Chapter 3: Whitebeard
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Hector sighed in relief; his hair was a dirty grey from the dust cascading off the rubble, and his once glowing crimson violet eyes now appeared more ordinary. Clutching the small cub to his chest, he frowned at the towering figure before him.
"I won't say thank you for saving me!"
Hector pouted, his face puffing up, his pride preventing him from acknowledging his safety.
The giant Oldman flashed a broad grin.
"Gurarararara... No worries, boy! Call me Whitebeard or Pops, pleased to meet you, Brat!"
He tousled Hector's hair in a fatherly gesture.
Maintaining his frown, Hector introduced himself.
"The name's Hector Barbossa. Pleasure's all mine."
He retorted, batting Whitebeard's hand away.
Whitebeard's smile widened.
"Stinking proud brat!"
Hector glanced down, visibly upset.
"Join my family, Brat!"
Whitebeard offered, smiling warmly.
Hector regarded him with suspicion.
"Haven't you mentioned this before, Old man?"
His question prompted a hearty laugh.
"Gurarararara! Ordinary brats are dull! Who'd want to be their father?"
Alex's eyes bulged as he noticed his system alert.
Ding!
[Quest: Protect Edward Newgate from a surprise attack]
[Reward: Rokushiki Awakening skill path scroll]
Prevent an imminent attack that would gravely injure Whitebeard and alter the story.
"Incoming!"
He shouted, shaking Whitebeard's leg to alert him to the onslaught of cannon fire raining down around them.
Whitebeard chuckled, generating a shockwave that annihilated the incoming cannonballs, while buildings and trees collapsed, and the entire island was being leveled, yet the old man laughed.
Hector shook his head.
'Can't believe this idiot saved me.'
He thought while a smirk was on his face. The two finally got away from the ongoing battle and saw a large ship lifting its anchor.
"Watch out!"
Hector shouted spotting three men with masks and complete 3-piece white suits charging towards them aiming their guns at Whitebeard. Catching his warnings Whitebeard used his Naginata Murakumogiri to cleave them in two.
Two of them ran in front and yelled "Iron Body", taking the hit but were cutdown since Murakumogiri turned black, but it ended up stuck on the second CP0 agent. After the third one used his companions on shields, he used their dead bodies as steppingstones as he aimed and fired five shots at Whitebeard.
When the two CP0 agent in front yelled out, "Iron Body" Hector new what they were trying to do, and because of his "Curse of Pride". He used Murakumogiri to help him jump toward the third CP0 agent and blocked all his shots.
Whitebeard looked at the young lad who saved from the CP0 agent attack fall to the ground.
The world strongest man turned towards the last living CP0 agent cocked his fist, instantly firing his rumble shots ripping the top half off the man, them gazed at the boy clasping his stomach holding his lion cub as a pool of blood had already started to form around him.
Whitebeard stood in disbelief at the brat's bravery and utter foolishness. The boy had thrown himself into harm's way to protect him, clearly lacking any devil fruit or powers for self-defense. He didn't just stand by as a witness; he scooped up the brat and ran towards his ship, Hector cradled in his arms.
"Why did you jump to save me, you brat?"
Whitebeard demanded.
Hector, gasping and barely able to speak, clutched his bleeding stomach.
"Why? To even the score, Old Man. But hey, if I survive... sure... I'll join your family."
He managed to say, his vision dimming and Whitebeard's iconic laughter faint in his ears as he looked up at the sky, struggling for breath. His ears rang, his body burned with pain everywhere except for his abdomen, which felt as cold as ice.
His vision grew increasingly blurry, consciousness slipping in and out. He was too weak to think, yet his mind raced, replaying every regret he had until it settled on one final thought.
'So this is it… well shit!'
And with that, his consciousness slipped away for the last time, his hands relaxing and falling to his sides.
An hour later, a booming voice barged into the patient's resting room.
"Marco! How's your new brother doing?"
Whitebeard questioned, capturing Marco's attention.
"The kid's going to live, Pops. But I don't know for how long."
"What do you mean?"
"The bullets Hector was hit with were coated with fragments of a rare metal mixed with lead. This metal is a heavy, silvery-white substance that is malleable, ductile, slightly paramagnetic, and very dense—second only to sea stone. It would be a perfect substitute for sea stone if it didn't release a poison that breaks down his cells, destroying his organs."
