JACK POV - AFTER RESCUE MISSION
When Jack and the others returned to Alabasta, he broke away from the group the moment Luffy, Chopper and Ace feet touched the ground.
"Don't disturb me," he said one last time to them. "I need to create something to find Sabo." And flew straight toward the Going Merry.
He did not wait for a response before leaving them behind.
Inside the Merry it was quiet, just the way he needed it. Jack moved inside the ship and got straight to work, his hands already running through the list of components he needed in his head before he even sat down. He had promised that he will find Sabo as soon as possible and he intended to keep that promise.
Sabo was out there somewhere, Injured and possibly unconscious while drifting in an ocean. Every minute Jack spent standing around with Strawhat Pirates, the possibility Sabo were still alive are slimmer.
So that is why he just returned to Going Merry and goes straight to his work
He pushed that thought to the back of his mind and focused.
The first thing he built was the detection core, a small hexagonal unit no bigger than his fist that could read the resonant frequency of magnetic waves across a wide radius aroung 50km. The combat suit Sabo wore had a unique magnetic signature built into its material and as long as even a fragment of it remained intact, the core would find it.
Around that he built the body of the drone, five of them in total, each one carrying its own detection core and capable of flying independently across different search grids. He calibrated each unit separately, running diagnostics twice before he was satisfied, and then launched all five from the Merry upper floor one after another and watched them disappear into the sky in the same direction.
He launched them where Sabo last located, that would be easy than searching the whole sea.
He went back inside, sat down in front of the main monitor and pulled up the interface for Merry.
"Merry," he said. "I need you to generate the script using our faces and voices. You know what it is for."
"Ready Jack," replied Merry. Previously Jack had put this project on hold and had postponed it because it was not time yet but now after Holy Knight action, Jack can't hold his anger anymore.
"Run it."
The screen filled with activity as Merry processed the video ai generation. It took just under a minute before the playback began and Jack leaned forward slightly, watching carefully. He checked every detail, the way the faces moved, the way the voices matched, the timing of each word against each expression. It needed to be perfect because the moment this went out there would be no taking it back.
When it finished he watched it a second time and finally stopped after the third time.
Satisfied, he saved it and closed the interface. The video was ready and when the right moment came it would do exactly what he needed it to do. The World Government had spent centuries controlling what people saw and what they believed and Jack intended to use their own world against them in a way they would never see coming.
He stood up, stretched his neck and flew back out toward where the Straw Hat crew was waiting for him.
***
Meanwhile outside, the crew had not moved far from where Jack left them. Luffy had explained what little he knew and now they were all sitting around with King Cobra in the meeting room.
"So Jack are creating a device to find Sabo?" asked Nami, looking toward where Jack had flown.
"Yeah," replied Ace, his arms folded tightly across his chest. "He said there was a part he needed to finish before he could start searching."
The others fell quiet and knowing Jack, nobody pushed for more because they all knew Jack well enough by now to understand that when he went into that mode there was no point trying to pull him out of it or disturbing him. He would only come out when he was done inventing a new device.
But Ace said nothing further and just stared at the ceiling with an expression that was hard to read, the kind of look that sat somewhere between holding himself together and barely managing it. Sabo was his brother and sitting outside doing nothing while Jack built machines was its own kind of torture.
Nobody brought that up and they just waited for Jack, even Luffy face just tightened with anger.
When Jack finally flew back toward them, the crew straightened up almost instinctively.
"The drones are launched," said Jack as he landed. "We will have Sabo location within three days."
Ace looked at him. "You're sure?"
"Yes," Jack replied simply.
Ace uncrossed his arms and let out a slow breath, saying nothing more but the tension that had been sitting across his shoulders since they got back seemed to loosen just slightly. Three days, he could hold himself together for three days.
"Thank you Jack," said Luffy and before Jack could respond Luffy had already pulled him into a hug, arms wrapping around him the way they always did, completely without warning and without any intention of letting go quickly.
Jack let out a quiet breath and hugged him back.
"We are crewmates," said Jack after a moment, his voice lighter. "So we will save every one of our crew from getting their ass kicked by the World Government." He paused. "That includes Sabo."
Luffy pulled back grinning. "Yeah."
For a moment nobody said anything because of everything that had happened over the past hours had been torturing them mentally.
Sabo floating somewhere out in the ocean alone and those Revolutionary Army who had been killed. They had become close last time and felt anger upon hearing they were killed by World Government.
Jack looked at each of them one by one and something in his expression shifted, he had already made a decision and was now ready to move on it.
His eyes stopped on Luffy.
"Luffy, everyone meet me on the rooftop. There is something we are going to do about the World Government dared to attack our friends," said Jack before his Makkari power kicked in and he shot toward the rooftop using speedster.
Everyone become silent, looking at the place where Jack just stand before.
"Did he just leave us here?" said Usopp, staring at the empty space where Jack had been standing half a second ago.
"Revenge on the World Government," Nami repeated slowly, her arms folded.
"Isn't it?" said Luffy, already walking. He too wanted to do something to World Government.
The others followed Luffy, except Ace who had not moved yet. The World Government had sent people to kill Sabo and the others and had left their bodies floating on the open sea like they meant nothing. Whatever Jack was planning up on that rooftop, Ace wanted to hear it.
He started walking without saying anything.
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