December 1, 1500, Age of the Sea Circle
Arms crossed, Orion watched the fight between Dragon and Avalo Pizarro with great interest. With his current level of power, Orion was not capable of facing someone on Dragon's level, but seeing the level Pizarro was at, Orion conjectured that he could defeat him as long as the tyrant monarch remained in his natural form without using the powers of his Devil Fruit.
This was because, although Pizarro was quite powerful, his combat experience was clearly limited. He had probably never had to face enemies seriously, and he did not know how to exploit his innate superhuman abilities.
Dragon was fighting almost without the aid of his Devil Fruit, since he did not need it to deal with someone of Pizarro's level. With both fists coated in Armament Haki, Dragon was using the monarch as his punching bag.
Bang! Bang!
Two clean blows landed on Pizarro's face, breaking his nose and making his vision blur with tears. Dragon used Soru, and before his enemy could recover, he appeared behind him, grabbing him by the neck and striking his back with a knee that immediately broke Pizarro's spine, leaving him unable to fight.
"AAaaah!!!! Ahhh!" Pizarro fell to the ground screaming like a pig being slaughtered, completely paralyzed from the waist down.
The mighty and imposing monarch who had ruled as a tyrant over an entire kingdom was now utterly defenseless before the brutal attack of the revolutionary leader. It was the first time Avalo Pizarro had ever experienced such a beating, and such humiliation.
For a moment, his mind tried to rationalize what was happening, searching for an explanation, but Dragon's cold gaze, which looked at him as if he were an insect, made him incapable of feeling anything but humiliation, and his reason teetered on the verge of collapse.
Completely desperate, he tried once more to merge with the island. That way, even if he suffered continuous attacks from Dragon, he might, with some luck, find a new opportunity to escape. However, before he could do so, a door suddenly appeared in the air beside him, and Orion emerged at full speed, snapping a seastone collar around his neck.
Pizarro felt his body weaken instantly, and his Devil Fruit powers were completely blocked by the strange energy contained in the seastone. With resignation, he looked at the newcomer and met Orion's face, who was smiling at him.
Pizarro felt a new kind of humiliation at seeing Orion's carefree smile, which clearly showed he was not being taken seriously, and gathering all his strength he managed to push himself up from the ground using his arms, intending to keep fighting until the very end.
"Arrrrrrgghhh!" Avalo Pizarro roared as he struggled to rise with all his might, but before he could do anything, Orion stepped forward and, with a precise strike to the back of his neck, knocked him out.
"What a noisy guy," Orion said, watching Pizarro collapse unconscious on the ground. Then he turned to Dragon and, still smiling, added,
"I suppose this can be considered our victory then?"
Dragon showed a faint smile in response to Orion's words and, nodding, said,
"That's right, it has been a complete success."
Orion turned and, looking at the nearby members of the Revolutionary Army, shouted at the top of his lungs,
"You heard that, boys? It's our victory!!"
The members of the Revolutionary Army began to celebrate joyfully, raising their fists and shouting along with Orion, while Dragon simply maintained his classic stoic posture, showing only a slight smile after completing a mission flawlessly.
This was the first large-scale operation of its kind that the Revolutionary Army had carried out since its founding, and it had been a complete and absolute victory!
Everything had gone according to plan, and with Orion's participation they had managed to keep the loss of innocent civilians at zero, which was a monumental achievement. It was justified that everyone present felt great joy at what they had just accomplished, and there would probably be celebrations at the North Army headquarters once all loose ends in this kingdom were tied up.
Until this day, the Revolutionary Army had conducted operations on a much smaller scale. This was because organizing a revolution in oppressed nations was not simple—not only because of the local forces, but also due to the possible intervention of the navy and the World Government to counter the Revolutionary Army's efforts.
If they had been able to do so this time, it was due to the particular situation of this kingdom under Pizarro's rule. Not only was the kingdom isolated and maintaining a tense relationship with the navy, but the vast majority of the inhabitants were against Pizarro, which also included a large number of soldiers belonging to the royal army.
It could be said that what had provoked Avalo Pizarro's downfall had been his own actions, and that the Revolutionary Army had merely delivered the final blow.
Even so, this victory would undoubtedly encourage all the members of the organization and lay the groundwork for many other operations in the future. Without a doubt, the day would come when the Revolutionary Army would be capable of toppling governments that were still at their full strength. As long as they had the support of common people, they would be able to achieve it sooner or later.
Once the battle was over, Orion and the others made their way to the outer part of the island, where the local rebel leaders were waiting along with the soldiers of the North Army, who had previously been cutting off Avalo Pizarro's retreat.
Also gathered here were the people Orion had evacuated earlier, since his Pocket Dimension was not large enough to hold all the inhabitants of this central island. Because of that, he had been forced to use his Pocket Dimension as a passageway rather than as a refuge.