"The symptoms are very similar to those in one of the books Crocus gave me—the same illness that killed Gol D. Roger. It seems like someone in the World Government wants to deal with you the same way they did with the Pirate King. The good news is the kid's cat took three of the shots, and its fur is impenetrable. The other shot hit him in the shoulder and the left side of his stomach, miraculously missing any vital organs."
"The bad news is we couldn't remove all the fragments of that rare metal from the kid. Tiny fragments are circulating in his bloodstream, slowly poisoning his body. It could be a year, five, or even ten—we don't know, Pops. I'm doing fine, but anyone who's had prolonged exposure to that metal has shown symptoms of sickness from the poison it emits. We've placed the poisonous metal into a thick lead box and sealed it away. I think we've dealt with it since we haven't had any problems since then."
"So, you're telling me your new brother is going to live, Marco?"
"Yes, pops, with medical treatment. But he's always going to have a frail body, and I don't even know how long he has to live."
"Gurarararara! Don't worry about it, Marco! I'll shape him into a great man, and if he gets ill, well, my doctor is the best!"
The world's strongest man laughed heartily, his massive mustache quivering as he looked at Marco.
After a moment of silence, he spoke again.
"When he wakes, introduce him to his new family."
The world's strongest man clapped Marco on the back and left.
"Remember to tell him."
-Two days later-
Hector's eyes snapped open, and he attempted to sit up, only to groan in pain. A hand gently pressed on his shoulder, easing him back down onto the bed beside his pet lion cub.
He looked up and saw Marco a man a tall, lean, muscular, man with a rather sleepy look on his face and some stubble around his chin. He has short blond hair sticking in the top of his head similar to a pineapple's crown and he wears an open purple jacket and a light blue sash adorned with an elaborate golden-yellow belt around his waist. He has dark gray knee-long pants and black sandals, and on his left leg he wears what appears to be some sort of straw decoration, in a similar fashion to Arlong. While his chest was bare in his initial appearance.
After taking a few deep breaths to manage the intense pain, Hector spoke.
"Thanks for saving my life. I'm Hector Barbossa."
Marco smiled at him.
"At last, someone in our family with manners. I'm Marco the Phoenix."
It took Alex some time to gather his thoughts and adjust to the pain.
"How long do you think I'll be bedridden?"
Marco raised an eyebrow at his question.
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
Alex looked puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
Marco used a stick to gently lift Hector's shirt.
"You were shot twice two days ago, once in the stomach and once in the shoulder with poisoned bullets. If I hadn't been there, you would have certainly died, but..."
Marco gestured to the wound on Hector's abdomen. The bandages were removed, and the wound had already closed, leaving only a large scar.
Hector looked down at himself.
"I take it that's not the normal recovery process."
Marco nodded.
"Far from it. Your body is fighting the poison and trying to heal you, but the metal fragments in your blood are poisoning you faster than you can recover. Your body is caught in a constant battle to save itself, one that's going to always leave you in a fragile weak state. It's not going to make much of a difference if you stay in bed and go outside. You can pick your choice little bro."
Hector's stomach grumbled.
"Well, I don't know either, but maybe that's why I'm so hungry."
Marco cracked a smile and left before returning with a bunch of food. Hector and his cub now named Leo scarfed the food down at an inhumane speed before burping loudly and smiled with a satisfied look on their faces. He was then caught by surprise by a system alert
Ding!
[Congratulations on completing Quest: Protect Edward Newgate from a surprise attack]
[Reward: Rokushiki Awakening skill path scroll]
Rokushiki Awakening skill path scroll:
Unlocks the Rokushiki Skill tree.
In the end, he decided to use both the Rokushiki and Haki Awakening skill path scrolls and saw that Rokushiki had six branches that could combine into new techniques. While Haki had only three branches but each branch had multiple off shoots making more conplex then the Rokushiki Skill tree. After going through his menu he took another nap and started to relieve his fatigue.
"Status!"
RACE: Human■■■■■■
NAME: Hector Barbossa■■■■■■
Attunement: 1
Vitality: 1
Endurance: 1
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 1
Perception: 1
Skill: 1
Skill Tree:
+Haki:
-Observation Haki: F Rank
-Armament Haki: F Rank
+Rokushiki
-Moon Step: F Rank
-Iron Body: F Rank
-Tempest Kick: F Rank
-Shave: F Rank
-Finger Pistol: F Rank
-Kami-e: F Rank
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone