One Piece: Path to Power - Chapter 124

[2250 words]

Please don’t bring physics into the comments once you get to the latter half of the chapter.

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Indra was at a standstill with Kurowashi, though his odds decreased by the second.

Kurowashi used his masterful Rokushiki to counter Indra’s great speed, whizzing to the air and delivering powerful attacks.

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“You cannot contend with my strength,” Kurowashi said. “It’s best if you surrender.”

Indra gave out an unyielding growl as he retreated to the skies.

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“One Sword Style – Beautiful Death!”

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A grand and majestic silhouette of a peacock appeared behind the pirate as his body amalgamated with the power.

Like a meteor, he shot down upon the Admiral.

Kurowashi extended both his arms out, parallel to each other with balled in fists facing each other.

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“Rokuogan!”

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Like a cannon, an enormous stream of white energy blasted out from the Admiral’s side and towards the descending peacock-like attack.

BOOOOM!

A powerful shockwave broke out as Indra’s attack was destroyed.

“Soru.”

Kurowashi appeared behind Indra as the 4 fingers of his right hand tapped the pirate’s back.

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“Fatal-Four Air Bullet.”

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“Puah!” Indra’s eyes widened as blood shot out from the 4 holes that opened up from his back and out of his chest.

His body was shot from the sky to the warship below.

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“It’s useless, my Observation is higher than yours so regardless of your speed, you will always lose,” Kurowashi said off-handedly.

Wooden debris fell to the ground as Indra slowly stood up.

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His black eyes looked at the foe and a small smile appeared on his face, “Are you sure about that?”

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*Voosh*

In a fraction of a second, the pirate simply disappeared.

The Admiral’s face remained as usual as he knew the result from beforehand.

That was until Kurowashi’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Ugh!” The Admiral groaned as he felt a saber drill into his lower abdomen.

If not for Kurowashi’s experience and muscle memory, that blade would surely have gone through his heart.

“Soru!”

*Whiizzzz*

The wind rippled once more though as this time Kurowashi was the one to retreat.

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The Admiral gave out a few deep breaths as blood dripped from his body.

He looked at Indra and saw an odd occurrence.

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‘What is that steam around his body?’ The marine wondered with a grunt.

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*Shhhhh*

It was a soft yet constant whistle of air resounded from the pirate’s body.

Kurowashi stood back up as he had understood what had happened, “You’re speeding up your blood flow within your body to greatly increase your body’s physical output…”

He then seemed rather puzzled, “Even with the marine technique – ‘Seimei Kikan’, such a maneuver should destroy your blood vessels and kill you immediately!”

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Indra hummed as he revelled in the increased strength.

‘The Swift-Swift fruit is beyond just physical speed. It even allows me to speed up my blood flow without any bodily harm. It just takes a lot of stamina to use, for now, that is.’ He thought.

“The Commander has incredible thought-process,” Indra said. “I would have never thought of such a way to use my powers, how delightful.”

His eyes then sharpened in determination, “Time to finish my task.”

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His body steamed endlessly from the increased heat from hypertension within Indra’s body as he whizzed forth.

It was the same thing once more, the speed that Indra reached was just barely in Kurowashi’s vision but still left him shocked.

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“Dance of the Unknown Tempo.”

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Indra was practically teleporting as his body suddenly appeared a meter in front of the Admiral.

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“Graceful Demise!”

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The Haki-clad sword once again shot forth at the marine who could only show an annoyed expression.

“Tekkai – Gō!”

Like an immovable mountain, Kurowashi’s body became stiff as his muscles were nothing short of pure metal.

Haki was then plated around his arms that defended his chest in an x-shape.

*Clang!*

Like a metallic gong, the sword smashed upon the defensive marine as he held the force back.

Soft-blue streams of energy streamed out, each boosted by the Swift-Swift fruit as they flowed into the Admiral’s body.

With the sound barrier-shattering speed and momentum, even Kurowashi wasn’t enough.

BOOM!

With a small explosion, the silver-haired marine was shot back into a nearby warship, drilling his way into the very hull. Breaking and shredding his way through, causing much of the ship to collapse on itself.

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“Haaaaa,” Indra gave out a loud breath as he felt his body slow down dramatically.

‘I’ve only gained this power for a few months, a pity that I cannot fully portray its power.’ He sighed.

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*Shhhhhh*

The steam exploded once more out from Indra’s body as he shot ahead in an unsuspecting direction.

Instead of attacking the dazed Admiral, he instead went towards the very core of the Ox Lloyds warship!

*Vooosh*

He whizzed through so fast that even the marine workers and soldiers stationed nearby saw nothing but felt enough wind to lift them off their feet.

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The Ox Lloyds warship was nearly 160 meters in length so it was certainly a noticeable amount of distance to work through.

*Thud*

After around 3 seconds later, Indra landed, give-or-take, at the core of the ship.

Kurowashi was down for at least 15 seconds so Indra had to finish his mission now.

He reached down to his pocket and took out what he was given from his boss.

It was a ball with a diameter of about 10 centimeters.

It pulsed with a warm current every so often as black and red currents drifted about its surface. The heat given off was rather alarming.

If you saw it in detail, you would see a light green gem at the very center of the sphere that gave off a bright light.

It was incredibly heavy for its negligible size.

[A/N: Image of Ball.]

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‘Though I have no clue what this does, it seems quite critical,’ The pirate thought as he placed the ball on the ground.

*Vwooo*

Like a balloon filled with helium, the ball floated up into the air.

It reached a height of about 2 meters off the deck.

Red bursts of energy rippled out to counteract the pull of gravity.

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Indra’s goal was complete: to place this single ball at the heart of the Ox Lloyds.

But then…

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“Surrender now, ‘Swift Death’ Indra!”

Hundreds of guns cocked in preparation and swords were unsheathed from their scabbards.

Around 600 marines had swarmed around the infamous pirate, ready to strike.

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*Thud*

A heavy stomp rang out as another shadow landed.

“Kurowashi-Taishō!”

“Masao-san!”

An irritated Kurowashi had arrived, his lazily combed hair was rather messy, his coat ripped. An annoyed and indignant expression plastered to his face.

He was about to give the order to take down the pretentious pirate until his eyes drifted above.

*Vooo*

He felt the soft hum of the floating sphere; an ominous feeling filled his heart.

‘What is that thing?’

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Indra had run out of fuel as his body no longer steamed, his muscles had begun to grow stiff and sore.

The Admiral clicked his tongue in slight trepidation, “Take him down!”

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At the same time, another conversation broke out.

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“Tell me, Garp, have you heard of nuclear fission?” Damien asked as he wiped the blood that dribbled out his mouth.

Currently, the young pirate had a missing wing and cracks all over his armour that slowly regenerated.

Garp, whose arm seemed rather purple and bruised, gave out a confused expression.

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“Is it the new brand of rice crackers from the North Blue I’ve heard so much about?”

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The Sin Incarnate rolled his eyes.

“Simply put, it’s when the nucleus of an atom is split into smaller pieces.”

A light smile then broke out on Damien’s face, “Guess what happens when you break apart a highly radioactive mineral into smaller pieces through a chain reaction?”

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Garp drew a blank and was left scratching his head but Damien didn’t exactly conceal his voice.

Sengoku, who was pushing Rayleigh into a weakened position, fell into dire thought.

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His instincts kicked in as he scanned the battlefield.

He saw the pulsing ball that rested on the Ox Llyods.

His eyes then drifted to Damien who waved his hand back in a retreating gesture.

The ‘Resourceful General’ looked around and saw some other signs.

He saw Shakky give a signal to the higher-ranking pirates as they carried out their orders.

He then observed as the pirates slowly fell into an immediate retreat like a horde of crazed chickens.

Even Rayleigh had burst into a silver streak and disappeared.

The Sea Kings below, with a keen instinct that allowed them to escape disaster, had also begun to flee.

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Sengoku’s eyes widened in panic.

“Garp, come with me,” he yelled out. “NOW!”

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The marines were befuddled, all except the Golden Buddha.

In an instant, all the Admiral-level marines responded to Sengoku’s cry and followed his trail.

