"Hurry and take the books!", Clover says but I stop them.
"I don't think you guys understand what will happen any moment now. This island will get destroyed and you are worried about books? Aren't your lives more important?", I ask, knowing what he will answer.
"These books, ARE our lives."
"Haha, then go and get them. It is your choice.", I smile. They are free to do what they want. Who am I to tell them no? I look to the side and see a white-haired lady looking at the small girl. I walk up to her and smile.
"You should not suppress your feelings like that lady. It will cause both of you pain and yield nothing.", I help her stand up and bring her to the little bird.
.
Then sounds of canon fire are heard and the island begins to be shot at from the navy ships.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
"The Tree of Knowledge is directly being hit by cannonballs, too!"
"There's no mistaking that this is Headquarters's military power. The government was probably going to do this from the start. How foolish.", Clover says depressed.
"Oi oi, old man. Don't look so down. Your books don't matter in the end. You have all the knowledge that you need. Whatever is lost, can be gained again. The important knowledge of the Poneglyphs can't be destroyed. So be happy that you get to learn more and live than being sad about what you can't change."
"You are correct ... I should be grateful that you saved me. Thank you.", he says and I wave it away. I don't care about that. I came here because I wanted to and not because I was a hero and in search of gratitude ...
I look at the white-haired woman and the girl. The small bird walks up to the woman and grabs her hand. They're both crying.
"I wanted to do this ... all this time.", she says and cries. The mother then takes her into her arms.
"Robin"
"Mom"
... this is why I came here.
.
I watch as Robin and her mother talk and cry together and just let it happen.
"Olivia! Take Robin and run! If you somehow sneak Robin onto the evacuation ship, you can leave the island!", Clover says.
Heavy footsteps are heard and from the smoke, a giant comes walking towards us.
"Robin! There you are! I looked all over for you!", he says.
"Saul!"
"So you were able to see Olivia!"
"Saul! What are you doing on this island?!", Olivia asks.
"By some twist of fate, I got shipwrecked and saved by Robin on the beach. More importantly, the situation is terrible! You have to leave this island immediately!", Saul says.
"Please let my daughter escape from the island at any cost!", Olivia says.
"What?! No! What about you, Mom?! Aren't you gonna come with me?!", Robin asks.
"Olivia ... What are you gonna ..."
"There's still something that I have to do here, so ..."
"Mom! I don't wanna be separated! I was finally able to meet you! I'll stay here too!", Robin says.
"Yare yare ... everyone seems to have forgotten about me.", I say and sigh.
"Hm? Who are you?", Saul asks.
"My name is Siddharta, but you can call me Sid. I am interested in what a giant is doing here in Ohara?"
"I am Jaguar D. Saul. I used to be a Vice Admiral but ..."
"I don't need your entire life story. I was just surprised to see you here. Now, take Robin, Olivia, Clover and all of the others and make sure to get away from here. There are going to be a lot of marines coming any moment now. I'll take care of those and you make sure to take a ship and prepare to sail!", I tell them.
"But-"
"No buts. Do as I say, if you want to survive. If not, then you may do as you please. Now, Saul go!"
"Y-yes.", the giant says and takes Robin, Olivia and Clover in his hands and starts to make his way towards where the ship is located.
.
I watch them leave and crack my knuckles. It's been a while since I did something like this. I am a bit excited. I take my staff and twirl it around. Then I focus and slowly begin to rise in the air. I close my eyes and wait for the next round of cannon fire. I coat my staff in Haki and bring my staff back like a baseball bat.
The cannonball approached me and I swung my staff. It impacted and like a baseball, it shot back and towards the Warship from the Navy.
*BOOOM*
"Oooooh, home run! Come on, another one!", I scream and prepare for the next few. I do the same thing again and strike them in quick succession.
*BOOOM*
*BOOOM*
*BOOOM*
The ships take damage and reduce the threat they pose to the island.
The reason why the cannonballs aren't destroyed when I strike them is because I coat them in Haki as well. So they don't break and instead are shot towards the ships.
When I am just about to strike again, I see something happening in the future, that I don't like at all. I use my highest speed and disappear from there.
*Ding*
I reappear in front of the evacuation ship and strike three times.
*BOOOM*
*BOOOM*
*BOOOM*
The cannonballs strike the cannons from where they came from. I make sure to destroy the ship and not kill anyone. I am no longer petty. Whether that is good or not ... we'll see. I won't punish innocent marines who are following lies from their superiors, just for doing their jobs.
"Why did you do that?", I ask the person who gave the order on the ship. A young man with a cap and a hoody stands there. I can feel his anger radiating off of him. For some reason, he must have anger towards the escapees from Ohara. But it could also be towards me right now.
