Summary: Choosing who among the crew can actually do 'subtle'...

  Lemon Warning! There's a short snippet of lemon in this chapter. As always, it's clearly marked for those that wish to skip it. Originally, it was going to be a full lemon, but word count for this series of chapters (which were originally a holiday bonus for patrons) ran away on me.

  Chapter 53: Pnning and Relief

  It was several hours after the many and varied spectacur views Luffy had enjoyed in the baths, that the entire crew was reunited back on the Discovery. He, Robin and Nami had returned after roughly four hours in total, one of which had been spent on a tour of the Crystal Suns merchant house itself after the bathhouse. Lady Nora hadn't spoken a word on sensitive topics even there, however, instead managing to impart what she knew or suspected to the trio while they were still soaking together in the Infinity Pool. The level of paranoia had been carefully observed by all three of them, and thus they hadn't rushed to gather their crew together. Instead, they'd allowed their crewmates to trickle in over time, returning to the Discovery only once they'd each had their own chances to start exploring the Crystal City.

  It was only once everyone was back aboard, and Luffy and Robin had cleared the ship of any possible means of listening in on them, that they gathered the crew up and expined the situation. Vivi, Nojiko, Chopper and Kaya were predicably indignant and worried on behalf of the missing locals, each for their own reasons. Others reacted less strongly, ranging from the rgely disinterested Zoro to the calcuting frown of Hina.

  Luffy took careful note of Pagaya's reaction, in particur, still trying to get a feel for their test addition. Interestingly, he was looking thoughtful rather than distressed. Though Luffy could see the echoes of his own anger in the older man's eyes. It was admittedly a far more tempered thing than for much of his crew. But, then Pagaya was easily the oldest of them, and had survived Enel by virtue of extreme control over his own emotions and thoughts. Something which also meant that Luffy was going to need to keep prodding him for his opinions until he grew comfortable in offering. At least outside engineering matters.

  "Pagaya? What do you know about these Merchant Houses. Both in general and specifically to each if you've heard of them. I know your information would be pretty far out of date, but you're also the only one of us likely to know anything at all."

  The older man frowned, nodding slowly as he reached up to scratch his beard, eyes a bit distant as he apparently searched his memory.

  "Sorry. But you are right. My information is dated. I do know a little, though. The Crystal Suns, in particur. Of them, I can say a fair bit, as the Lady you spoke with was entirely correct to credit her family with the success of Wind's Home. Before Enel, when Skypiea and Birka still traded with Wind's Home, the Crystal Suns were a name that was practically synonymous with the Crystal City. Oh, we traded with other, smaller Merchant Houses too. But the Crystal Suns were more than just first among equals. They were virtually the rulers of Wind's Home, only falling short of that status as they cked the ruthlessness needed to crush their opposition. The other Merchant Houses existed because they allowed it, encouraged it even, not because they cked the ability to destroy them."

  Luffy nodded slowly. He hadn't really doubted Lady Nora's statement of how influential her own Merchant House was. But from what Pagaya was saying, it seemed like the woman might have actually been tastefully understating the truth. His own impressions, combined with Pagaya's words, were painting an interesting picture. Luffy was a cynic at heart, and he rgely felt that, in this world, his cynicism was fully justified. But he was also capable of recognizing exceptions. Exceptions such as the Nefertari family were with Abasta. Rulers who genuinely cared for their people in a world where that was far rarer than mere gold or jewels. Now, he was getting the distinct impression that the Crystal Suns might be another genuine exception.

  "They were fair in the dealings with Skypiea? And you got the impression when you visited Wind's Home that it was the same here?"

  Pagaya nodded without reservation or hesitation.

  "Oh yes. There was a reason everyone preferred to deal with them. They knew their worth and wouldn't let you cheat them, but they focused on making mutually beneficial deals that were intended to st the test of time. You went to someone else if you were looking for short-term gains or one-off transactions. You went to the Suns if you were looking for a proper trade agreement. You might not make quite as much every time you sold to them, but you'd more than make up for that with stability and fair-trade exchanges for your own needs."

  Huh. An honest merchant. That was nearly as rare as an honest politician. Finding an entire trading group of them was probably a far rarer sight than unicorns. At least in this world, where Luffy would be utterly unphased to find a popution of sentient mythical creatures on some random Grand Line isnd.

  "And the other Merchant Houses? The situation here? The possibility of svers or other traffickers?"

  Pagaya frowned, looking a lot more uncertain than he had when speaking of the Crystal Suns.

  "Those things, I'm less sure of. Sorry. For the first two I can only say that the city is far more on edge than any of the times I visited before, with a lot more resentment obvious between the common man and those attached to the Houses. As for the missing persons? The other isnds have always had some issues with such. Skypiea has always been the strongest military power among the Sky Isnds. So, few dared try to prey on us. That remained true even under Enel, perhaps even more so under him actually. As for how common it is or was on the other isnds? I cannot say."

  Luffy sighed but nodded. It made sense, if Skypiea was where most of the Sky Isnds got their advanced Dial engineering from, then obviously they would be the best at using Dials for their form of combat. Add in Enel, a terrifyingly powerful Logia and Haki user, and no outside powers were likely to have bothered the isnd in years, possibly decades. Pagaya hadn't been a trader or overly much of a traveler either, even if he'd been to Wind's Home once or twice before. Leaving off that line of investigation as a dead end, Luffy turned to Hina next.

  "Hina? Did the Marines know much of anything about the Sky Isnds?"

  Hina shrugged, and Luffy tried not to let what that did to her breasts distract him. Darn it Robin! After all the teasing the woman had engaged in, in the baths, Luffy was stuck with sex on the brain!

