One Piece: Path to Power - Chapter 126

[2678 words]

So I will pause chapters probably by chapter 117 for my exams.

———————————————-

The rocky terrain under left Damien’s foot let out a loud shake.

*Rumble*

At his command, the entire multi-kilometer-wide earth platform was suddenly shaking. Sounds of pixelization went off as countless red lines and patterns emerged on the ground.

The young man then jumped into the air and landed back on his ship.

*Creak*

The make-shift arena let out a faint growl as the entirety of its mass was instantly demolished to the very atoms that held it together!

In no more than 10 seconds, the entirety of the area had exploded into red dust, vanishing into thin air, as if they weren’t even there in the first place.

—

Damien clapped his hands, swatting off the non-existent dust away.

The heavy lifting was done and the young man had something else in mind.

And yet, Damien suddenly felt a cold, ghost-like presence nearby.

His eyes drifted to the side, zooming in and onto the Titanic that gently floated in the seas.

His vision landed on a single man.

He had long pink hair and a red long coat. The man was drowning himself in liquor.

“Hmmm,” Damien hummed as his Haki seemed to flare in a warning and yet nothing out of the ordinary could be seen.

.

Damien’s intuition was usually correct, and such what he felt from the drunk pirate was something truly vile.

.

Though at that moment…

*Thud*

The entire Suicidal Rambo shook as a shadow landed from god knows where.

Damien’s eye twitched as he felt the newly arrived man.

“Damn old bastard, don’t break my ship!” He thundered out.

.

“XAHAHA! Don’t sweat the small stuff, Damien-brat,” A menacing voice went off.

It was Xebec!

Just his arrival caused the nearby pirates to immediately scamper off; some even dived into the sea below out of primal fear.

As for the man’s appearance: his black cloak was devastated; some pieces of fabric even melted into his skin.

A few scars were added to his chest, but other than that, he seemed rather lively.

.

“I had my fun with the bird, now show me! Where’s Garp or Sengoku!” He cackled in excitement with a savage grin.

.

Shakky blew out a cloud of smoke from the side.

“You’re a bit late, Taichou, Damien-chan already sent the Navy running more than thirty minutes ago.”

.

This was not exactly good news in the captain’s eyes.

.

“HUH!? Those assholes ran away?! Quick, go call them back, I haven’t quenched my hunger yet!” He roared out.

The pirates who stood at the close-by ships almost fell down as they saw their fabled captain acting like a spoiled child.

.

Under the might of Xebec, the other, non-Rocks Pirates were in great distress.

Wang Zhi reined in his usual spirit and waited on the side.

The pirates from the Festival who joined in alliance with the Rocks took an audible gulp as they saw his savage nature.

Let alone the ending of the fearsome Overlord.

.

Rayleigh who had gone to the Oro Jackson stood tall upon the helm; his fellow crewmates were prepared for combat, weapons ready.

“Hmm?” Xebec’s eyes drifted to the Roger Pirates as a curious hum escaped his crusty lips.

.

“Xahaha… you’re that Roger’s subordinates? Did that fool finally join under my flag?” He wondered out.

His words could be assumed as a question, but under the glow of Xebec’s eyes, it seemed more like a statement. Anyone daring to go against it would be cut down without mercy.

Under Damien’s curious eyes, many men shifted in their position as the glare of the ‘Great Sin’ sharpened.

.

Yet a soft yet confident voice interrupted.

“Rocks D. Xebec. Make no mistake, Our Captain has no intention to join you.”

“…”

The onlookers were ready to run as they could feel the tension rise to a dangerous level.

.

Xebec let out a savage laugh as his curiosity peaked.

“Oh? You’re his Vice-Captain? Rayleigh, was it? Xahaha! That fool really found a capable pirate under him.”

.

But that curious smile turned savage and feral.

Pure rage in the form of Haki leaked out from the man’s eyes as great pressure was thrust upon the Roger Pirates.

*Creak*

The mighty Oro Jackson trembled as Rayleigh unsheathed his blade, unfazed and ready to strike.

BOOM!

2 thick bubbles of Haki collided into a spectacle of silver and black. Rendering the air frozen.

*Thud*

A younger pirate fell on the ground as he stood nearly 200 meters from the point of conflict; his body reeking of urine.

From the very start for most of the current present, Xebec was synonymous with their greatest nightmare.

Even the great Fleet Admiral Kong won’t cause such a reaction and yet Xebec was something far worse, especially when he was angry.

.

On the side, Damien nodded at Rayleigh’s courage, humming with admiration.

But under the turbulent torrents of Haki was something else.

.

“WAHAHAHA!”

It was another booming laugh!

“Xebec, don’t give my partner such a hard time, if you have a problem, why don’t you come to me?”

.

Though the voice sounded rather friendly, it was laced in incredible levels of danger.

It was more than just a threat, but rather a declaration of war.

.

Xebec’s fearsome eyes moved to the man who stood on the shore of the now-broken Glint Island. He had a red hat, large mustache, a fearsome grin and a sword at hand.

Gol D. Roger!

Roger was a man who, under endless danger, would never turn tail and run! Retreating was simply absent from his dictionary.