"If we're gonna do it, we'll do it thoroughly. If even a single scholar is hiding on that ship by some chance, the sacrifices made in this operation will all be in vain. We need to eradicate even the possibility of evil.", the young man says and looks me in the eyes. I feel his passion and hate radiating off of him.
"You speak of sacrifices ... are you talking about your humanity and innocence? It is impossible to eradicate evil, young man. That is life and that's what makes it challenging. Trying to eradicate evil is taking the easy way and will result in you hurting and killing those that aren't evil, achieving the opposite result from what you actually wish to do."
"I will kill every pirate if it eradicates the possibility of evil. If pirates fear me and the mention of my name, they will think twice before resulting to piracy."
"That my gullible friend is a pipe dream. Inherent will, the tides of time, people's dreams ... those things cannot be stopped. As long as there are those who continue to pursue freedom, those things will cease to be."
"Then I will simply kill everyone that pursues freedom."
"That is a foolish and naive thought. The thirst for freedom is something that is present inside every living being. To try and kill that longing, you would have to kill all of life itself.", I tell him.
"If that's what it takes ...", he says and jumps towards me with his fist clenched and a strong heat radiating off of it. He punches me with all of his strength and power. He has eaten a strong devil fruit. A fitting one for his character, I believe.
I block his fist with my palm and look him in the eyes.
.
He jumps back using the Navy 6 styles, called Geppo and attacks again. I see that he has some experience with Haki but not nearly enough to truly contend with the strongest in this world. He still relies too strongly on his fruit and that will make him formidable, but not truly one of the strongest in this world. Only Haki can do that for you.
*Boom*
*Booom*
He attacks again and again. But I block all of his attacks. I block him from hitting the ship carrying all of the Ohara escapees. I use Haoshoku to communicate with Saul while blocking this young marine.
{Saul, load everyone on the island on this ship. Make sure that everyone is off the island.}
"What ... what is this?", I hear Saul ask and look around. I tell him again.
{It's me, Sid. Do as I tell you.}
"B-but how? Kuzan is blocking me. I stand no chance against him."
{Sigh ... ok wait a moment.}
I block another attack from this young man and pull him towards me. Then I punched him towards the island and almost hit the other marine, who was wearing glasses. I feel that they're about the same strength, with the lava boy being the stronger one right now.
I then appear next to the ship, which has all of the Ohara, residents and turn it around. With a slight push, the ship approaches the shore of Ohara again. Then I flash next to Saul and give him the instructions again.
"Saul, make sure that everyone is on board this ship. The Elders have no honour and will kill everyone eventually. So make sure everyone is on board."
"o-ok.", he says and takes Robing, Olivia and Clover in his hands. He then places them on the ship, then leaves to get all the other scholars, leaving me with the two young Marines.
.
"Well then ... shall we?", I ask them.
"'Spiky Tooth' Sid. A former member of the Roger pirates. What are you doing here on Ohara?", the younger one of the two, the ice brat, asks me.
"Don't bother yourself with unimportant things my friend. Rather you should ask yourself what YOU are doing here."
"What? I am making sure that the orders of the World Government are kept. If this is for the future of the world, it can't be helped. This has to happen."
"Spoken like a sheep. What have these people done to deserve something like this?"
"Those scholars have violated the law, have they not? Justice changes its form depending on the position you're in. I don't criticize other's sense of justice, and you shouldn't criticize mine."
"I am not criticizing your sense of justice, because you aren't doing anything just at the moment. What you are doing, is accepting the worlds of the World Government and simply swallowing them. There is none of your own sense of justice involved in this scenario. So don't talk to me like that. It just shows your inexperience and naivety."
"Enough talk, Kuzan! Let's eradicate this evil.", the magma guy says. Kuzan the ice brat, nods his head and they attack me.
.
"Dai Funka!"
The magma guy transforms his right fist into pure magma before expanding and throwing it forward. I can tell that this giant fist may further be made to explode, bursting apart into igneous rock fragments that hit the ground akin to small meteors. But that won't do, it would damage the ship and we don't want that.
So I do the same thing I did to the cannonballs and coat the entire fist in a bubble of Haki, that can't be seen by those who haven't unlocked a high degree in Kenbunshoku. Then I swing my staff and destroy the attack in one swing.
*BOOM*
"Ice Block: Partisan", Kuzan says and attacks me as well. He creates two spears of ice and then launches them at me. Even though I just destroyed the magma boy's attack, I don't have any trouble here. I simply destroy them and then go on the offensive. These two still need to learn that they aren't big deals in this world yet, especially not when facing me.
"Sound of Reflection.", I say and strike both of their heads with my staff. And just after the sound is heard.
*BONK*
*BONK*
________________________________________
Next chapter the business in Ohara will be over and we'll enter the last time skip in this world before he inevitably leaves for a few years.
Next world: HxH.