In that regard, his two new subordinates, Garride and Reira, had helped him quite a lot, taking charge of directing the people he had spirited away, and with Kuma's assistance they had finally managed to fulfill their goal of keeping the civilians safe.
Now that everything was over, the people who had been evacuated could return to their homes, though a large part of the central island had been destroyed in the battle, so there would probably be many who would have to face certain hardships in the days to come.
After all, it was impossible to fight a battle without any kind of loss, and at least in this case the losses had been only material, while the people themselves were completely unharmed.
Dragon approached the leader of the local rebels and handed over the unconscious Avalo Pizarro, who was tightly bound and wore a seastone collar around his neck.
On this occasion, they would not be the ones taking custody of this tyrannical monarch, for another plan was already in place for the events to come: Pizarro's custody would be handed to the rebels, who in turn would hand him over to the navy.
This had been a decision Dragon had made personally, and no one had opposed it. At present, although the Revolutionary Army had the capacity to topple Pizarro, they could not offer any real protection to the people of this kingdom. They were simply too young an organization with too few resources.
For that reason, Dragon had decided that the local rebels would contact the navy and deliver Avalo Pizarro as a prisoner in exchange for protection.
Pizarro was in conflict with the Navy and the World Government, so they would gladly accept him as a prisoner. As for the kingdom's future, the Navy didn't care much. As long as the new government paid its tribute, they would be left alone and might even receive some protection from the Navy.
Dragon had used his contacts within the Navy to make a deal with one of the high-ranking officers in the North Blue. The deal was simple: Dragon and the revolutionaries would be erased from any record concerning the event of Pizarro's overthrow, and all the credit would be claimed by this high-ranking officer.
In this way, Dragon could ensure that the people of this now kingless kingdom would have a chance to move forward, although they would clearly have to face difficulties.
As for the possibility that the Navy might attempt to set a trap for them or capture the members of the Revolutionary Army, it was almost nonexistent. After all, Dragon knew the system well; he knew which strings to pull and whom to contact for an occasion like this.
To begin with, Dragon was seen as a threat by the World Government, but right now most of the navy's higher-ranking officers did not consider him a problem.
He was simply a deserter leading a band of amateurs without much training, and they did not believe he could accomplish much. In the eyes of the greedy Navy officer who had made a deal with Dragon this time, whose name was Prodi, it was far more convenient to capture Avalo Pizarro to earn merit than to capture Dragon.
This was largely due to Dragon's immense power. Although high-ranking officers did not consider Dragon's troops to be very dangerous, the same could not be said about Dragon himself. Rear Admiral Prodi would not dare to face Dragon, for he knew he would end up utterly destroyed by mysterious gusts of wind if he did.
Taking all this into account, the deal between Dragon and Prodi had come to fruition, and now only the final step remained—the delivery of Pizarro, whom they had just defeated, though that would be carried out by the local rebels. The Revolutionary Army's work on this occasion was over, and it was time to withdraw after their victory.
Orion cast one last reluctant look at the unconscious Pizarro, thinking it was a pity they had not eliminated him directly, since he would probably have been able to gain a great amount of SP by taking down such a tyrant with such a dangerous power as the Shima Shima no Mi.
However, Dragon had already made a decision on the matter, and Orion did not want to enter into conflict with him unnecessarily. After all, this operation had been planned entirely by Dragon, and he had only come to assist, so it was natural to follow the directives of the revolutionary leader and not create problems in his plans.
As for whether Dragon's decision had been the right one or not… that was another matter altogether. Orion, in particular, was not very inclined to leave his enemies alive, for he knew that if he gave them the chance, they could return one day in the future and become a serious headache.
In general, whenever he could, Orion tried to finish off his enemies precisely to spare himself such future troubles. Dragon, on the other hand, had a much "gentler" style. He rarely eliminated his foes, always finding some reason not to do so, although most of the time it could be summed up in the fact that his current influence was not yet strong enough to allow him to do as he pleased.
Dragon was different from a pirate. A pirate was free to act thoughtlessly and eliminate any opponent without consequence, but Dragon was constantly weighing the consequences of his actions and looking for ways to minimize risks with the forces he had at his disposal. In some sense, he and Orion were a little alike in that regard, although Orion tended to be more decisive when it came to making choices.
Amid the cheers of the local rebels, Orion, Dragon, and the rest of the revolutionaries withdrew quietly, aided by Kuma's Devil Fruit powers. No history book would ever mention their participation in this incident, and just as silently as they had arrived, they disappeared once again.
…
December 2, 1500, Age of the Sea Circle
A great banquet was being held at the Northern Army base. A day had passed since their victory over Pizarro, and Karasu had decided to organize a celebratory feast at Orion's suggestion.
