Disclaimer : I own nothing.
Chapter 49 : Misdirection.
- Shin –
I popped into the room Whitebeard had assigned me when I wanted to visit the place. Asia looked around the place in intrigue.
The sound probably alerted someone outside the door and I heard them running out.
A minute later Marco opened the door.
"You're already here. Pops and the rest are in the meeting room." He then looked towards Asia.
"She's my family."
The girl perked up at it while Marco nodded at me.
He led us to the meeting room. I realized that most of the people were present.
The room was already packed with people. The Whitebeard Captains on one side, Shanks and his cadres on another and Roger sat with Rayleigh while Hiyori and the Zou's leaders sat on the last side.
If the Marines had witnessed this meeting, they probably would have pissed their pants and then fainted in their own piss.
Our arrival attracted their attention and I walked to Roger's side.
I noticed that he was still in his disguise.
"You're here brat?" Roger nodded towards me and I replied in kind. "Who's this girl?"
"She is my peerage member, Asia."
"Peerage?" he looked surprised at this. I had told him a bit about my peerage previously.
"I recovered enough to call them here."
He looked at Asia for a bit and then smiled, not one of mockery but genuine. "Congratulations on having your family back."
I replied back with a smile and turned towards Asia. "Asia, introduce yourself."
She bowed slightly, "H-hello, my name is Asia Argento, a member of Shin-sama's peerage."
One of the Whitebeard captains, Izo I think his name was asked the next question. "A peerage….I have heard this term in some countries, It means retainer, right. Are you a King?"
"A noble and yes, a peerage is like retainers. The place where we come from, peerages are made from pieces of chess. The leader is the King piece and they can recruit upto fifteen pieces with people they find. Asia is my pawn piece."
"Pawn….isn't that the weakest piece?"
It was another one of the Whitebeard Pirate captains who said this and was glared at by others in the room when Asia looked down a bit in sadness.
"Asia is a doctor. Her specialty is not fighting….but that does not mean she is helpless. She is one of the bravest and kindest people that I know of." I didn't lie at all when saying this.
The girl blushed slightly as her eyes lit up with the praise.
She really wears her emotions on her sleeves.
"The little miss is a doctor too. Do you see that Marco, you have a junior doctor hahahaha." Someone laughed.
Only the captains didn't laugh but looked at Asia.
"Hahahaha it seems that everyone is underestimating my Asia. Well that won't do at all so….how about I sate everyone's curiosity and have Asia give us a demonstration of her skills."
The Whitebeard pirates were taken aback except for Whitebeard himself.
Shanks laughed and mediated, "Since we are going to cooperate, I can understand that you all don't feel confident about the unknown people. I agree that it would be best if little Miss Asia here can show her skills. It will also make everyone respect each other more easily."
Whitebeard looked at Shanks and then at me and spoke in a serious tone. "In that case, I will volunteer myself. It is my decision to agree to this alliance so I will show my trust."
"Pops….you."
"There is no need, pops. We believe you."
"We were just joking around, teasing a newbie. No need to get serious pops."
Whitebeard however raised his hand. "It's not like I am fighting. These people are my friends. Why is it so serious if I allow one of my friends to cure me? Come here little girl. Do what you want."
Asia looked at me and I gave her a nod. "Do your best Asia. I believe in you."
That was probably all the motivation she needed.
A five feet something inches Asia Argento stood in front of a twenty one feet giant of a Whitebeard. If they had been fighting, it would have been the reenactment of David and the Goliath however the situation was completely different this time.
A golden bright burst shone around her body and suddenly twelve feathered silver white wings burst out of her back and a golden halo shone over her head. Her aura permeated through the whole room. It was much stronger this time around when Asia was concentrating on healing and not reining in her presence. Her Ultimate Class power reserves enhancing the effect more than the physical energy would have done. I saw a few of the Whitebeard and Red Haired pirate members looking slightly glazed in their eyes as they looked at Asia with eyes full of worship.
Asia however was oblivious to all this. She put her hands on Whitebeard's chest and a greenish golden light lit Whitebeard's whole body. The effect was insane to say the least.
Generally healing type Devil Fruits have a flaw. If used excessively, they can consume the lifespan of the user. This is because the excess physical energy is supplemented by the life-force to convert into the magical energy for the Devil Fruit to be used. This however was a moot point due to Asia's power.
The effect of the Devil Fruit artifact was enhanced due to skipping the change of physical energy into magical energy. I didn't completely remove that though in case it was needed in times of emergency.
The wounds on Whitebeard's body healed at a visible pace. Even the old ones were healing and new skin was forming over them, erasing all traces of previous wounds.
In a mere five minutes Asia stepped back and let out a breath while the rest of the people stared in amazement.
I patted her head and smiled at her as she blushed.
"Pops!"
"Is that?"
"W-wow."
The crew ran over to check Whitebeard's condition, Marco taking the lead. After a minute, they turned towards us and bowed. "Thank you for helping pops and sorry for our earlier behavior. We didn't act properly to our allies."
"E-eh n-no, it's alright. I-I was just doing my job."
+20 Reputation with Edward Newgate(60/100) for helping him.
Perk Gained – [Whitebeard -50]
[Big Daddy]
Increases Affection, reputation and Obedience with Fathers.
This was followed by a series of Reputation gains from all of the Whitebeard Pirate Captains. I already had a decent reputation among them due to helping Hiyori and this one pushed the reputation above 50 for all of them.
The collection of perks gave a percentage increase in skill advancement. Like my Observation was pushed almost halfway to Legendary rank while my Armament was quite a bit away from Legendary Rank. The only exception was my swordsmanship which had increased directly to Legendary Rank.
If I can get some Relationship perks from stronger pirates, I could maybe advance these skills soon too.
I had thought that with the work I will have to put into making the Potions to prepare for the attack, my training will be dragged back a lot but thank Oda for naming every mook character of One Piece.
You can only get an increase in skill levels upto the skill level the person who gives you the perk has themselves. These captains of the Whitebeard Pirates all had their skills in the Master Ranks. You wouldn't get any increase in skills from them in the Legendary Rank. For those you will need Reputation from those with that level of skills for example Roger and the likes.
….that does make sense.
Whitebeard rose up from his seat and looked at Asia.
There was silence for a moment before he spoke.
"Girl, would you like to be my daughter?"
….
….
"The fuck Whitebeard, are you poaching people from my student's crew now?" Roger bristled.
"I am just asking her to be my daughter. It doesn't mean she has to leave her crew. Why are you getting so excited? Didn't you ask me for Oden as well?"
That shut him up.
Asia on the other hand looked at me. I nodded.
This is actually even better than I had expected.
She actually teared up a little. Whitebeard looked a little uncomfortable. "It is fine if you don't want to. No one will force you."
"N-no. I-I haven't had parents or family since I can remember. Now after meeting Shin-sama, I have a family and friends….and now God has also given me a father. I am just thankful." She wiped her tears, looked towards me and smiled and then nodded towards Whitebeard. "If you will accept me as a daughter, I will be honored."
The Whitebeard pirates had smiles and some even cried while Whitebeard himself patter her head. "Gurarararara from now on, you are my, Whitebeard's daughter. You do not need to fear anyone. Children, you have a new sibling. Let's party after this meeting."
The Whitebeard Pirates all cheered and started introducing themselves as brothers to Asia while we watched from the side.
"You have good retainers, brat." Roger smiled looking at the scene.
"I know. Asia is probably one of the purest people I have ever met. She hadn't had a good life before meeting me and I am trying to correct that. People like her deserve happiness more than anyone else."
The atmosphere calmed down after a while and people returned to the matter at hand. Beckman addressed the problems.
"The Beast Pirates probably have the most numbers among the Four Emperor Pirate groups. They have people with Artificial Zoan Devil fruits who are stronger than normal pirates. The island of Onigashima itself is naturally fortified. We have also found out that there are prisoners from Wano in Onigashima. If we attack them, they will also receive reinforcements from Kurozumi Orochi. While we and the Whitebeard Pirates can fight off these forces, Kaido also has a strange connection with Big Mom. She could interfere in the raid as well just to make sure that we don't attack her after Kaido. The two of us teaming up together will not only spook Big Mom but also the Marines and the World Government. The alliance between two emperors will attract them for sure and that will make the raid even more difficult. We have to find a way to remove these uncertainties."
The people all quieted down and thought about the matter at hand.
"I have a plan." I raised my hand.
Shanks looked at me. "You did say that before but never said what it was."
"I have a few ways to do this and for security's sake, we will use….all these methods." Seeing that they were now paying attention to me, I explained further.
"First we will need a distraction. A BIG distraction that will keep the attention of the Marines, the World Government and all the Pirates so that no one can interfere in the raid. I fortunately know of someone who can help me with this."
"Dio?" Shanks asked curiously.
"No, why would Dio do that? That's not his style. People only find out about Dio's plans when they have succeeded and look at the results in awe. The one I am talking about is….Blackbeard."
The atmosphere became gloomy in an instant.
"Teach…." Whitebeard gritted his teeth.
Shanks looked much more somber. "Explain."
"Do you know Blackbeard's original plan?"
He nodded, "I heard about it but do repeat."
"His original plan was to capture Ace so as to attract Whitebeard to Marineford and cause a War. With Ace's identity, The Marines and the World Government would have agreed to it without a doubt. He would have used it to take the position of the Shichibukai." I looked at the horror-stricken faces of the Whitebeard and continued. "He then would have used his identity of a Shichibukai to enter Impel Down and free the prisoners at the Sixth level to form a crew. Then he would have gone back to the war and attacked an exhausted Whitebeard and used his Yami Yami no Mi to steal his Tremor Tremor Fruit, easily establishing himself as an Emperor."
"Teach, that bastard!"
"I will kill him."
"That traitor."
"He would dare…."
Baam
Whitebeard smacked the table and quieted down the now enraged captains.
"What is your plan?"
I smiled and brought out a piece of stone from the inventory and placed it on the ground. "I plan to help him out a bit." I snapped a finger and the stone was transfigured into a body looking like Ace.
….
….
….
….
Beckman's cigarette fell and Shanks' jaws hung open.
"Ace?" Marco was stunned.
"That's fake. I can control it as a puppet." I explained. "Imagine this 'Ace' falling into Blackbeard's hands? He can attract the attention of the whole world. Even the preparations of war that we make will be seen for this."
"….but we won't attack that place and instead Wano." Beckman completed.
"Exactly."
"What about the Impel Down prisoners? Teach getting those pirates as a crew will be bad." Shanks asked seriously.
"I will replace them with fakes in a day or two."
"You are planning to raid Impel Down?" Roger asked.
"I am. I have some work to do at Impel Down. I will probably go there in a few days. Two or three maybe."
"So Teach will be breaking out the fakes and losing his Shichibukai position as well as attracting the ire of the entire World Government and the Marines for making a fool out of them."
"Exactly."
"I know I shouldn't say this because that bastard Teach is our enemy too but are you the Devil? That would probably make his life a nightmare." one of the cadres of Shanks said.
"At times yes but if I really wanted to hurt him, I would do something like make Dio announce, 'You want my treasure, you can have it all. I have left it all with….Marshal D. Teach.'"
….
….
….
….
Even Whitebeard was a bit open mouthed while the cadre who asked me the question was looking at me with horror.
Beckman collected himself the fastest and asked, "What were the other plans?"
"The other plans were the transportation methods. I was thinking about making the island float and travel above Onigashima just like I relocated Amazon Lily. I could then use the Door Door fruit to help everyone infiltrate directly into the enemy's base. Fortunately I have been able to secure both these methods in time."
"We have been able to contact some of the loyal followers of the Kozuki Clan and they are willing to follow us." Hiyori said from the side.
"We of the Zou will help free Wano as well." The Minks stood up.
"We will keep a watch on the Big Mom Pirates just in case they try to help Kaido." Shanks replied as well.
"I invented something new recently. I can remove the weaknesses of the Devil Fruits. If there are any people who are interested, do send them to me. The charge will only include the cost of materials." I could use this opportunity to extract the Devil Fruit spirits from people and give them an artifact that can change physical energy to magical energy, thus enabling them to use their powers even without the spirit.
Whitebeard's crew had some really great Devil Fruits, the prime among them being the Tremor Tremor Fruit and the Bird Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix. No way, I am going to let them go just like that.
