote, sending light and fire against those that threaten the world, be it monster or beast, dragon or sun, man or God, Hou Yi is the Defender of the Earth.
The Firelord
Ragnaros is the Elemental Lord of Fire - like a flame, his only desire is to watch everything burn. The Firelord and his brethren once held sway over the entire world. As a servant of the Old Gods, he fought against the Titans for domination over the planet. The victorious Titans banished him and his brethren to the Elemental Planes — there to remain imprisoned until the end of time. It was then and there that the elementals turned on each other. For five millennia a battle was fought at the core of this world, with Ragnaros biding his time in the Firelands.
Ragnaros returned to the surface when the Dark Iron clan, in a desperate attempt to fight back against the other dwarven clans, summoned him into Redridge. His emergence permanently scarred the land and created the volcano known as Blackrock Mountain. Ragnaros swiftly proceeded to enslave the Dark Iron clan, and remained inside the Molten Core of the volcano to gather his strength. Now, he has turned his fiery gaze toward the Nexus in his quest to bring about the end of days by purging all life in flame and ash.
Harness the volcanic wrath of the Firelord to call down flaming meteors, crush foes with the explosive might of Sulfuras, and summon lava waves that will incinerate an entire lane's worth of enemy minions. When faced with a counter-attack, Ragnaros can empower a fort or keep, becoming a towering inferno over the structure and gaining a second set of abilities that will help you engulf assailants in the fires of doom. Ally yourself with Ragnaros to bring about a new era of destruction in the Nexus and show your opponents the true meaning of the words "raid boss".
Part 1
Smokywood Pastures Presents: A Smokywood Pastures Presentation of A Winter Veil Carol, brought to you by Graccu's Mincemeat Fruitcake—Timelessly Preserved! "She who controls the fruitcake controls the world!" Narrated by Smokywood Pastures' own Guchie Jinglepocket.
Yardley was dead, to begin with. There was no doubt about that. Killed by an adventurer looking to add to their gold stash, his pockets picked clean. Not even a scrap of linen remained.
This all played out well enough for Scrounge, who got all of Yardley's stuff—including his business, a couple of mounts, everything in his bank, and a few pets that Scrounge promptly sold on the Auction House. Scrounge may have been the sole griever at Yardley's gravesite, but he was mourning the loss of a dependable business partner more than a friend.
This brings us back to the assuredness of Yardley's demise—his death was as certain as taxes. I say this because, as you're well aware, death in Azeroth is sometimes just ... merely a setback.
Scrounge never changed the sign above the door that bore his and Yardley's name. That old copper-pincher just didn't want to pay the local goblin artisans to do it. Oh, but he was a tight-fisted, foul-breathed, rotting mass of flesh. An ideal to aspire to, really—minus the rotting flesh and halitosis, of course.
Scrounge had a lone scribe working for him at his counting house: Bob Bigheart, a dwarf who could spell his name both forward and backward (well, his first name at least). Which is great, because people like that save you money on nametags, unlike the boneheaded brother-in-law you put in charge of engravings who misspells an entire order of twelve dozen... right, the story.
Bob worked in an efficiently spaced corner with just the right amount of coal burning nearby to keep him from freezing to death—which would have been quite selfish of him really. Unlike the following incredible deal, brought to you by Smokywood Pastures: your first stop for fine Winter Veil foods and drink!
You’ve found Pepe! Now go buy him for yourself or a friend or a neighbor or just to have on hand to give out as party favors. You’ll definitely need more than one for that. Maybe five—five is good! Why, look at those cute little clippy feet and that rotating head. He’s so soft, so fluffy, so cute . . . and he could be yours! Now! Go! Er, wait! Do it after the story.
Scrounge had a nephew named Ted—a jolly fellow who wasn't bad with money, though he wasn't exactly rolling in it either. Ted showed up in Scrounge's office, interrupting him just as he was about to add some really wicked numbers together—we're talking six figures here.
"Greetings, uncle! Happy Winter Veil" he called.
"How can you be so happy about it?" Scrounge scoffed. "You don't even have enough gold to buy everything from the Smokywood Pastures Vendor."
"I'll be able to buy some things, uncle. I've already been eyeing the Honeyed Holiday Ham for my party—which I'm here to invite you to!"
"Bah, humbug! I'm not attending a party unless you have Graccu's Homemade Meat Pies, too. And Steamwheedle Fizzy Spirits."
"Well, we'll leave the light on for you anyway. We'd still love to have you visit."
And with that, Ted left, trying not to break down in tears after Scrounge's perfectly accurate assessment of how dreadful his party would be without the complete collection of Smokywood Pastures' wonderful products.
Then, to make matters worse: Bob dared to speak up and ask for time off for Winter Veil! Which is, of course, ridiculous, because the Smokywood Pastures staff is available 24 hours a day to supply delicious delights such as the scrumptiously meaty Spicy Beefstick!
Despite these outrages, Scrounge ended his day on a high note. He had foreclosed on a pair of gnomes who were a week overdue on their engineering loan and had increased his coffers by another 500 thousand gold—pretty good, all things considered. He closed up the shop and made the journey home to consume a Smokywood Pastures Sampler – a ritual from his less undead years – prior to bed.
But before he could get some much deserved shut-eye, his plans were interrupted by the appearance of his old partner "The Claw" Yardley—which, as you might recall, was quite unexpected because he was quite dead. Yardley glowed like a visitor returning from the Sludge Fens. He clacked his jaws and claws, forcing Scrounge to put a pillow over his head to drown out the racket.
"Scrooooooounge," his old partner said. Probably. It's hard to tell with him, really.
At first, Scrounge tried to blame this ghastly vision on a bit of bad Graccu's Mince Meat Fruitcake–which Smokywood Pastures assures you would be completely impossible, as we only use the finest artificial ingredients and flavorings—but he couldn't shake the hallucination.
"You'll be haunted by three spirits this night!" howled Yardley.
"That sounds expensive," said Scrounge. "And whatever for?"
"You have not done enough for your fellow people of Azeroth! The gold you've accumulated is worth nothing if you don't help the less fortunate buy all there is to be bought from Smokywood Pastures' mouth-watering catalog! Expect the first visit Soon™!"
Then as quickly as he had appeared, Yardley was gone, and Scrounge was left wondering why he was being plagued by a commercial ghost when he'd paid the monthly fee for ad-free hauntings.
With thoughts of a complaint letter forming in his head, he lay down to sleep, ready to put the whole horrid experience behind him.
Oda Eiichiro
When I was a child, I had a culture shock reading a book called My Father's Dragon. There is no other fictional creature as well-known as the dragon. Just who thought of it? How great!!
子供の頃「エルマーとりゅう」という本を読んでカルチャーショックを受けた。竜ほど親しまれている架空の生物は他にいない。一体誰が考えたんだ？偉い!!
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