Chương 540: The Drums of Liberation
*The country on a bridge located in East Blue, Tequila Wulf*
*CRACK!*
"MOVE FASTER YOU LAGABOUTS!" Screamed the warden as he cracked his whip across the back of a child, making him cry out in pain as he staggered forward.
*CRACK!*
*CRACK!*
*CRACK!*
"I DIDN'T SAY YOU COULD REST!" The warden screamed as his whip cracked several more times, making the kid scream with each one.
"How horrible..." One of the men uttered under his breath. But as he did so, the slight puff of steam that exited his mouth in the freezing air gave him away.
"HUH? YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?!" The warden demanded as he turned his attention to the man.
"N-no sir! Nothing!" He quickly said while bowing his head in submission.
"Yeah? Well maybe you need a lesson just in case!" The warden sneered down at him as the rest of the slave laborers watched in horror.
The man closed his eyes as tightly as he could in anticipation for what was to come, but it never did.
A few seconds later he hesitantly opened his eyes, to be greeted by a sight like nothing he had ever seen before.
Black lightning filled the skies above them, painting a scene as if it were the end of the world itself. However, accompanying the Lightning was not thunder, but instead was the beat of a drum like nothing the man had ever heard before.
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
The most amazing part though was that the warden, along with all of his men, had all collapsed while foaming at the mouth.
For a moment no one said anything as they just stared at the scene, before the man realized something as he hurriedly rushed forward to take the warden's whip and gun.
"NOWS OUR CHANCE! LETS TAKE OUR FREEDOM!" He roared out while raising the gun high for all of them to see.
Normally his fellow slaves would hesitate after spending so long as laborers. Many of them were criminals or prisoners of island nations not aligned with the World Government, and many more had actually been born into their enslavement as they all labored to build the great bridge. Any will to act would've been stamped out of them a long time ago.
Now however, as the black lightning filled the sky above them, and the beat of the drums reverberated within them, the slaves all felt a sense of hope that they thought had long since been lost.
"""FREEDOM!!!!"""
With a great cry, the slaves all rushed forward while seizing as many of the unconscious guard's weapons as they could, each and every one desperate to take this chance to become free.
***
*Sabaody Archipelago, at the foot of the Red Line*
*BAM!*
"And sold, to the nobleman of the Lulusia Kingdom for a whopping five million Berries!" Proclaimed the auctioneer as he slammed his gavel onto the podium, before a couple men came in and took the 'merchandise' away, a beautiful young woman.
She was then escorted to the back of the auction house to await being picked up by her new master, during which time he would also deliver payment for her.
"And now for our next item!" She heard the auctioneer declare even from backstage, where she saw her fellow slaves that were being prepped for their own auction. One of them however was an older man with loose clothing, and long silver hair with a short trimmed matching beard.
"Such a shame for lovely young lady like yourself." The man said with wry smirk, making her feel even worse about where her life was about to go.
But right then, the man's expression turned oddly serious.
"Looks like it's your lucky day." He told her a second later, before she felt a weird sensation along with everyone else within the auction house, and Sabaody Archipelago as a whole.
The next thing any of them knew, all of the auction house workers slumped over as they passed out while foaming at the mouth.
"Eh!?!" She nearly screamed in surprise.
"I wouldn't worry about them if I were you. Instead, I'd take this chance to escape." The old man said, while pointing to the keys the employee had dropped when he passed out.
The next few minutes were a scramble for freedom as all of the former slaves unlocked the explosive collars from around their necks, and fled the auction house when they saw that all of the guards and patrons as well had passed out.
"How interesting..." The old man mused to himself, even as he pilfered the money from every single patron present, as well as the auction house safe.
When he finally exited the building, without appearing at all rushed or concerned, he could distinctly hear drums in the distance where he felt the Haki come from. And glancing that way, the man saw black lightning and a bright light on the horizon, like that of the sun.
***
*The New World*
Dressrosa. The land of passion and flowers, and it was currently engulfed in chaos.
"What is happening?" The current king of Dressrosa, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and Celestial Dragon, Donquixote Doflamingo, asked 'calmly'. Though, the numerous veins pulsating on his forehead showed anyone around that he was in fact, not at all calm. He was livid.
Everything had been fine, another day of ruling his country and living the life of luxury his station afforded him. But then 'that' happened.
A pulse of what he knew to be Haki swept over the entire island, incapacitating every single one of his guards, and most importantly, Sugar.