"At this point I won't be surprised by you anymore." Rayleigh shook his head.
"In that case, let me try it first." Marco came forward.
"No no Marco, let me." Jozu insisted.
"Gurarararara go there one at a time. How much will it cost Shin?"
"It would be twenty million beris but if possible I would like these materials." I handed them the list of materials.
"Marco, see that the materials are delivered." He handed the list to Marco who was first in line.
I then proceeded to extract the Devil Fruit Spirit from Marco and replace it with my artifact.
The process was very simple for me after enough practice from other experiments and Sacred Gear extractions. I then took out some Sea Stone from my inventory. "Try it. See if you face any inconvenience."
Marco held the Sea Stone while turning his other hand into a claw. "This is awesome, oi. Is this really Sea Stone?"
Jozu held the Sea Stone in Marco's hand and couldn't use his powers thus proving the authenticity of the process.
That was accompanied by my extracting the Devil Fruits from each one of them, including Whitebeard and giving them an artifact.
I had a decent income today as well.
The plans were fine-tuned after several discussions. My potions will play a major role in increasing the strength of the army. I collected the materials from Shanks.
Whitebeard Pirates had a massive feast for Asia and I took her back to our base in the end.
- Scene Change –
Merlin, Jibril and I infiltrated Impel Down. Jibril's space channels are extremely fast and convenient to use.
Entering Impel Down will be extremely easy for us. The main problem is entering there and taking people out of the place without anyone noticing it.
Merlin has been working on the said medicine for the last few days.
We need to take over the monitoring room first, lock the sixth floor completely and then flood the entire floor with the specially made gas. It can knock out even a Sea King for days. Knocking these people out for an hour shouldn't be that much of a problem.
I Spread my Observation around the place and found a group of jailors. We knocked them out in an instant and disguised ourselves while I found out the location of the Monitoring Room from his mind.
"This place is really something. Making completely different environments on different levels. They are creating pseudo dimensions inside this building. You are right. The ones behind the World Government must have highly skilled mages." Merlin said, looking at the place.
"I never doubted that. The person who did this will probably be our main opponent in taking down the World Government."
"We could just blast them down, Master. Tiny bugs can be annoying but that doesn't mean they are hard to kill." Jibril said cheerfully.
"Blasting them all up would mean losing whatever resources and knowledge they have. That would be extremely wasteful. We could always poke their heads to find out all about their magic." Merlin corrected? Jibril.
We reached the Monitoring Room with ease under a notice-me-not charm and neutralized the people, replacing them with my Shadow Clones and Shadows.
Then the three of us headed towards the Sixth Floor. The Sixth Floor people were given food once every ten days so that they are weakened and cannot revolt but despite all of this, these people were still on the level of an Ultimate Class Devil. It says a lot about what kind of monsters these people truly are.
Megallen is currently in the toilet while the other guards don't even dare to come to this place. From their minds I found out that Shiryu of the Rain was recently imprisoned on the sixth level.
The sixth floor was the smallest floor which was to our advantage. Merlin cast her Perfect Cube as soon as we reached the place and flooded the place with her sleeping gas. I on the other hand began to use my curses to reduce the mental and physical resistances of the people on the sixth level.
Several Conqueror's Haki burst out at once but the Perfect Cube was more than enough to keep these weakened people in check.
Despite all of this, it took around twenty five minutes for all the people to faint.
The next part was transfiguring puppets in the form of the prisoners and attaching a shadow to each one of them so that they could pretend while the real ones were handcuffed with sea stone handcuffs and transfigured into marbles.
Within an hour the most dangerous criminals of Impel Down were completely emptied.
- Scene Change –
I looked at the stock in front of me.
The potions were ready. Shanks had provided me enough for five hundred people and Whitebeard had collected for one thousand and five hundred. While not even a quarter, it was still a great help. Any buffed person was better than the artificial devil fruit user of the Beast Pirates and they didn't have the weakness to still water either.
I passed twenty of them to Law's crew and the rest were kept with me.
The lack of material was not a problem for long because my Shadows informed me of a certain someone kneeling on the roof of Gran Tesoro for an entire day.
I appeared in front of the man and made a deal with him. I will resurrect Stella within two years and in return he will follow me for life. Till then, I will allow him to talk to her spirit once a month and bind her to an artificial body when I am strong enough.
I agreed to the man as it was not too tough for me.
He had already gathered all the materials I had asked for and even quadrupled the amount as an apology.
Good guy.
I now had enough for forty two thousand people.
I might even be able to provide a decent stock to the Revolutionary Army and the Whitebeard Pirates. Shanks' crew consisted of elite members and even the rookies had bounties of around 100 million so the Serum would not have much effect on them.
Zou people on the other hand were a different case. The Super Soldier Serum had to be changed a little and it did provide them with an increase in strength. I however worked on a different thing. The Lunar Light potion will allow them to turn into their Moon Lion Form for an entire day at will after taking the potion.
It could turn the cute minks into a cool looking battlefield clearing race of warriors.
The current stock took me working nonstop for the last five days to make. Only five days are left for the raid.
'Ace' was subtly delivered to Blackbeard in a bad condition and Blackbeard was granted the position of Shichibukai.
"Are we going to deliver the potions today?" Rias asked from my side.
She had completed reading the entire series in two days and had been extremely excited about the Devil Fruits.
"Yes. Amazon Lily's the first stop. I need to wait for Hiyori and Denjiro to gather the people on their side first before going there."
"So Boa Hancock. She seems to be quite a person."
"Yeaaaah….about that."
"What?"
"Something might have happened with Hancock the last time we met."
"….don't tell me you took her to bed too." She looked at me with a deadpan.
"Just what kind of a person do you think I am?"
"The kind who took three other lovers apart from me in the two months we were together. I was actually surprised that you only had Rindo in this world."
….well, she did have a point.
"I held back for two and a half months alright. I discovered that I can supplement the need for sex with other kinds of lust like bloodlust and battlelust. I fought till I was to exhausted to control myself. It was only when the other crew members noticed the problem that Rindo came to me and we got together. I haven't touched anyone else."
….she looked at me with….exasperation.
"Shin….I already told you that I am fine with you being with other girls. Harems are not uncommon in the Underworld. I just don't want any of them to take advantage of you. Holding back on your sins or supplementing it with other things is dangerous. Don't do that….ever again. As for Hancock, she from what I have seen is a very proud person. She wouldn't show any interest in anyone if she didn't truly love them. She didn't seem like a person who would ever take advantage of the man she loved."
"Hmm."
"So…."
"So what?"
"Did she really fall for you?"
"Yes. Her behavior towards me changed drastically and she was extra….caring when speaking to me."
"Heh….in that case I would love to meet her." she had a smirk on her face.
"What are you planning?"
"Nothing~~" She replied in a sing-song voice.
"That doesn't fill my heart with confidence. Anyways, the artifact for you is also ready."
"Oh, which one is it?" she jumped in excitement.
The shift of the mischievous and scheming side to the excited one was completely natural. This is one of Rias' charms.
"Well see that for yourself." I brought out the crystal from my inventory and pushed it into her chest. This one is one of my masterpieces.
"This is…."
"Like it?"
"Umm, I can do so many things with this. It matches perfectly with my fighting style."
"That it does."
"Now, what do I pay for this with?" She fake sighed.
"I can suggest something." I took a hold for her waist, pulling her in my arms.
….the payment was satisfying for both of us.
- Scene Change –
I teleported to the Sky Island which was now the home to Amazon Lily. I was accompanied by others today. Rias was coming with me and this attracted the attention of others so they came along, especially when they heard that it was a Sky Island.
I noticed some of the Kuja girls looking at me and one of them ran to inform Hancock while others escorted us.
"Marguerite, it has been a while. Have you been well?"
"Mr. Shin." She bowed slightly towards me. "I am doing well. Welcome to Amazon Lily. Are these your crew members?" she asked, looking at the others who in turn were looking at the place in wonder.
"Is this place really ten thousand meters above the ground?" Hermione asked while looking at the clouds around the island.
"It is. This place is Skypiea. We are on the Amazon Lily island which I relocated here."
"These clouds are dense enough to hold islands above them. I wonder how they are made." Nami asked while whisking a handful of clouds in her hands.
"There are even fishes in these seas."
"Interesting. I wonder if Nami can create this type of cloud with her new artifact." Merlin asked already scanning the place to search for magic.
"Can I?" Nami asked.
"Technically the Cloud Cloud Fruit can create such clouds easily. You just need practice." I answered. I gave her the Cloud Cloud Fruit. She can easily manipulate the climate of a place with it. It goes well with her style. If she masters her powers, she can easily create sky islands anywhere we want.
"Boss, get me those fishes. I want to try cooking them." Rindo jumped at the news of the food.
I saw Kuroka, Koneko and Morgiana's ears perk up as well.
"I don't feel uncomfortable in this sea. Wonder how long it has been since I swam like this." Fleur was swimming in the clouds. She was a Half Veela who are creatures of fire and wind so they are naturally against water. It seems that these clouds are more suitable to her tastes.
"This place is beautiful." Asia and Luna sat on the shore with their legs in the cloud sea.
As we were talking, I sensed Hancock coming towards us with some other members of the Kuja Pirates.
"Shin-sama, have you come to meet me?" she walked towards us cheerfully before stopping, looking at the girls beside me. "Shin-sama, they are?"
"They are my crew and family members." I pointed towards the girls.
"Is she Boa Hancock? She is just as beautiful as you told me." Rias came forward on seeing the new arrivals. "Hello, my name is Rias Gremory. I am Shin's fiancé. Shin has told me a lot about you all. I have to say that you are even more beautiful than I had heard about."
"Rias….Rias….is she…." Hancock whispered.
"We have also heard about you Miss Rias." Sandersonia greeted Rias while Hancock was murmuring something.
And when did she hear about Rias?
"You have?" she asked just as confused.
"Yes. Shin-sama had said that you were very beautiful the first time Ane-sama met him."
Ah….I did say something like that. I was thinking out loud without realizing.
"Her allure is stronger than anyone I have seen so far." Fleur commented.
"Allure?" Marigold asked.
Fleur let out her allure covering the girls. The other members were dazed slightly but the main members were barely fazed because they were used to Hancock's allure for years now.
"Have you eaten a Devil Fruit too?" she asked, looking at Fleur.
"No no. I am a half-veela. We have this ability naturally. Mine is not as strong as pure blooded veelas but I prefer to not use this so I never developed it as well."
The conversation was however cut when Hancock walked up to Rias, chest to chest….and what glorious chests those are….*cough*. She stared into Rias' eyes and said, "I will not lose."
Oh boy.
Rias would never step down under such blatant provocation as far as I know her. She however had a calm smile on her face. "It's not a fight or a competition."
….
"Wow. Rias has really grown. I mean planning and all was obvious but this…." Akeno muttered by my side."
I kept quiet, holding my opining on the matter.
"A competition would mean you ever stood a chance."
….
….
The Conqueror's Haki around Hancock and Power of Destruction around Rias would have made it hard for normal people to even breathe.
Yeah, I was expecting something like this all along.
"This is very interesting nyaa~. Did you do her too?"
"No." I deadpanned at the catgirl's blatant question. The catgirl was enjoying the cat fight too much.
"Shin."
"Shin-sama."
Both the girls turned towards me at once taking me by surprise.
"Yes."
"I will look around the island."
"I will show her around the island."
….
"Umm sure."
"Akeno."
"Marigold."
"Make sure no one follows us."
"Make sure no one follows us."
With that said, both of them left but their auras could still be felt from where we stood.
"Will they be alright?" Marigold asked with slight consternation.
"I don't think Rias would attack….first at least." Akeno answered and somehow the answer didn't fill the others with much confidence.
"Don't worry. Rias won't do anything excessive. The difference in their strengths is too much so even if there is a fight, Rias can easily suppress her." Merlin somehow didn't make it better either.
The Kuja now looked at me with a pleading look.
"Rias is just playing around. She won't do anything to hurt our alliance." I assured the now scared girls. They would have normally attacked but still held back on my behalf so I reassured them a bit. "I came here today for a purpose. I was wondering if I could talk to Hancock but now…."
"What purpose is that Shin-sama?" Sandersonia asked. She seemed to be the one in charge when Hancock was not around.
"I have developed some potions that can bring out the potential of the human body and help people strengthen themselves. With this potion, even an untrained person can have a physique comparable to a Marine Rear Admiral." I didn't bother with their open mouthed look and continued. "I thought that the Kuja might want to try it out to increase their base strength. The World Government wouldn't dare to attack anyone casually if they were as strong as the four Emperors."
"Are there any side effects to the potion?"
"No. My own crew members have used it. It won't have much effect on anyone already as strong as a Rear Admiral though and the process will be painful but not unbearable. Nami, Nojiko and Rindo have tested out the effects of the potion. I would have brought Law, our doctor but I didn't know if the ladies on the island would appreciate male company, so I didn't."
"Thank you. If it's true, then I don't think anyone would disagree with the proposal….but we would like to see a demonstration first. I'm sorry but since the reveal of our marks, things have been a little tense. If Ane-sama hadn't allied with you and saved everyone, sooner or later some people would have revolted. In this case we want to take any decision with caution."
"That is quite understandable."
She looked back and asked for volunteers and surprisingly it was the girl I had met the last time, Marguerite.
Merlin took over the charge from then while I went over to talk to Gan Fall.
- Rias –
Rias watched as the woman, no….she was still a girl, breathed heavily while a heavy aura was continuously bursting around her.
Conqueror's Haki.
It was her first time seeing this outside of the manga she read.
Yes.
Somehow she was in the world of a manga. Not a manga of her world but a manga nonetheless.
One Piece.
She had been waiting for this since Shin had told her about his ability to travel worlds.
THAT information had hit her hard. She had finally found someone she loved and he would leave the world for other worlds. He had however swept away that worry in a matter of seconds.
He wanted to take her to visit other worlds with him. Real worlds of anime and manga she had read.
Back then she was only happy that he wouldn't leave her and the relief had somehow dampened the reality of the entire situation.
Then he went with the 'jump' as he called it.
….and then hid the fact that he won't be able to summon them as soon as he reached there so she wouldn't be worried.
Back then she had all sorts of emotions running in her head. Happy that Shin cared so much for her, angry at him because he hid it, angry at herself for not being stronger and worrying him and then sad that he had to bear all that himself.
He had helped her become stronger and now she wanted to share some of his burdens this time.
"YOU….you are not worthy of Shin-sama."
….
"Huh?"
"You are not worthy of him. He deserves someone better, the best….me."
Okay. It was funny in the manga but being on the receiving end of this was…. damn annoying. She honestly wants to recruit her but people like Hancock won't back down just because someone shouts loudly at them.
No.
People like these need to be broken.
Every hope they have in their hearts needs to be crushed with logic and reasons.
"Maybe you are right."
She saw the surprised look on Hancock's face which turned into a happy one but was soon replaced by a haughty look as she eyed her with a condescending look.
Damn, this was annoying.
"Maybe I really don't deserve Shin"
She clenched her hand looking at Hancock's look of superiority.
"But….what makes you think….you are worthy?"
She froze and Rias held back the smile from showing on her face.
"What even are you to Shin? What do you know about him? How long have you even talked to him? What….what gives you the right to just walk into our lives and claim your right over my Shin?" Rias didn't have to completely act this part out as most of it were her real feelings for this situation.
She saw her mouth opening and closing and continued her attack. "Do you know his favourite colour, his hobbies, his favourite food, his likes, his dislikes, anything ….? No, you don't."
Her face grew uglier as Rias tore off every bit of her infatuation in front of her and as expected she exploded.
"HE SAVED ME. HE STOOD AGAINST THE ENTIRE WORLD GOVERNMENT FOR ME!."
Rias didn't let her continue her line and interrupted her in between her words, "You just met someone who saved you from the brink of despair and got attached to him. It is normal. I have a similar experience with Shin as well and so do a few others….but….but that is not a reason for you to deserve him. Shin has also saved your entire island, your own sisters and none of them think that they are the only ones who are worthy of him. And before you say something, let me ask you, do you even know what Shin is? And what that would mean?"
Take her reasons and break it with sound arguments.
"W-wha….what are you talking about?"
"Shin, do you know what he is? What race?" she threw her first strike.
"O-of course I know. Shin-sama is a human? Even if he is of other races, I would still love him." She said with absolute certainty.
"Oh and where is he from?"
"What does it matter where he is from? The Grandline or the four blues or even the Sky Islands, it doesn't matter to me."
"Well in that case, let me clear your misconceptions. First, Shin is someone who has an ability to change races at will. He is a magician. A real person who can use magic." She waved her hand and a magic circle appeared in front of her, lifting a stone and turning it into a rose and then into water before completely destroying it with her Power of Destruction, shutting any chances of rebuttal from Hancock at the very beginning. "Do you know what that means? It means that Shin has a lifespan proportional to his power, which for someone like Shin is at least forty thousand years right now and will only increase with time. Shin is seventeen years old this year. Even if you both get together….how long do you think you can accompany him?"
Hancock's mouth shut as her eyes widened in disbelief.
"Second, Shin is….not from this world and I mean completely from an entirely different world, not just any Blues or Grandline. We are from a different world and Shin has come to this world for work. He will go back someday and while he might return, there is also a chance that he might not. Do you think you can follow him, leaving everything behind?" This part, she was being a little mean but this was to test her resolve. Let's see how much the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock is worth.
Hancock looked towards the ground. Was she giving up?
The silence lasted a few moments and Rias mentally let out a sigh.
Honestly speaking, Rias expected more from her.
Just when she was about to end the conversation, Hancock's Conqueror's Haki became heavier as she glared at Rias. "It doesn't matter. Whether I deserve him or not is not something you can decide. I will make him acknowledge my love. So what if he is from a different world and so what if he would outlive me, as long as I can spend my life with him, I will not give up."
Rias smirked internally. This was more to her liking. But she still needs to understand everything that is entailed with this relationship, so she continued.
"Third, Shin is a noble, a head of three houses and someone with connections and influence even among Gods, real Gods not the filth on the Redline who call themselves the descendants of Gods. This however is not without any side effects. Due to the extremely long lifespans, the fertility among such races is low. Very low. My elder brother is stronger than Shin and one of the Kings of our race and even he could only have one child in four hundred years of marriage. This is the case with everyone. Do you think you could give him a child even if you live till the age of a hundred with him?" As a woman herself, she knew that it was a low blow but….it was real. The curse of not being able to have a child with one's beloved is not something she would wish on even her own enemies so she didn't want Hancock to come into this relationship with half-baked knowledge and over time grow to resent Shin and even her own self.
"Shin needs a child to continue every one of his Houses, a feat which might take centuries. Coupled with the low population of our race, it is just not acceptable. We would go extinct if there was a war and this Shin as well as most of the people of our race can have multiple partners." She noticed the change of look in her face but continued. "Shin currently has five partners, including me. Would you be able to accept such a relationship? If not….then it's better if you back down right now, lest you and more importantly, my Shin suffer from this."
And when she is down, offer a path to her goal.
She watched her look rejected, clenching her fist and decided to throw the bait.
"I might have a way for you…." Rias revealed slowly. Merlin was an expert at these things and Rias had also had private conversations with her own mother regarding how to manage a harem. It was scary how these two millennia old women could manipulate people.
"You lie."
"Eh?"
"You are lying to scare me off. I won't. I will not run away."
"Oh. It is reasonable enough but sorry to disappoint you….this is the truth."
"Prove it."
"Huh?"
"Prove whatever you are saying is true, that you are not trying to trick me." She snorted haughtily and a smile tugged at the corner of Rias' face.
"Oh, that part is easy." Rias smiled as the Power of Destruction flared around her causing her hair to flutter, the pressure of an Ultimate Class Devil's Demonic Power completely overwhelming the Conqueror's Haki of Boa Hancock. A skeleton of the power of destruction formed around her at an extremely fast speed, shaping into a gigantic warrior.
"Have you ever seen a dragon trying to trick an ant?"
- Scene Change –
I stood outside the temporary camp where the potion was being injected into the Kuja Pirates.
Rias and Hancock had returned back to the main camp after eight hours.
The atmosphere around them was quite odd.
The first thing I noticed was that Hancock had somehow become a Devil. Rias' pawn piece somehow.
They seemed much closer together too. Hancock was smiling when talking to Rias who in turn gave me a smile when I sent an enquiring look at her.
I have no idea what happened back there.
Like really, no fucking idea.
I pushed aside those thoughts as I looked at the one coming out after the first successful injection. Marguerite looked buffed up but not in a bad sort of way. It was as if she had gained two years on her age.
I checked her stats and all her physical stats were in the two hundreds. A massive increase compared to what it was before.
The best thing about the Kuja Pirates is that almost all of them know basic Haki. Even a 10-20% boost would push them to the three hundreds easily, a proper Rear Admiral level. According to what I have heard from Sandersonia, the Kuja have a mobile force of around five thousand people if all their forces can be used. That is around 25% of their entire population. This is not counting the old and retired members who were injured or are taking care of children.
After that started the hours-long administering of the modified Super Soldier Serum to each Kuja Pirate member.
I and my Shadow Clones worked overtime to make up for it while the girls were recording their vitals.
I found an opportunity to talk to Rias.
"So what's up with Hancock? What exactly did you do?" I asked truly surprised at the outcome of the talk.
"We had a frank talk where I set her priorities straight for her and offered her a deal she couldn't reject and she decided to become my pawn. I did have to soundly beat her up though." She added the last part in a whisper.
"Beat her up?" I raised an eyebrow at that.
"After I explained our situation to her, she was still adamant about her decision and called me a 'lying slut' when I explained the thing about our lifespans to her, refusing to believe it. She thought that I was trying to 'scare the competition away'. I had to show the difference in our strengths to make her realize that she never stood a chance against me and that I didn't have a reason to lie to her. After that, she accepted the invitation very easily. She did talk to her sisters before that but they agreed as well if their sister was happy. She has a nice family." Rias smiled at the last part.
"That she does. Those three have been through a lot together and Hancock probably loves them more than anyone in this whole world."
"Hmm, I have read about them. We also talked after I recruited her. She was getting along well with Morgiana and Kuroka over their histories." Rias said looking at the said girls.
That….does seem understandable. Surprising but understandable nonetheless.
Well, all's well that ends well.
While we were discussing this, I heard Meridith's voice. "Boss, there is a call for you from someone called Garp."
I went ahead and took the call.
"Brat, how have you been? Haven't been hearing from you for a while."
"Mr. Garp. I have been well. I was just waiting for the new ship to be made before sailing. My crew can survive the Grandline but the same cannot be said for our ship."
"Wahahahaha that's understandable. I called you for….well you might have heard it but we are having a war against Whitebeard *sigh*. You are called to help the Marines in this war."
I could hear the fatigue and sadness in his voice.
"….you sound too tired Mr. Garp. Is the weight of justice that heavy on your shoulder?"
….
There was a period of silence behind the line after which I heard the sound of a deep breath being taken.
"I will follow my justice till the end." There was deep resolve in those words and my lips curved slightly.
"Are you sure that whatever is happening there….is your justice?"
"….I don't like talking to you, brat."
"My apologies for overstepping my bounds, I was just curious. Normally I would have rejected this invitation. Kaido and Big Mom are fine but I prefer not to fight against Whitebeard or Shanks….but I will be there to support you."
"….I will send someone to pick you up at Sabaody. Call me when you are about to reach there."
The call was hung.
I sometimes felt bad about Garp. The man was in a truly bad place.
I looked towards the rest of my crew. "I got the call. We need to hurry with the potions. We still have Wano and Zou to visit."
Too much work and too little time.
- Scene Change –
I waited in the bar on Sabaody, waiting for the person that will be sent to meet me.
It was two days later and only two days until the war started.
We had finished administering the potions to the Wano Samurai and had taken a look at their statuses, eliminating the few traitors in their midst.
Zou was clean though. Not a single traitor in the entire kingdom
All in all the armies were ready. My only regret was not finding Shiki or I could have gotten the Float Float Fruit.
I had teleported our peerages and crew to Wano, hiding with Denjiro and Hiyori.
My wait didn't last longer as the ones who were to pick me up arrived.
Black Arm Zephyr.
He looked around the place, saw me and arrived beside me, taking a seat.
"I have wanted to meet you for a long time, Harrison."
….