His usual joking demeanour, however, can flip into an unbridled rage that even the Fleet Admiral feared.

.

“XAHAHAHA! Roger! It’s good that you’ve come.” The big boss erupted in similar degrees of beastly nature.

The two seemed to be moments away from entering a full-blown fight, however…

“Taichou, it’s best to hold off on any more fights.”

The man turned his eyes to the side, slight irritation flashed by it.

.

“Shakuyaku. Are you getting in the way of my fun?”

.

The woman let out a cloud of smoke, her eyes wavered slightly.

“Of course not, Taichou. But our fleet has taken a great hit and the majority of our ships have been destroyed. If you end up in a full-scale fight with Roger, I’m afraid all the forces we collected over the past few years would have been for naught,” Shakky explained.

.

*Vooo*

A soft wind blew as a nearly 11-foot tall pirate appeared next to Shakky, as a shield.

Black hair, red streaks on one side, casual demeanour – it was Damien.

“Old man, Shakky-nee isn’t wrong. Our numbers already dipped down to almost ten thousand. If you really want blood, you can go take out the 14000 or so pirates that Sol has deployed over the 2 forts at Superbia.”

Damien’s eyes then glowed red in Observation.

“Plus, The marines are still on my radar and seem to be regrouping 3.94 kilometres away, most likely waiting for backup. Even if you make it through, our numbers will only continue to fall.”

.

Xebec was arrogant and reckless but he had the strength to back it all up.

At the moment, Damien was practically telling a wild beast to not dine on its favourite meal…

And like any hungry beast, they tend to be rather aggressive.

*Vrrrr*

Xebec squinted his eyes as the torrents of Haki descended upon the red-eyed youth before him.

The weight of endless bloodthirsty spirit fell upon Damien.

Yet the latter didn’t even twitch.

.

“Xahaha! You’ve gotten stronger, boy.” He laughed in a deep voice.

“But you’re not wrong, cutting down the numbers anymore would be troublesome, especially with that fateful day approaching…” Xebec’s voice grew slightly distant as if he were in deep thought.

No one knew what the crazy pirate was thinking and yet it somehow caused fine sweat to trickle down the backs of many.

.

“Fine,” He grumbled. “Shakuyaku, take the rest back to Hachinosu. I will return when I’m done with the fresh meat at Superbia.”

*Voosh*

Xebec then vanished into a blur of black dust, no one knew where he went.

.

Damien gave out a light sigh as he felt the weight lift off his body. Xebec was an unpredictable force of utter terror and arguing with him would usually turn out quite bad.

.

“WAHAHA!”

The Sin Incarnate then looked to the side as he saw a man with a wide and thick moustache land next to Rayleigh.

“Damien? I remember you from that Borealis’ auction!”

>=-=—-[]—<>—[]—=-=<

[Gol D. Roger]

[Age: 37 years, 7 months]

[Height: 9’0]

[Devil Fruit: None]

[Skills: Incredible talent in all Colours of Haki, True Conqueror, Will of D., Plot Armour, Self-taught Rokushiki, great talent for Swordsmanship.]

[Haki: Grandmastery (I) for [O], Mastered Advanced Armament, Grandmastery (III) for [C]

[Strength: Middle Stages of Top-Tier Yonko]

>=-=—-[]—<>—[]—=-=<

Roger then tapped Rayleigh’s shoulder as the latter seemed solemn.

“Sol is dead, I had a lot of fun here,” Roger’s eyes then took about a mysterious glint as he looked back at Damien.

“I feel like we’ll cross paths soon, kid. See you then.”

With that said, the Roger Pirates loosened their sails and made their way into the horizon.

———————————————-

[A Little While Later]

.

“Oye, Kaido, why the frown?” Damien asked as he looked at the brooding giant bathing in saké.

“*Sniff*, Damien, you bastard, *Sniff*, just wait, I’ll bash your head in with my club soon enough,” He bawled.

.

‘He became a weepy drunk,’ Damien rolled his eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure your bounty will increase,” Damien tapped Kaido’s shoulder in a comforting fashion.

“Though even then, the distance between the money on our heads would only widen…” The Sin Incarnate muttered with a smirk.

.

Kaido’s eyes blasted open – instantly sober.

“YOU BASTARD!”

The club in the ogre’s hand seemed to extend its wielder’s fury.

“RAIMEI HAKKE!”

The lightning-bathed club of pure brute strength smashed the air apart as it raged its way towards the casual Damien.

Booom!

A loud shockwave graced the ship as the floorboards creaked in pain.

.

“Grrrr,” Kaido growled as he saw the result.

He saw his club that was strong enough to flatten a giant being stopped by a single finger that was bubbling in a crimson aura.

“OUGHHH!” The ogre roared on as his eyes were filled with fury.

The sparks of Conqueror’s Haki swam through the club and upon Damien who widened his eyes in slight surprise.

‘So he can use Infusion when he’s angry enough.’ The young man concluded.

*Voosh*

Like a phantom, Damien disappeared, causing the giant Kaido to flop forwards due to inertia.

*Vzzz*

Damien reappeared a few meters in the air, face-to-face with the falling Kaido.

