One Piece: Path to Power - Chapter 94

[2200 words]

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[2 Days Later]

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Upon a ginormous ship in the New World sat a single woman, peering into the horizon.

She was smoking away on a cigar as she hummed a song.

“*Sigh*, perhaps it’s time to retire…” She thought out loud as she heard a clutter of noise approaching.

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“Shakky-sama! We just received news from Paradise!”

The one reporting was a small girl around 6-foot tall around 25-28 years of age.

“Hmm, Amber? What is it?” Shakky asked.

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Amber was Shakky’s right-hand gal when it came to her news channel.

Shakky had eyes and ears everywhere around the globe, with almost instant delivery of news.

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Shakky unfurled a newspaper.

“Shakky-sama, this is from our spy in the News Base in Néa, that young reporter you told me to watch, he just sent this to be printed in millions of copies! It will be published in a matter of hours!” Amber exclaimed.

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“Hmm?” Shakky read over the contents.

“Yare yare, how could this even happen…?” The Black Death of the Rocks Pirates was left utterly shocked.

—–

The astonishment was due to be sent out to practically anyone to everyone and it detailed a single point,

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[NEWS WORLD AGENCY DIRECTORS PASS THE WITHDRAWAL ACT TO EXIT FROM THE WORLD GOVERNMENT AND TO FULLY AUTONOMOUS!]

[Reported by: Executive Reporter, Morgans]

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As so it did.

Only 3 hours after reaching the hands of Shakuyaku, the papers were sent out via tens of thousands of seagulls as the words were spread across the globe!

From the Outer Seas to Paradise and even to the New World as the bigger powers were left gobsmacked.

———————————————-

[Marineford – Fleet Admiral’s Office]

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“WHAT!?”

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It was a loud roar of a beast as the voice thundered over the largest marine base in the world.

The Fleet Admiral was pissed off!

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“HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!?” Kong smashed his table with his fists as it was reduced to dust.

“This… what are those fools at Cipher Pol doing?” Another voice called out.

Admiral Basara who was also present at Marineford also seems to share the Fleet Admiral’s reaction.

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*Click Click*

Raging fingers bashed upon the dial of the Den Den Mushi as Kong called someone.

“Puru” “Puru” “Puru” “Puru”

“Katcha~”

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“Speak, Fleet Admiral Kong.” The voice asked out.

Kong shifted in his seat and resumed with a neutral voice, “I believe you know what I am asking for, Xerxes.”

“…”

There was a silent pause as the voice responded.

“We have received the news as well, I do not know how this could have happened but have alerted CP-10.”

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Kong shook his head and questioned, “You are the head of Cipher Pol, how could you allow this to happen?”

“Do not grow impatient with me, Kong, you and I are not so dissimilar in power. Nor am I your subordinate.” Xerxes responded with indifference.

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Kong waited.

“What?!” Xerxes yelled out.

BOOOM!

There was a huge echoing explosion over the transponder snail on the other side of the line.

“What happened?! Xerxes!” Kong asked with unease.

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“Kong, I want you to send forces to Fooljack Peaks, now! It is a matter of great importance!” The voice yelled out.

Kong was shocked, the man he was speaking to was not one who would show his anger but usually act with indifference.

Kong asked in a solemn voice, “What is it?”

“…”

“CP-10 is not responding and all CP-10’s Chief’s Vivre Card has burned out. Something is afoot!” Xerxes responded.

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CP-10, one of the 3 secret forces of the World Government was under attack? That seemed to be an absurd thought, after all, they were a rather powerful unit!

Kong set down the snail.

“Basara, go.”

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The Admiral nodded as he set off to Fooljack Peaks, though it would be a miracle to reach there on time, after all, the destination was almost 2 days away through the Calm Belt.

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[Fooljack Peaks]

[A Day Ago]

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A raging snowstorm had descended upon the island and buried it under a copious amount of snow, nearly 50-feet high!

All agents had to retreat to the base as the snow rained down.

During this period of little surveillance, the News Agency workers evacuated the base.

Naturally, there were spies but somehow they were killed in the chaos, leaving CP-10 blinded.

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The snow fell for 18 hours, more than enough time for the 4 Directors and their employees to leave to a safe and undisclosed location.

———

[A Few Hours Ago]

The news about the withdrawal had just been received worldwide and naturally, to CP-10 as well.

The tenth agency’s Chief, Optio Quartz was left stumped.

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And immediately he raced out to the News Agency HQ with his forces.

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“How did this happen!” He roared out as he saw the empty base.

“LOCK DOWN THE ENTIRE REGION OF SEA, THEY HAVE TO BE NEA-”

Quartz’s orders froze as he felt something.

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His Observation spiked.

*Splat*

‘Huh?’ He thought as he looks to the side and saw one of his executives burst into a fountain of red, his severed head rolling on the ground.

“Augh!”

“Ehhh!”

“Blaugh!”

The Chief turned to the side and saw 15 bodies.

“OUGH!”

“Ahhh!”

He then heard even more cries from afar as corpses laid bare around him.

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Quartz himself was a High-Tier Yonko Commander level powerhouse and he had another 4 men near his level with another 55 lower-ranked workers.

Yet somehow, 47 were already dead?!

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“Show yourself!” Quartz roared as he saw his men fall dead.

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*Step* *Step* *Step*

Soft footsteps echoed as Quartz saw the person.

He had an average face with brown hair, only 6 feet in height, a midget compared to the 9-foot tall CP-10 Chief.

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They were confused by the person as they didn’t feel anything from the young man before them.

“Oh! I forgot to remove this disguise…” The man muttered.

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Jeff, aka Damien’s clone, had been hiding in this mountain for nearly a year.

Though his strength was the same as when Damien had split himself, his Observation had exploded in mastery.

Naturally, no one here could see through his disguise.

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[Persona Release]

[Semei Kikan Reversion]

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The crunching of bones and cracking of limbs resounded the bloody halls as the man changed appearance.

“You are…!”

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The black and red haired youth smirked.

‘This clone’s progress has yet to be absorbed by the main body and 11 months of training is rather large.’ He thought in his head.

—

A battle raged on as Cipher Pol Ten was eventually annihilated!

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[2 Days Later]

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Admiral Basara arrived and he immediately used his Mountain-Mountain fruit to completely change Fooljack Peaks into a wide and level plain as there were absolutely no more mountains left!

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An entire island was terraformed by the wave of a hand…

Therein, saving nearly weeks of investigation, the only thing found were the dead bodies of Cipher Pol, a failed mission.

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[Room of Authority, Mariejois]

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The Gorosei were angry.

“The World News Agency has officially left our grasp, They used the Free Media Law to legally exit the World Government,” The blond Elder summarized.

*Shing!*

A sharp blade was unsheathed from its scabbard as it cleanly cut the air within a room.

The sword elder spoke up, “Just a month ago it was the birth of a Supreme Blade… and now this!”

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Their anger radiated the entire castle, all but one room.

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“The words have been sent to major Kingdoms of the Reverie. Those 4 fools even called for favours with stronger voices.”

“The King of Dressrosa,”

“The Ruler of Alabasta,”

“The Monarch of Bastion,”

“The Supreme Lord of Latveria,”

“And even The Council Elders of Néa have reached out in support of the decision!” The long-bearded Elder grunted.

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“This is the worst outcome! The seas grow turbulent and the skies tremble in disbalance!” The scarred Elder protested.

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The Sword Elder sheathed his sword and nodded, “We have legally lost the ability to mould the news but we can always make a new one.”

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The blond Elder nodded in agreement, “Indeed, but that may upset the Reverie Attendants. I suggest we wait to see how the News Agency does on its own and try and find a puppet to overtake it.”

“Agreed. With the Rocks Pirates in the New World, we cannot shift our focus to such matters. Let CP-9 take over and plant spies, if it doesn’t work out then we will simply purge them.”

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(Narrator POV)

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The World News Agency has called in many favours to help them gain autonomy.

All the while the darker forces hiding in the shadows are also at work.

The Underworld Emperors, under the request of the Fulcrum, The King of Shipping, have sent out their forces to ensure the exit of the agency.

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The Gorosei have decided to let it play out.