….
….
What the fuck?
Game, the fuck is this?
Apparently my surprise was not hidden from Zephyr as well.
"Did you underestimate the World Government's resources that much? If we want to find out about someone, it's not hard to do so."
Wait wait wait wait wait.
There was someone who knew who I was in this world?
Another surprise from the future?
Another Gamer?
Every Gamer has its own multiverse. They cannot interfere with others.
"Walter D. Harrison, son to Walter D. Jacob, former Marine Ensign who was killed by the then Vice Admiral Akainu on the counts of insubordination when he refused to kill the civilians of an island under suspicions of them being pirates. You disappeared completely from the radar and we could find nothing about your life since then. I know that the crimes we have done cannot be washed away with my words alone but you have my heartfelt apologies for what the Marines have forced you to bear all these years."
….
What exactly is he talking about?
A background story created for you when you incarnated as a human of this world.
Wait, so that story I had seen from that Captain's mind was actually about my so-called background in this world?
….
Yes
Perk Gained
[The Will of D]
You carry the will of the ancient clan of D.
Haki training speed increases by 20%.
I reigned my thoughts quickly and replied. "I prefer Shin now. Harrison was a naïve fool who believed in the justice of Marines even after hearing that his elder sibling was killed by the Marines at childbirth and that resulted in him losing his father too. I am not that fool anymore."
I saw the man wince a little at the reminder.
+20 Obedience with Black Arm Zephyr(35/100)
"It is truly unfortunate that you have to say such things but I don't have any right to say anything otherwise. The fact that you didn't descend into Piracy to seek revenge from the World after what you have been through is already surprising."
"I have also heard a lot about you. A Marine Admiral who refused to kill. I apologize for reminding you of the bad memories but I have heard that your family was killed by a Pirate whom you had once arrested. This caused you to leave the Admiral position. Later on you became the chief instructor in the Marines and trained an entire generation of Marines. This was until a few years ago when you were attacked and all your students bar two were killed and you lost an arm in a pirate attack." I saw his facial expressions change a bit at the reminders but he shrugged them off. "I have heard from Marines, Civilians and Pirates alike that you are the most honorable Marine they know of and to be honest, you are probably the one I respect the most in the Marines and that's why I feel sad…."
He raised an eyebrow at this. "Sad? You are too young to pity me for my losses child."
"Oh no. You misunderstand. I do not feel pity for you. Who am I to do that? What I feel is sadness thinking about how badly you will be crushed when you lose your faith in the Marines."
"My faith is not so weak, boy." He replied gruffly.
"Hahahaha no no. You misunderstand me again Mr. Zephyr. I didn't say 'if' you lose your faith in the Marines and the World Government. I said 'when'. You losing your faith in them is already a foregone conclusion. That's because you are a good man. However, if you think that what I am doing is right, then I have only one request for you, when such a thing happens, do not do something drastic and find me. Maybe my way will help you realize your justice."
He looked quietly at me for a while. Apparently my confidence was a bit strange to him, not that I cared though.
"Why?"
"Hmm."
"Why can't you work together with the Marines? I can see that you have justice in your heart, then why don't you join the Marines. With your talent, you can easily become an Admiral. I can already feel that you are probably as strong as me, if not more, then why don't you try to change the Marines from the inside?" He asked me really curiously.
I stared at him blankly.
Yes, the reality is going to hit him so hard.
"Because that is impossible Mr. Zephyr. This world can never be changed by a Marine. The World Government decides who are criminals in this world and that is anyone who doesn't obey them. They are already at the top of the world and they will not change it easily. If I try to change anything, I will simply be branded as a traitor. Why would they change anything for me if that means them losing their powers even a bit? The Marines have only one option, follow their commands or be branded as a traitor. There is nothing in between. The Marines can't even save their own if they were to be shot by a Celestial Dragon without a reason, let alone fix the whole world."
My words seemed to have hit him a lot and he downed a glass of beer while I continued.
"Do you know what I did in all these years Mr. Zephyr?"
He shook his head.
"I traveled. I traveled to know the meaning of this world. I saw many things. Some things made me want to seriously want to rip my own eyes out and believe me when I say that very few of them were due to the Pirates but there was something I heard in East Blue once that kept me from becoming a pirate. A Marine Commodore was leading a team to an island when they found out that there was a pirate crew which had taken the islands captive and were extorting citizens. He was asked by many of his juniors to turn back because the pirate group was very strong but do you know what he said in return?"
The man looked at me quietly.
"He said, now that we have seen the pirates, seen their crimes, seen the suffering of the people, if we pretend not to see, will our justice forgive us?"
+20 Reputation with Zephyr(40/100)
+50 Reputation with Issho(60/100)
Perk Gained – [Issho – 50]
[Will of the Fallen]
Perk already obtained.
Randomizing.
+50% increase in Observation Haki.
Holy Crap.
Fujitora Issho?
I sensed the area and found the man sitting a couple of tables behind me. I had no idea he was here and was just bullshitting to get Zephyr on my side and maybe get a perk from the reputation grind but this….
This one alone pushed my Observation Haki to the Legendary level.
On second thought, this was quite understandable. Issho could drag meteors from space. That would require him to know where the meteors are in space so a Legendary Ranked Observation Haki might be understandable. It might just be a different type than Katakuri or Roger.
I hurriedly continued my story without interrupting the bullshiting. This scene was actually one from the anime against Arlong.
"What is the name of that Commodore?"
"Pudding Pudding. He was killed in that attack along with all of his subordinates and it was hidden by another Marine, Captain Nezumi who was his immediate superior. The village was ruled by the said pirates for ten whole years and they had to pay protection money, 100,000 for an adult and 50,000 for a child. One of my crew members had a mother who was a retired Marine. She was killed because she used her own share of money to pay for her two adopted daughters."
"You cannot put the blame of one person's actions on an entire organization."
