New World, Totto Land, Whole Cake Island.
This is the headquarters of one the Yonko, Big Mom!
Currently Big Mom was listening to a report with a cold smile on her face.
"A marine dares to capture my daughter?"
She spoke slowly but everyone listening to her felt their scalps tingle.
"Cracker, take a fleet and bring back Smoothie."
Laying on her comfortable couch Big Mom said loudly.
A man with a tank body walked out among the people there. He held a long sword and wore an armour around his body.
"Yes, mama."
...
Leo was checking the devil-devil Fruit. According to the encyclopedia this fruit was a special paramecia.
It's user will be endowed with the body of a devil. Superior regeneration, speed and strength are also a part of it's benefits.
However most importantly it allows a transformation. To turn completely into a devil!
He thought for a while and called out Mace and threw the devil-devil fruit to him.
Mace was stunned.
"Eat it. As of right now you are weak, your kenbunshoku haki and busoshoku haki are barely satisfactory. That fruit should upgrade your strength by a level."
Mace was grateful that Leo gave such a valuable fruit to him.
He immediately took a bite, suddenly his face turned ugly. He struggled and swallowed that bit in his mouth.
Bleh...
Mace started to barf his gut out. After several minutes he calmed down and apologized to Leo before checking his body.
Visibility he looked no different from before however Leo sensed his body become firmer and more resilient than before.
"Not bad. Try to transform, let me see how special this paramecia is."
Mace nodded and focused. His skin started to wiggle turned into a tan colour. Two small horns grew out his forehead. Strange marking appeared all over his body. And his hair grew longer and turned blood red.
Ooh!
Leo was startled. He did expected Mace to get an upgrade in strength, after all he is a marine with solid foundation in Marine Rokushiki and Haki. However this was beyond his imagination.
This transformation increased his strength by atleast two times!
"It's a special paramecia alright. No wonder those two fought over it."
If this fruit was given to a vice admiral level marine he would immediately become an admiral level powerhouse.
Such a convenient way to get stronger.
Leo mumbled inside. Just as they were checking out Mace's new powers the ship rocked.
"Captain, emergency! We are being surrounded by Big Mom's fleet!"
Leo stood up and walked outside. Shinobu was already on the deck watching the hubub.
He walked to her side and saw ten ships surrounding them. In the leading ship was a man with a tank body, he wore an armour and held a long sword.
Mace identified that man and said, "That's one of the four sweet commanders, Charlotte Cracker!"
Cracker saw Leo and glared at him, "Marine, bring out Smoothie."
Leo said in response, "She ignored the consequences and fought in a public place. Destroying a small town and killing many innocents."
Cracker pointed his sword in Leo's direction, "I don't want to hear your excuses."
Leo smiled, "Don't be so smug, I wasn't finding excuses. I was just stating a fact. For her crimes she will be spending her time in Impel Down. If you try to take her away, well... you aren't a good one either so I will be forced to kill you. So surrender like a good boy."
Cracker couldn't help but laugh when he heard Leo, his eyes turned sharp and cold the next instant, "Fire!"
Volleys of shots flew immediately towards Leo's ship.
If this was before Leo would have found it straining to protect the ship and take care of the enemy but not anymore.
"Mace, Shinobu, I leave the ship to you."
Swish!
Leo disappeared after saying that.
Shinobu smiled and fluttered like a butterfly as he flickered away the incoming volleys. Needles coated with busoshoku haki danced around her, at the end of every needles there was a faint thread connecting to her finger tips.
Mace immediately used his fruit ability and transformed into a devil. He blocked the attacks as well. He used Geppo and Soru to move around the ship and block stray volleys Shinobu missed.
"Fire at will!"
Mace suddenly yelled.
Ooh!!
The crew got pumped up. They returned fire. For a moment it looked like Leo's ship was covered in flames but none of it touched the ship's body.
Leo kicked the air with incredible speed as he flashed towards a ship. He drew out his sword, it turned blackish red as he sliced it down.
Crack!
A long wisp of sword ray flashed past with incredible speed. The ship was split in two. Leo turned around and flew towards another ship. He swung his sword again and split it apart.
Crackers face turned ugly. He wasn't proficient in air battle so he was powerless to stop Leo.
"Focus fire on that bastard!"
Immediately the remaining ships focused their canons on Leo.
Facing that many canons Leo looked calm and cold.
Boom! Boom!
Volleys flew past him and blew up.
Leo advanced forward and struck again. Another ship joined the seabed.
Because firing was focused on Leo Mace and crew got a breather and took down one of the ship nearer to them.
Shit! This can't go on!
Cracker realised the severity of the situation. He ordered the ship to close the distance between each other. That way even if Leo found got near to one of them he would be able to stop him.
The ships were in a close formation now. Cracker could jump from one ship to another and reach Leo should he try to sink any of them.
However he underestimated Leo's battle prowess.
Leo was still some distance from them when he suddenly took a stance and swung his sword.
Sword rays condensed to form a white tiger, it leaped out as he slammed his sword down. It clashed head first into the crowd of ships and broke them to pieces.
Shit!