  "The World Government knew about their existence, Hina knows that much. But Hina doesn't think they have any influence up here. Hina suspects that certain…disgusting elements of the WG would likely consider Sky Isnder's exotic. But she's never heard of a major expedition to the White or White White Seas. Hina was too low ranking for that to mean much, though."

  Luffy sighed, leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers on its arm. Resultantly, he admitted to the one thing he knew which might be relevant.

  "Shiki the Golden Lion is apparently in control of one of the nearby Sky Isnds. A partially artificial one, expanded by his Devil Fruit powers."

  The name got bnk looks from almost all of his crew. But the way both Robin and Hina stiffened immediately made it clear he wasn't the only one that had recognized the name. Nami stared at both of them, particurly the abruptly pale-looking Hina, and her curiosity couldn't help but interject the obvious question.

  "Who the heck is Shiki the Golden Lion, and why does Hina look like she's seen a ghost?"

  Luffy chuckled grimly.

  "Because Shiki the Golden Lion was one of Gold Roger's major rivals, right alongside Whitebeard. More than Whitebeard, in a lot of ways. Whitebeard never really wanted to rule or become Pirate King. Shiki, on the other hand, is a warmonger who legitimately dreams of conquering the world. A damn dangerous man that even Whitebeard is wary of, due to just how willing Shiki is to make very long-term and intricate pns. No one has heard much from him since he became the first and only person to escape Impel Down, which probably means he's been up to something very long term and very big. Something that could easily demand a lot of bodies. Either as crew or for…other reasons."

  A shaky looking Hina picked up where Luffy left off, fumbling to light a cigarette as she spoke.

  "Shiki attacked Marineford after Roger's execution was announced. It took Garp and Sengoku working together to put him down, and the fight destroyed half of Marineford in the process. Literally. That isn't an exaggeration. Half of Marineford was basically just gone. Everyone in the Marines has been desperately hoping he was dead, since no one has heard from him in close to twenty years."

  Luffy nodded at that.

  "I only know a little about him, but it's enough to want nothing to do with him. If he is where people are vanishing too…we will shut down whoever is on this end of the pipeline. But fuck if we're unching a rescue operation against him. It would be like trying to take on Whitebeard and his entire fleet. We just aren't strong enough yet to think about picking a fight with someone like him."

  There were a few frowns from the more kindhearted members of his crew at how firmly he said that, but Luffy wasn't going to be moved on that. He knew damn well they weren't anywhere close to ready to take one someone like Shiki. Ignoring the looks of disproval from them right along with the look of relief from Hina, he went on.

  "At any rate, we don't know that he's involved. Hopefully, he isn't and this is a more local problem. Finding out which is the case means we need to quietly investigate the handful of Merchant Houses Lady Nora thinks are most likely involved. Most of you aren't exactly subtle, so you'll just be exploring the Crystal City tomorrow while myself, Nami, Robin, Hina, and Vivi check them out. Keep an eye out for trouble, but don't go looking for it until we have some sort of lead, got it?"

  He got murmurs back, some more reluctant than others, but he was their Captain and none of them fought him on the choices. It helped that they knew he was right about the majority of the crew not exactly being the definition of 'subtle' or 'stealthy.' His choices made obvious sense in that respect, even if Sanji began immediately whining about him taking all the beauties with him. Luffy snorted and ignored him easily enough.

  It was a nice group if he wanted eye candy, but that wasn't the reason for choosing them. Robin's power had obvious uses in spy craft and she had oodles of experience using it that way. Vivi's Fruit would let them bypass just about any physical barrier, and the girl herself had gotten quite good at sneaking around during her Baroque Works infiltration. Nami was an expert thief, and Hina was literally the only member of the crew with actual training in investigation. It had hardly been her primary area of expertise, but no one made it as high as Marine Captain without a solid foundation in evidence and intelligence gathering. Officers had to understand how that worked, in order to make use of their own people to track criminals and pirates. Having experts didn't help much if you cked the basic knowledge to parse what the expert was telling you.

  Shooing the rest of the crew off to various duties, he gathered the smaller group together and discussed their pn of attack for tomorrow…

  ... ...

  -Short Lemon Snippet Ahoy!-

  Nami moaned as Luffy nibbled and sucked at her nipples. She squirmed, attempting to get more than just the fleeting pressure of his left hand on her still panty-cd core. But with her arms tied firmly to the bedframe over her head and Luffy's weight holding her in pce, she couldn't get enough leverage to make use of her strength. She whimpered as he pulled back with her attempt, teasing her by just barely breaking contact, then shifting to press her down with a gentle-but-firm press to her public arch with the palm of that hand. She obeyed the silent order, making a pleading expression at him as he pulled away from vishing attention on her breasts.

  "Good girl. All you have to do is behave."

  Nami gasped as he rewarded her obedience with renewed contact, digging his fingers into the soaked cloth of her panties, then ripping them away. The sound of the tearing cloth sent its own shudder of desire through his lover, followed by moans as his fingers returned to py with the folds of her now-bared sex. Luffy was still a little amazed at how into the loss of control Nami was, given her usual personality, but he certainly found it fun. And both of them were eager to blow off steam after the way their encounter with Robin and Lady Nora in the baths had gone. Shifting angle to plunge two fingers into Nami's core in an abrupt switch from soft and slow to hard and fast, Luffy reveled in the short scream and the shuddering climax that followed on his second pump.

  One down. Many more to go. He had absolutely no intention of letting Nami free until she'd passed out at least once. Possibly more. He had a lot of his own desire to work through, after all, and Spiritual Healing could be quite useful to enhance his lover's stamina…

  -Lemon Snippet Ends!-