Sugar was one of the key people on Doflamingo's crew, who's Devil Fruit power allowed her to turn those she touched into toys, and command them in any way she wanted. But as an added bonus, any of those she turned into toys were completely forgotten about, erased from the minds of all who knew them.
Thousands of toys had populated Dressrosa ever since he rose to power. Husbands, wives, parents, children, Pirates, animals, and anyone unfortunate enough to make an enemy of him.
But that pulse of Haki had knocked out even Sugar, and the result was ALL of the toys within Dressrosa returning to their original forms, and now running wild throughout the country.
And of course, upon realizing who was behind it as memories of forgotten loved ones returned to them, the entire population turned on their once loved King.
The same voices that once cried his name in love and adoration, were now filled with hatred and vengeance.
This didn't concern Doflamingo though of course, it just annoyed him that all of his hard work had been undone so quickly, and he still had no real idea of what had happened.
"Assemble the entire Donquixote Family and get them moving. I want the entire country back under control as soon as possible." He ordered 'calmly', to which his highest ranking officers, Trebol, Pica, and Diamanté, nodded in affirmation.
Meanwhile, down in the city, a single legged man was hopping furiously towards the castle.
Scarlett...
Rebecca...
With the names and images of his wife and daughter in his mind, the former of which was killed years ago, while the latter was currently living in hiding, the man hopped furiously towards the castle in the hopes of killing Doflamingo and ending his reign on Dressrosa for good!
As he was charging forward though, a sudden shift in his body made the man stumble awkwardly, before looked down to see that the leg he had lost so many years ago had returned.
"!!!"
"How!?!" He exclaimed in shock.
"You are a man my lord believes would be of help. Of course he would help you in return." A feminine voice suddenly declared, making the man look up to see a trio of beautiful women standing there amidst the chaos.
The first appeared too young to be on such a battleground, her blond hair drifting in the wind around her petite body, which was attired in a black leather dress.
She appeared completely calm and collected, like the second woman who stood stoically despite the chaos around her, her hand on her katana while a large black dog growled at her side.
And finally the third one was a woman with scarlet red hair, adorned in metallic armor as she glared up at the castle where Doflamingo awaited them.
"Stand and fight Kyros, or was my lord wrong about you?" She asked him in a stern voice.
Though speechless at their appearance, the man, Kyros, stood as he put his weight on both legs for the first time in eight years.
"I know not who this lord of your is, but if he is the man who granted us this chance after eight years of tyranny, then he has my eternal gratitude!" He declared while charging forward into battle.
***
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
As the sound of drums filled the air along with black lightning, the people of a certain country became filled with a raging fire within their chests.
"BRING DOWN THE SHOGUN! DOWN WITH KAIDO!"
The people of the isolationist nation Wano cried out, despite enduring nearly twenty years of abuse and servitude at the hands of the Beast Pirates and their current Shogun, Orochi.
They had no weapons.
They were forbidden to learn how to fight.
And they were outnumbered, outmatched, and headed for complete defeat.
Yet for some reason, the entirety of Wano's citizens suddenly felt at that moment that they NEEDED to fight back, they NEEDED to bring down their oppressors.
"FOOLS!" Roared out a massive dragon as it raised up into the sky, intending to bring their pathetic little rebellion to an end, and find the fool that used Haki on his men to give them the opening that caused the rebellion to begin with.
It didn't help that the dragon, Kaido, was drunk at the moment, and had entered his angry drunk faze. And now the citizens of Wano would be the ones to face his wrath.
Coincidently, the Shogun Orochi had also been affected by the Haki, and was completely passed out in his castle.
"DO NOT FALTER!" One of the men cried out, even as the still conscious members of Kaido's crew, the Beast Pirates, similarly rallied to enter the fray. Almost all of them possessed Devil Fruit abilities of some kind, either natural Devil Fruits, or the artificial Smiles that they were receiving from Doflamingo.
"IF YOU'RE SO DETERMINED TO DIE, THEN DIE!" Kaido roared as he gathered a mass of intense flames within his mouth, intending to end the rebellion in one fell swoop.
"I DON'T THINK SO!"
*BOOM!*
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a massive hammer struck Kaido below his chin to force his mouth shut, and preventing him from unleashing his flames upon the people of Wano.
"""WHAAAAAAAAAAAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"""
Both the rebels and the Beast Pirates had the same reaction as they saw the King of Beasts sent reeling from the attack, before the hammer suddenly flew back to the hands of the one who threw it.
"Humph! What 'King of the Beasts'? Isn't he just an overgrown lizard?" The wielder of the hammer harrumphed irritably, even as Kaido recovered and turned towards her threateningly.