Even so, Dragon had chosen not to stay and take part in it, and he had already departed back to Baltigo to continue working tirelessly on directing the activities of the organization. He was a truly serious man in everything he did, driven by an obsession that would be difficult for an ordinary person to comprehend.
Although Dragon was not against celebrations and banquets, and even believed them necessary to boost morale and strengthen unity within the Revolutionary Army, that did not mean he would waste his time attending them. Perhaps he would only do so if it were strictly necessary from a pragmatic point of view, or if his ultimate goals had already been fulfilled.
In any case, Orion, Kuma, and the other revolutionaries celebrated cheerfully once night fell, feasting on all kinds of delicacies and drinking every sort of fine liquor.
Of course, the Northern Army base under Karasu's command did not have access to such "luxurious" rations, which was why Orion himself had provided all the food and alcohol for the celebration. He had an enormous stockpile in his inventory, one that grew larger every time he had the chance, and it was now so massive that he could host such a vast banquet without the slightest problem.
Orion had been in such good spirits that he had even put his "Cooking" skill to use, preparing all manner of delicious dishes for the great feast. As a result, he gained an unexpected reward: his "Cooking (Level 4)" skill had leveled up!
The growth of his abilities was always a cause of joy for Orion, even when it came to secondary skills like this one, since it meant his proficiency in that field increased dramatically.
The moment his cooking skill advanced to the next level, not only did he gain an improvement in the motor skills related to cooking, but new recipes also surged into his mind like a rushing river of information. It was, without a doubt, always a satisfying process to strengthen his abilities.
"Kuma! Drink a little, don't be shy!" Orion said, already a bit drunk after celebrating for a couple of hours, as he wrapped his arm around Kuma's neck in a friendly manner and handed him a rather large mug of beer.
If an ordinary-sized person were to drink the amount of alcohol in that mug, they would likely fall into an alcohol-induced coma, but for Kuma it was just the right amount to put him into a mildly "cheerful" state.
"No, no, no. There's no need, Orion, I have juice here. Look," Kuma replied, waving his hands quickly and then picking up a mug of juice that sat beside him.
"Bah! At times like this you have to let yourself go and celebrate a little!" Orion said with a crafty grin.
Suddenly, the mug of alcohol in Orion's hand vanished without a trace, and a small finger appeared beside Kuma's face. Orion was using his inventory abilities together with "Un Fleur" to play a prank on the gentle revolutionary.
The finger floating in the air tapped Kuma on the shoulder, and when he turned curiously, Orion pulled the mug of alcohol from his inventory at the finger's position and tossed it into Kuma's mouth. Kuma had no choice but to drink it involuntarily to avoid choking.
"Hahaha! That's what I'm talking about! Let's celebrate a little, Kuma!" Orion said joyfully, patting Kuma vigorously on the back.
However, just a moment later, Kuma slipped off one of his gloves, and to Orion's surprise, he used the powers of his Devil Fruit on himself, releasing a paw-shaped bubble from his body.
"Is that…?" Orion asked, already suspecting the answer.
"It's the alcohol I just drank, I can repel it like this," Kuma replied with a carefree smile.
"*Sigh* I suppose you win this time, Kuma," Orion said, a little disappointed that Kuma had gone so far as to use his Devil Fruit powers just to avoid drinking alcohol.
From Orion's perspective, Kuma needed to loosen up in the way he lived. There was nothing wrong with being serious and upright, but any attitude taken to the extreme could bring consequences. Besides, Orion knew that Kuma wasn't doing it out of some religious or philosophical precept, but simply because he couldn't allow himself to get carried away by the situation.
It was as if he were constantly trapped in a process of penance, never allowing himself to be truly happy or free. Orion wanted to do something about it, but the situation was quite complicated, and it was clear he would need patience in dealing with Kuma and his traumas.
However, to Orion's surprise, in the very next moment Kuma picked up a mug of beer and took a few modest sips.
Seeing Orion's astonishment, he said with a touch of shyness,
"Well, sometimes it's not so bad to celebrate a little."
His voice was soft, yet Orion heard it clearly, and immediately burst out into a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha! That's the spirit, Kuma! Come on, come on, let's celebrate until dawn!" Orion exclaimed, downing a glass of rum in one long gulp.
In his daily life, Orion didn't have many chances to celebrate like this either, since he too lived with a fair amount of seriousness and rigidity, though not to the extreme level of Dragon or Kuma. This was a precious opportunity to celebrate alongside his good friend, and Orion intended to make the most of it.
Once the celebrations came to an end, he would have to travel to the island where the Named Character "Baby 5" was, to see her situation. But that was something to think about once he woke up in the morning, with the hangover from the night before.
...
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