"I am not doing that. This incident was merely one of the many many I had witnessed. I had somehow not been pushed to piracy but there were many others like me who had no choice. Let me tell you two such examples. A girl from an orphanage which was used to buy children into the Marines and Cipher Pole had a boy who was experimented on by the Marines and the World Government just because of his exotic race later grew hatred for the Marines and the World Government and became two of the most feared pirates in today's world. Do you know their names Mr. Zephyr?" He kept quiet and I continued, "They are Charlotte Linlin and Kaido." His eyes widened. "The orphanage is the same one which the Marines had sent one of their people to manage in Elbaf under the pretext of her saving the Giant Pirate Warriors and she did sell plenty of Giant children to marines including the current Vice Admiral, John Giant. Yes, those children were stolen from their homes and made drones for the Marines. If their families find out about it, do you think they would keep quiet? Obviously not. They would attack the Marines and would be declared criminals. I wonder who is a criminal, in this case Mr. Zephyr." He clenched his hands tighter and hung his head. "You will be disillusioned too Mr. Zephyr but when you do….please don't become like them. Don't ruin the faith of your late family and your dead students. Don't let their sacrifices be in vain. Just give me a chance when such a day comes."
+20 Reputation with Zephyr(60/100)
+20 Reputation with Issho(80/100)
Perk Gained [Zephyr – 50]
[Will of the Fallen]
Perk already acquired.
Randomizing.
+20% gain in Armament Haki experience.
This was a nice haul.
He looked at me with a complicated expression.
"Garp was right. You are very troublesome to talk to."
I smiled as he got up.
"We will leave in two hours. You can follow us with your ship." With that said, he left the bar.
I slumped down in my seat.
A few moments later, I heard footsteps coming in close.
"May I take this seat?" I looked at the man with two scars on his face.
"Please do."
He sat down but we didn't speak to each other.
"This one is called Issho."
"Hello Mr. Issho, I go by the name Shin."
"Shin-dono has his name well known among the people. Saving a country from being destroyed by a pirate, I am afraid it is difficult not to know you."
"The princess of the country is a friend of mine and I did what should have been done." I passed him a cup of tea that the waitress brought us.
"You are a kind man." he picked up the tea and took a sip. "This one had once traveled the world too, seen too many scenes that hurt my heart and at the end of it all, tore cut out my eyes because I became disillusioned with this world. I have never once regretted it." He took another sip of the tea. "Today I heard your words and….in years, for the first time, I felt shame over my decision. If we pretend not to see, will our justice forgive us? Young Sir's words truly showed me my error today."
"I was lucky to hear those words."
I was trying not to use any lies in the whole conversation.
"This one wonders just what kind of vision the Young Sir sees the world in?"
"This world? There are many pirate groups in this world. The only difference between them is the power they have and their bottom lines. Some pirates like the Whitebeard and the Red Haired do not allow slave trades and protect their territories in return for protection meney. How is that any different from what the World Government does? At least the two so-called Pirate Groups do not allow the 'legal plundering' of their territories or enslave and kill people for entertainment. In my opinion, the biggest pirate group in the world is the World Government Pirate Group. As for their justice, well it has always been the winners who decide what justice is. Have you ever seen or heard someone winning and then calling themselves the villains?"
"What is justice for you?"
"Anyone who hurts innocent civilians is a criminal. Their identities, ancestry, sex, race, wealth….doesn't matter. That is my justice. It is because of this that I haven't and will not join the Marines because I will be forced to abandon my justice if I did that."
"Does the Young Sir truly think that the World Government cannot change?"
I took the cup of tea in front of me and took a sip, letting a moment of silence settle over the place.
"In this archipelago, there is a Human Auctioning Center where people of different races are sold. It is owned by Doflamingo, one of the Shichibukai and has its major buyers in the Celestial Dragons. The Marines enforce the law for this. It is stated that the World Government has banned slavery in the entire world for the last two hundred years yet….yet the Maines are sent out to capture slaves for the so-called World Nobles. The recent case of Boa Hancock is a prime example of it. She was captured and sold with her sisters to the World Nobles, abused and when she escaped, she had to resort to piracy because she couldn't work in a normal place with….with that mark on her back. In the end, the entire island she lived on was to face the Buster Call just to satisfy the egoes of the World Nobles. Do you truly think such people would give it up and join normal people? When a regime becomes tyrannical, there is always a revolution. Whether it is successful or not doesn't matter, it is always there."
"Unfortunately there are too many deaths in such a revolution."
"It is the people fighting for freedom, for their rights. Tell me, just because some idiots proclaim their ownership of freshwater and lock the place up due to their selfishness, should others drink poison to quench their thirst? Just because a revolution will cause deaths, does that mean people should live their lives enslaved? Do they not even have the right to fight for their freedoms? That choice is the one that belongs only to them."
+10 Reputation with Issho(90/100)
"Young Sir has given this one a lot to think about. I wonder if there is a way this one could contact the Young Sir again?" he asked bowing slightly to me.
I brought out a bracelet from my inventory and passed it onto him. "Press the clasp of this bracelet three times quickly and you can connect a call to me."
We talked for a bit more over our tea.
"I wish this one could aid Young Sir in your journey. If you ever need this one, please call and give this meager me a chance to help you."
"A person such as you will be much more than a meager help, Mr. Issho. I would love to have someone like you with me. You can accompany me to Marineford if you want. I am sure I can convince everyone to allow it."
"In that case, please allow this one to see what the justice of the Marines looks like."
With that said we both got up and headed towards the docks where I had docked my ship, all the while I was thinking how lucky I had been today.
I had no idea Fujitora was there.
The line about tearing out my eyes must have struck a chord with him. +50 Reputation in one go.
This was an unexpected windfall.
_x_x_
Beta Reader: LuluViBritania(FF.N, SB and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)
Author's Note :
I had some problems IRL so this chapter came out a bit later than what I had expected.
Anyways, we are almost up to the war. The next chapter will be the Wano War….or will it?
The unexpected appearance of Issho was a way to show the butterflies and guess what….Harrison was Shin all along or the other way around.
Rias on the other hand asserted her alpha waifu dominance over Hancock.
Shin, Merlin and Jibril did the biggest prison break in the One Piece world and the world is not even aware.
The next chapter will be filled with even more chaos as all the pieces fall into place.
I will do a slight time skip after the Wano War is over and the aftermath is handled after which everyone will be returning back to DxD. It will take around five to seven chapters at most depending on the lengths of the chapters.
I was planning to write a chapter of 'Deal with the Devil' next and then do two chapters of this one.
It has been a long time since I wrote Deal.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.