Cracker cursed inside his mind and used his ability. Shields appeared out of nowhere and covered their entire ship.
Boom!
The white tiger slammed into the shields and shook them. Cracks started to form on the shields.
Cracker ate the biscuit-biscuit fruit. He is able to create biscuits that can act as a shield.
The ship Cracker was in was fully covered in biscuits. However against Leo's attack cracks started to form on it's surface.
Cracker's face started to change. He expected his opponent to be powerful as he was able to capture Smoothie. Normally a fleet should have been enough to sink their ship and rescue Smoothie but this marine he was facing was not normal.
Crack!
One of the biscuit shields crumbled. Soon like dominos the other shields also broke down.
Slash!
The ship was torn in two.
Cracker was fast enough to dodge the attack. However they were not on land, his biscuits would lose it's hardness once it touch seawater.
Jumping on a few biscuits floating in air he was able to steady himself but he was still in danger.
Leo turned his attention towards him after he sunk the other ships. He shot forward with incredible momentum.
As he wasn't proficient in air battles Cracker could only brace himself and defend.
He raised his biscuit shield to block Leo's sword.
Leo's sword was pitch black with a shade of red, it sliced down towards Cracker's biscuit shield. The sword met it's target and paused for a split second before it ran through it.
Cracker's arms went numb when the sword struck. He failed to react when his shield was broken in two.
Leo took a step forward and punched out. His fist was tainted with black as he sunk it inside Cracker's gut.
Bang!
The sound of fist hitting something solid rang through the air. Cracker took a step back, his gut was filled with cracks.
Leo wasn't surprised when he saw cracks appearing on a human body. He increased the strength on his fist and pushed through.
Boom!
Crackers body was thrown away. As he flew through the air his body cracked completely and burst apart.
A shadow flew from Cracker's body and fell into the sea.
Leo stepped through the air and went where Cracker fell.
A man with violet hair was struggling to stay afloat. His head and body were bleeding.
So this is the real Cracker. He created an armour around him using his ability. Even the bounty posters have the image of his armour incarnation.
Leo smiled and went down. He picked up Cracker who retaliated when he was out of the water.
Leo kneed his gut. Cracker's body bent like a shrimp and coughed out blood, then he lost consciousness.
Leo went back to his ship and threw Cracker on the deck.
"The brig."
Some of the crew came forward and dragged Cracker to the brig.
"What's the damage?"
Leo asked Mace.
"The hull was damaged, however it's within manageable range. We can set sail in three hours."
Mace reported.
Leo nodded and went back to his cabin. Shinobu was inside playing with several needles.
He asked, "How did your weapon testing go?"
Shinobu threw a needle at Leo who caught with two fingers. He saw a fine thread extending from the head of the needle, it was connected to her finger.
"Very good."
He commented.
Shinobu was trying to find a different form of combat, one that suited her. After trying various methods she finally settled on this.
With her exquisite control these needles would become extremely dangerous.
"You captured two of the four Sweet commanders."
Shinobu said with a smile.
Leo shrugged, "Hey, who asked them to find trouble."
Both of them looked at each other and laughed.
...
Marineford.
Sengoku was listening to a report with a frown.
"So he is here with two of the four Sweet commanders?"
The marine infront of him nodded.
Sengoku rested his elbow on the table and thought. After a while he said, "Alright. You can go."
After the reporting officer left Sengoku smiled. He never expected a casual reference from East Blue would turn out to be such a treasure.
Now that his strength has been exposed it's ok to give him a better position, vice admiral should do.
Leo was inside a building hammering down a piece of fine metal. It looked like a needle.
He asked for a building for himself to forge when he was free. Sengoku found no reason to deny him his request since he was raking in so much merit.
After several hours Leo used his haki to perfect the body of a needle.
He wiped his forehead and let out a smile. With the help of his spiritual sense and his haki Leo was able to create Nine by Five weapons consistently. Only on rare occasions would he fail.
This much should be enough.
He thought to himself. He was keeping his promise to Shinobu and made her a batch of needles.
A set of Nine by Six needles. It took him a while to create this set. He lost count of how many times he failed. Fortunately he had a consistent rate of creating Nine by Five weapons, with some luck and patience he was finally able to create a set of Nine by Six needles.
It should be known that Nine by Six weapons come under the category of Great Grade weapons. Now he was giving Shinobu a bunch of Great Grade category needles.
Of course the raw power of swords and other weapons outclass a needle. But what about several dozens of them used ingeniously?
Placing the needles on a wooden box Leo washed up and went to his quarters. Shinobu was practicing with her new style when he got back.
He beckoned to her.
"As promised."
He pushed the wooden box to her and smiled. He then opened it and picked the needles one by one. He started to stack them in different angles.
Shinobu was confused but she didn't disturb him. Under her watchful eyes the disorderly stack of needles started to take form, it turned into a beautiful piece of butterfly hairpin.
Leo waved his arm. The hairpin rose from the table and started to float.
Shinobu covered his lips and let out a light gasp.
"Do you like it?"
Leo asked with a teasing smile.
Shinobu suddenly hugged him and buried her head into his chest.
"I love it."
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