"And who are you?" He snarled, both in anger and in eagerness as the drink cleared from his mind.
"I'm a bunny!" The girl declared while pointing to her fluffy sky blue ears and puffy tail, as if it were obvious.
"I see..." Kaido said, though he couldn't care less about the details. All he knew was that the hit he received from the girl's hammer had been the hardest he'd received in a long time. It made him excited to fight her.
"Open the gate of the Black Dragon, Bahamut!" Cried out another new voice, directing everyone to a flash of light that turned into the massive figure of a pure black dragon.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
It roared challengingly while directing its attention towards Kaido, making him even more excited.
But the surprises didn't end there, as the girl raised up numerous keys that lit up as she channeled magic power into them. And in an instant the empty field she had been standing in was occupied by an army of creatures the likes of which none of them had ever seen before.
"You may be 'King of the Beasts', but I'm 'Queen of the Monsters!" The blond haired woman declared as her army surged forwards.
By this point no one knew what was happening anymore, but the rabbit girl then pointed her hammer at Kaido as she declared, "DO YOU WANT FREEDOM? THEN TAKE IT WANO! FIGHT WITH US!"
As the rabbit girl mentioned them regaining their freedom, the people of Wano recalled the desire to fight that had filled them earlier, and surged forwards alongside the monsters who apparently were on the same side as them.
"Even if you have the numbers to match ours, it is futile..." Declared a figure that rose up over the rest of the Beast Pirates, covered in black leather that hid his entire body, with matching wings extending from his back.
"""KING!"""
Roared the Beast Pirates at the arrival of their second in command, as he gathered a ball of powerful flames and prepared to unleash upon the army of monsters advancing towards them.
"I suppose that's my cue, isn't it?" Said yet ANOTHER new voice as a figure appeared right in front of King, and delivered a powerful kick that sent him flying back down to the ground.
"!!!"
"""KING!!!"""
The Beast Pirates all cried out yet again, but this time with urgency since they had never seen King get blown away. This led many of them to fearfully look up into the sky to see a demon floating there, her wings spread wide while her tail danced in the air behind her.
"Don't go dying too quickly now. I want to have some fun~!" She purred sadistically while licking one of her claws.
"What is this?" Kaido demanded as he looked over the three strangers curiously.
"This, is the end of the Beast Pirates!" The rabbit girl from earlier declared, before she leapt up into the air to do battle with him.
***
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
"..."
While the rest of the world was descending into chaos from the black lightning and the sound of the drums, a certain figure silently looked up into the sky when he heard it.
"Nika..." The man uttered slowly.
He was massive compared to other people, and made all who stood against him tremble in fear by virtue of his name alone. And those who still stood to fight him, they soon tasted despair by his overwhelming might.
Despite all that he took no pleasure in his work, as it was just that. Work.
He was seen as a man without emotions by many, but even if they didn't show on his face, numerous emotions filled the man as he listened to the sound of the drums echoing around the world.
"Can you hear them father, Bonney? The drums of liberation." He said to the empty air around him.
"I have never heard anything so beautiful..."
***
In the mists of the New World, a massive figure lumbered through the oceans with legs so long, that they even reached the sea floor.
With the appearance of an elephant, the creature was so large that it carried even an entire civilization upon its back as it wandered the world. And while it wandered aimlessly, it paused as a certain sound reached it through the mists.
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
'This sound...!'
The feeling of nostalgia filled the elephant as he it heard something it hadn't heard in eight hundred years, a sound that filled it with more elation than it had felt in that entire time.
'Is it truly you....my comrade...?'
***
"This power!?" Exclaimed an elderly woman as she trembled from the extreme Haki that made the very air around her vibrate, and filled the sky with black lightning.
Not just her, but every woman on Amazon Lily trembled from the overwhelming power they could feel. All but one.
"I know! Isn't it amazing~?" Exclaimed the only person who seemed thrilled to feel the power. Their empress, Boa Hancock.
"Sister... Could this be...?" One of Hancock's sisters asked hesitantly.
"Yes! It's 'him'! Oh how I can't wait to see him!" She declared lovingly while hearts floated in their air around her.
Elder Nyon however was feeling an entire different emotion as waves of Haki continued rolling over their little island.
None of their people had passed out from the Haki, but she knew from how powerful it was that that was simply because the one using the Haki had such control over it that he was only targeting those he wanted to. How far such an effect extended, she didn't know.
