Merry’s Awakening

"It's okay, Liam. You got angry for me, didn't you?" Luffy smiled and raised Liam's shoulder.

Liam slowly showed a smile as he nodded his head.

Luffy smiled back and said.

"I see Shanks as my mentor. I want to be a pirate just like him. So, I never care about anyone who doesn't harm my friends."

"But, you don't need to do that. You are the Vice Captain of this crew and you can do whatever you want. So, if you meet a person like that Spring guy next time."

Luffy clenched his fist and said.

"Beat him!"

Luffy also understood Liam's mood perfectly. Liam was fighting for his honor as the captain. If someone tries to make fun of his captain or show disrespect to his captain, Liam wouldn't stay silent.

That's why he attacked Bellamy.

Luffy might not care about the people like Bellamy but he understood that he mustn't stop Liam from doing what he wants to do.

Because Liam might be fighting with anger but he is also fighting for the honor of his captain, he is fighting for Luffy.

Liam smiled upon hearing that. He didn't expect Luffy would realize something but he suddenly remembered something.

Luffy might be an idiot but he was only an idiot because nobody taught him anything. He grew up with a muscle-headed grandpa and then got raised by a bunch of bandits.

That's why his intelligence was low.

But, Luffy's wisdom was never low. Whenever he does show his wisdom, he instantly understands the core of everything. Whether this has something to do with emotions or battle, he could understand the core of everything.

"Actually, I should be the one apologizing."

Usopp's voice sounded as he clenched his fist and continued.

"Luffy, we might be friends but you are also my Captain. When it is something serious, I shouldn't let my emotions speak for me."

Hearing his words, Luffy chuckled.

"It's okay, Usopp. Neither Liam nor I am angry at you."

"You guys get so serious out of nowhere that it frightens me every time." Nami complained from the side.

"But, it is true that we must respect the Captain." Robin smiled and chuckled.

"A ship where the crew does not have any respect for Captain is bound to fall. Liam understands this and this is why he was angry. Sometimes we make decisions in rage."

Zoro spoke. At first, his expression was quite serious but as he continued, the smile slowly formed on his face.

"But, as long as you can apologize with all your heart, your mistake can be forgiven."

"I hate to say it but I agree with Moss Head." Sanji smoked a cigarette as he spoke.

"By the way Liam-san, why did you call us all here?" Vivi curiously asked.

"Yeah! I was in the middle of my experiment." Chopper nodded his cute head and spoke.

"Hehe! Chopper, this is much more important than your experiment." Liam chuckled and then looked at Luffy.

"You are the Captain. You should introduce her."

Luffy's grin became bigger as he nodded. He raised both of his hands and shouted.

"Everyone, let's welcome our Tenth Member 'Merry'."

"Huh...… HUH?"

Everyone's jaw almost dropped to the ground. Even Robin was stunned for a moment unable to react.

"L-Luffy, are you inviting Merry to join our crew? But, she is a ship, right?" Nami couldn't help but feel stunned as she asked.

"Ehh! Merry had already joined us before but only now she is completely awake. Merry, can you come out?"

Luffy nodded his head and shouted.

"L-l-l-Luffy, what are you talking about?" Chopper suddenly started shaking in fear.

Others were having different kinds of reactions. Only Robin calmed down rather quickly as she asked.

"I once read of a legend that a ship can give birth to a Ship Spirit. Are you saying that Merry has given birth to Ship Spirit?"

"Ship Spirit?" Everyone reacted in shock as they looked at Luffy and Liam.

"Liam, is she the Ship Spirit?" Luffy turned his head at Liam and asked.

After Liam nodded, Luffy turned to his crew and nodded his head.

"Yes, she is the Ship Spirit."

"You don't have to say if you don't know." Everyone shouted at him and then looked at Liam with curiosity all over their faces.

"Liam, does our Ship truly has a Spirit?"

"Liam, are Spirits ghosts? I am scared of ghosts."

"Liam, can we talk to Merry?"

Liam was instantly overwhelmed by those questions.

"Merry, why don't you come out?" Luffy scratched his head and shouted again.

Only then Liam escaped from answering those questions and looked at Luffy.

"Luffy, our ship just gave birth to a Ship Spirit. She can understand us but she is just a baby so she can only act on instinct."

"Just like how you immediately eat meat when you see it, she can only come out when the ship is in danger."

Hearing his explanation, everyone fell into contemplation.

"We can't let Merry get damaged just to wake her up, right?" Chopper asked. As a doctor, he didn't want anyone especially his partners to get hurt.

And, Merry was also his partner so he was naturally against hurting Merry.

"No, we can't do that. That's why I called you guys here. Let me explain to you about Merry's situation first."

Liam got the other's attention as they stopped contemplating Merry's situation and listened to him carefully.

"First of all, what is Ship Spirit, and what kind of condition Merry is in? Let's talk about that. Ship Spirit is a being born out of a ship that has gained enough awareness through the love and adventure of the crew."

"Although we didn't treat Merry as a living being, we still treated her as partners which was enough to help her awaken her awareness. Of course, it was only after we went through so many adventures from East Blue to Sky Island, Merry was able to wake up."

"As for Merry's condition. She is currently a combination of a robot and a child. She is a robot because she has a certain instruction that she would always follow."

"As I said before, she will immediately wake up and try to repair the ship if it is hurt. It is something that she would do at any cost and it is not something that she can force herself not to do."

"But, at the same time, she is also a child because she has the qualities of a person that she can understand people and slowly adapt to them."

"Right now, she is slowly learning to speak and it won't be long before she could speak. But we need to help her learn to speak and also appear in front of us as soon as possible."

"Because the next thing is an extremely important part of our journey."

Liam paused for a moment and looked at Luffy.

"Luffy, you have a decision to make together with Merry. Merry can't continue sailing with us, especially in the New World. Yes, she can heal herself because of the devil fruit ability."

"But, should we allow our partner to get hurt every single second instead of making her stronger? That's why we must do our best to make Merry stronger."

"I have a theory that Merry can evolve. But, I don't know what are the conditions and even if it is truly possible. In case Merry can't evolve, we must get a new ship and keep Merry inside the new ship."

"Obviously we can't abandon Merry but we can't sail in Merry if she can't evolve. That's why I want all of us to inspire Merry and help her learn to speak."

"What do you think, Captain?"

Upon hearing Liam's explanation, Luffy barely understood a few things. First, he must help Merry speak otherwise they need to change the ship.

Second, they can't let Merry get hurt and she won't be able to sail in the new world.

Luffy nodded his head and turned around.

"Everyone, you all heard Liam. We must do our best to help Merry speak."

"We heard it, Captain." Sanji put away his cigarette and spoke.

"But, the question is how?" Zoro asked as he looked at Liam.

"Isn't it easy? Liam just told us the answer." Robin smiled and spoke.

Chopper turned his head at Robin and asked.

"Did he?"

"Stupid! Didn't he say that Merry is a child? How do you think a child learns to speak? Isn't it because of their parents? We just need to do the same." Nami patted Chopper's head and explained.

"But, we can't see Merry at all. How can we teach her?" Vivi curiously asked.

"I can see her." Luffy raised his hand and answered.

"Don't show off!" Everyone kicked him away and looked at Liam.

"How can we teach Merry if we can't even see her?"

Liam mysteriously smiled and said.

"Isn't it simple? We just need to help her come out."

"How is that simple?"

Everyone roared at him.

.............

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