CP-9 will attempt to infiltrate the Agency but will fail due to Damien’s birds monitoring anyone and everyone.

Once their failure reaches the Elders, they will instead see if the new Agency works with or against the balance of the world.

And if it is the former, then they will choose to make deals with the heads and accept the autonomy the Directors crave, as they did in canon.

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With Morgans being promoted for his work, it won’t be long for the Agency to switch Directors, after all the current 4 are quite old…

Allowing Morgans to inevitably gain the key to the public’s ears.

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And ultimately to the man standing behind him.

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[Mortem Island]

(Damien POV)

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*DING!*

>=-=—-[]—<>—[]—=-=<

[‘Operation Nexus’ has been updated.]

[ Find the World News Agency Main Base – ✔ ]

[ Find Replacement President – ✔ ]

[ Bring the replacement under your control – ✔]

[ Have the Agency exit the World Government’s Grasp – ✔ ]

[Time Limit – 1486]

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[Operation Nexus has been completed! Congratulations!]

>=-=—-[]—<>—[]—=-=<

I smiled in satisfaction as the sweet words were delivered to my ears.

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The News Agency has become autonomous and will soon start telling the hidden tales.

Of course, I cannot be too biased with my words, lest I piss off the Elders and they will then try and purge my efforts.

Instead, I will be quite objective, after all, the main plan is to first share the story of the Rocks Pirates.

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This way, not only will it never be forgotten in the River of Time, but my name will also grow.

This may seem inconsequential now, but it will greatly aid me when it comes to my other World-Level Quests in the far future.

—–

That aside, a month had passed and some things had happened.

For one, I had yet to reunite with Aurora.

There were a few little hiccups in the Underworld as Escanor seemed to be up to something, pressuring my assets along the way.

Fulcrum and Talon were busy with those movements.

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A big event was being planned by the last remaining Overlord of the Sea.

—

Furthermore, I also will intend to reunite with my clone soon once he has fully stabilized the News Agency.

And this is the clone that was training Observation Haki for almost a year!

Once I merge back with him, I will gain a huge amount of experience.

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My Observation allows me to look around 8 seconds in the future. It is High-Advanced Mastery currently.

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This brings me to wonder,

‘Sibyl, what happens once I go beyond the Advanced Stage of Observation Haki?’ I asked.

After all, there isn’t said to be anything after Futuresight, so what exactly lies beyond it?

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[The stage after Advanced Mastery is naturally Grand Mastery.] She began.

[At Advanced Mastery you can perceive the future. Once you reach Grand Mastery Stage, you can perceive far more… abstract things. I cannot say much as every Grandmaster receives different abilities depending on themselves.] She concluded.

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I was a bit lost on the meaning behind her words but nodded nonetheless. Futuresight is quite useful and any other such ability is always welcome to my collection.

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It was almost night time as I had put the 2 kids to sleep after an arduous workout, it was surprising to see that they were still alive up till now.

After all, my tortur- *Cough* my training schedule for them is slightly over the top.

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A sweet voice then entered my ears.

“Damien-san, are you coming to bed?”

Toki had wrapped her slender arms around my neck as I was seated near the edge of the island.

She leaned her head on me as she closed her eyes, feeling the gentle and cool wind.

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I grabbed her hands with mine, “Mhm, I’ll be there soon.”

The girl then gave me a small smile, “You seem quite happy after you read that newspaper, did something good happen?”

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I picked off the hands coiled around my neck and spun through the air as I appeared behind the girl, shocking her in the process.

“Indeed, and I feel like sharing that joy with you…”

I then swiped my hands under her legs as I swept her up into a princess carry.

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“Ah! Damien-san, we did it for nearly 16 hours straight just a day ago!” Toki protested as he weakly punched my chest with a red face.

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She continued a useless struggle as I willed the trees around me to form a small house and continued our little ‘nightly adventures’.

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[The following is excluded from word count]

Author’s Corner:

So, the Agency is free, for now, Damien wants to ensure that the Rocks Pirates are not forgotten, plus it’s quite handy to have the power of the news in your hands.

And no there won’t be R-18 next chapter.