*Voooosh*

Indra, who was in the process of being put into Seastone chains, also took a brief moment to explode into great volumes of steam as he swiftly vanished into a storm of dust.

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As of now, Kurowashi was the only one there as the 4 other top powers made their way over in a dash of desperation.

Damien stood in the sky as he put up a ‘Void Space’ around him.

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“It’s too late now.”

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The tens of thousands of pirates that remained only followed orders, though some refused to come, much to their coming dismay.

Shakky and Rayleigh looked up with curiosity about Damien’s next move.

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The young pirate in question made a simple gesture.

*Snap*

With the snap of a finger, the crimson sphere reacted with an ominous glow.

In a fraction of a second, the outer crimson liquid-like layer was sucked into the center as only the green ore was left behind.

What proceeded was truly a terrifying spectacle.

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“The Big Bang.”

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BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A sea-ruptured explosion resounded on the Ox Lloyds as apocalyptic levels of flames and heat were instantly released.

The fireball was hot enough to immediately cause the top tens of meters of seawater to evaporate.

Wood and metal nearby had also begun to melt into liquids and some even to gases.

*Rumble*

Added to the heat, there was the shockwave.

It was essentially a pressure that burst out from the center of the explosion, travelling at supersonic speeds, spreading in all directions.

This exact pressure pushed out a wall of highly compressed air, creating a frightening source of destruction.

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Kurowashi, who was the closest, was immediately caught in the explosion.

Even with full-body Armament and Tekkai-Go, his entire body was swept up by the flames and brute shock from the bomb Damien had dropped.

“Ugggghh!”

The Admiral gave out a loud cry of pain as his body was ruptured from all angles.

He was bathed in the fury of the flames as the shockwave rippled into his body, destroying it from within.

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*Thud*x4

Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, and Basara landed.

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The light currently being released from the explosion lit up the entirety of the seas!

It was a spectacle of absolute annihilation.

And since it occurred at the center of the marine formation, most of the ships around it were immediately blasted and rocked into great pandemonium.

Even the 500-meter tall mountain that circled the battlefield shattered apart from it as the falling rocks and boulders were disintegrated.

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“Hold the blast!” Sengoku roared out to his colleagues.

*FWWWWMMM*

*Fwoooo*

Multiple things happened.

For one.

Each of the 4 Admiral-level marines raised both arms out as they surrounded it from all sides.

Thick Haki currents flowed onto their arms as they were then churned with Emission Haki!

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The collective Emission of all 4 created a bubble-like container that covered the entire explosion in a giant light-red sphere.

Basara then summoned giant mountains around the Ox Lloyds Warship as it made a huge earth shell.

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Yet even then…

*RUMBLE*

The world itself seemed to shake as the mighty Warship had cracks and scars appear all over.

Even though it was built with wood from the Treasure Tree Adam, it simply wasn’t enough!

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Sengoku turned into a Buddha and used his shockwave attacks to try and counter the explosion wave and somewhat succeeded.

Zephyr used a combination of Advanced Armament and supreme Rokushiki.

Garp, who was injured from his 5-hour clash with Damien, fuelled his Haki in desperation as he roared out in opposition.

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Under the drain of significant levels of Haki, the 4 men continued their struggle as the fireball was fully contained, now it was a waiting game.

Would the 4 marines’ Haki run out first or the ore that was still splitting at the core of the bomb?

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Even with the blast under control, the marines weren’t exactly scot-free. Not even close.

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The initial heat released had disintegrated around 7 ships and 4 warships.

The soundwave then caused not only the eardrums but even the brains of the nearby marines to explode like grapes.

The other ships further away were greatly rocked by the rumbling and shaking caused by the explosion.

The casualty count was not small, to say the least.

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Damien squinted his eyes as he extended Ryushi out in a simple gesture.

“Now, while the marines are shaken up, destroy them!”

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‘””””””‘”OOUUGHHH!!!”””””””””

A deafening warcry broke out as the injured and fatigued pirates saw the chaos on the Navy’s side.

From the blood that stained the broken seas or the constant wails from trapped and dying marines was nothing but music to their ears.

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From 16000 marines to no more than 9000!

The tides had turned from a single attack.

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