*Purrup*

Damien’s left fist was bathed in Emission Haki as he took a punching stance.

BAM!!

Without hesitation, the fist went forth and slammed upon the Beast square in the face.

Ripples of force swam through Kaido’s giant face as his eyes winced in pain, presumably due to the rattling of the brain as a mild concussion seemed apparent.

Like a bullet, the brooding beast was shot off the ship and soaring through the sky.

*Crash*

“Ah!”

“My leg!”

“The ship is sinking!”

“Abandon ship!”

…

Tens of voices cried out as one of the ships at the very edge of the formation seemed to shudder in pain, cracking all over.

The sails collapsed as the ship was torn up from Kaido’s landing, sinking immediately.

.

Damien was satisfied that his shot had made the target and he smirked into the distance.

Though a soft voice went off behind him.

“Damien-chan, most of the pirates are readied and the ships that could be fixed are so as well. I will start sending them back to now, are you coming too?” Shakky asked.

Damien shook his head, “You go first, Shakky-nee, I have a little someone to meet, I’ll return later.”

.

He then looked at the silver armoured man who stood like a tower.

“Andor-san, I’ll leave the newly joined in your hands, there’s quite a bit of mending to do.”

Silver Axe just tapped his weapon on the ground, “Leave it to me, Damien-kun.”

———————————————-

[A Few Kilometers Away]

.

A few hours passed on as the Rocks Pirates had left.

Darkness bathed the seas as night had come to grace the world.

“Puru,” “Puru,” “Puru,” “Puru.”

“Puru,” “Puru,” “Puru,” “Puru.”

“Katcha.”

A large-afroed man picked up his transponder snail.

“This is Admiral Sengoku.” He said formally.

“Hmm? Sengoku, how’s the regrouping going?” A deep voice replied.

It was the Fleet Admiral!

Sengoku sighed with residual anger, “I failed, Kong-san. My miscalculation left far too many casualties, even the beacon of hope, the Ox Lloyds Warship was left.”

.

“Being an Admiral is a great honour, but with that honour comes the responsibility of countless lives. And lives can be lost. Don’t get lost in the abyss of regret, conquer it and bring forth the ‘Reining Justice’ you live by!”

Kong’s voice was sharp and heavy but held a slight nostalgia to it.

“Enough about that, no one could have expected that monstrous brat to have such a thing up his sleeve.”

.

Sengoku gave a slight nod and continued.

“I hope you can get approval for ‘that’, Kong-san. I’m afraid without it, the Rocks Pirates will be far too difficult to overwhelm. Especially with the momentum of Sol’s fall.”

“…”

There was a slight pause.

“I am working on it, the Gorosei have yet to approve of it but it should be given soon once news breaks out of what happened today. Beyond that, Xerxes has also sent his men to restrain the Rocks, don’t worry too much.”

Kong sighs were heard over the snail.

“Anyways, how’s the situation there?”

.

Sengoku looked to the side and saw the marines running overdrive, fixing and remedying what they could.

“We’ll be ready to return by the time dawn hits. There are 300000 civilians at Superbia, I can’t just leave them at Xebec’s mercy,” the Admiral replied in a determined tone.

The Fleet Admiral knew it was too much to ask a Conqueror to yield so he compromised.

.

“I won’t stop you, but I’m sending you supplies and backup from G-5, they will be there by the time the sun rises. There will also be a VIP there… do not leave without them, that’s an order!” He said in a strict voice.

Sengoku slowly nodded but then asked,

“Alright, Kong-san, but can I ask who this ‘VIP’ is?”

“…”

“It’s a little unorthodox in terms of support, just don’t kill him when you see him. He is quite valued by the 5 Elders.”

“Katcha.”

The call ended.

———————————————-

An hour passed.

.

“Perorin~♪” Perespero licked his cane. “He is very loaded after all.”

The man stood before a giant vault.

*Sizzle*

The thick metal let out great amounts of steam as a blazing palm was slowly melted through it.

“The metal is too damn thick!” Oven cried out.

.

It was a greatly reinforced steel that held Superbia’s gold reserves, surely an exuberant amount considering it was the stash belonging to an Overlord.

*Creak*

*Rumble*

And finally, the metal gave way as Oven walked in.

.

Perespero’s eyes widened as he saw the endless stacks of gold and diamonds. It was a ridiculous amount.

“That Sol really likes the gold colour…” Daifuku muttered as he saw it.

.

At the center sat a few special goodies.

A sword with a stylish katana.

A giant blue stone of unknown symbols.

And a blue fruit with sharp azure scales and a green stem.

“Is that a Great Grade Sword?!”

“There’s a Poneglyph too!”

“You guys, look here, there’s a devil fruit here…”

…

While his siblings were busy with the other items, Katakuri froze in place.

His eyes jetted over to the side – nothing was there.

.

“What is it, Katakuri?” Oven asked as he saw his older brother frozen like a deer in front of headlights.

“…Nothing, it just felt like something was watching us from the shadows.” His uncertain voice resounded the golden halls.

“Perorin~♪, don’t be so paranoid, Katakuri, there’s nothing there. Come here and help me collect all the gold!”