But the mere fact that he had managed to encompass their entire island when they weren't even the targets made her tremble in both fear and awe.
"Quickly! Prepare a feast to welcome 'him'! I want everything to be perfect for when 'he' arrives!" Hancock ordered her people, before heading to the kitchens herself to personally prepare a mountain of food for the one she had been so anxious to meet.
***
"This is an emergency!"
"Yes, I understand!"
"Please wait a moment!"
Even as the entire world plunged into chaos, the worst of it was at the Marine Headquarters and the holy land, Mary Geoise, as reports of what was happening around the world poured in.
"All of the slaves at Tequila Wulf have escaped!"
"The Sabaody Archipelago is in chaos after the 'clients' at the 'employment offices' escaped! Several of them have even injured or killed visiting nobility and royalty!"
"Gecko Moria is reporting an army of corpses attacking Thriller Bark! On top of that, the entirety of his own army has turned against him!"
"Banaro Island has been leveled following a battle between unknown entities! Witnesses state that they identified two women, one with silver hair, and one with cat ears and tails, possibly from eating a model of the Neko Neko no Mi!"
"Our undercover agents are reporting that Wano is in the midst of a war between the natives, Kaido, and an unidentified group of women!"
"Totto Land has been engulfed in a series of disasters! Some islands have been frozen while others endured tsunamis, raging fires, lightning, and even tornadoes! No word yet on the status of Big Mom!"
These reports and more continued pouring in without any signs of stopping, but the absolute worst came last.
"THE CELESTIAL DRAGONS ARE BEING ATTACKED!"
That single sentence was something none of the Marines ever thought they would hear, especially after the Fisher Tiger incident several years ago.
"Akainu, Kizaru! Mobilize at once!" Ordered the Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
""Right."" The two Admirals answered as they prepared to leave.
One of the primary duties of the three Admirals was to answer the call of the Celestial Dragons if they were endangered or defied, so both were ready to arrive at the holy land as soon as possible. And what they found waiting there was pure chaos.
Numerous women were running around the holy land and gathering up all of the slaves that were trying to escape, and directing them to a wall of mist while also defending them against the Royal guards and Marines that were still conscious.
Chief amongst the defenders though were the God's Knights, the super elite combat force whose sole responsibility was to guard Mary Geoise and the Celestial Dragons. And their Supreme Commander was none other than one of the saints, Saint Figarland Garling.
Incredulously, the attackers were even able to hold their own against Saint Figarland and God's Knights while continuing the evacuation of the slaves, with a massive green dragon being at the center of the attack.
"Oooh? Wasn't there a dragon on Wano as well~?" Asked one of the Admirals as they surveyed the situation.
"Doesn't matter. We kill it just for the crime of attacking the Celestial Dragons." The other answered gruffly, before the duo moved to attack.
The former raised his leg up in the air and began gathering power as it began to shine brightly. When he unleashed the gathered power at the dragon with a kick though, a figure appeared between them to take the attack head on.
She was wearing bright white armor with a large shield and sword in either hand, the former of which he used to deflect the blast of light to the side with minimal to no effort.
"Hey hey hey. My attacks aren't supposed to be so weak you know~." The Admiral, Kizaru, exclaimed in surprise to seeing his attack deflected.
But even more surprising was when the woman's figure shimmered before her clothes changed before them, equipping thick black armor with a large and menacing looking sword.
"Promotion.....Knight!" She declared before shooting forward and slashing the sword at him threateningly.
And while Kizaru usually didn't even bother dodging attacks, he felt a sense of danger from the approaching blade that made him lean back slightly, allowing it to graze his chest.
"..."
Kizaru looked down to see that his suit had been torn from the attack, while there was also a thin line of blood.
"Oooh? How did you manage to cut me without Haki~? Hmmm~?" He asked without at seeming concerned about his injury.
However a cloud of darkness formed around the girl as her heterochromatic blue and green eyes focused on him.
"Light and dark are opposite each other, right?" She asked as if it were obvious.
"Oooh? I guess you're right~." He answered after giving it some thought, before resuming his attack on the girl.
Meanwhile, Akainu continued rushing towards the dragon and the numerous women surrounding it, all of which were dressed like maids, when he suddenly sensed something approaching him from the side.
"HAAA!" Screamed a girl with long pink hair as she made to punch him, which Akainu had to actually defend against.
But even as he defended himself, Akainu was blasted back through numerous buildings as her attack ignored his Devil Fruit.
Instead of being bothered by it though, he just looked at her as she approached him and asked, "how did you hit me without Haki?"
The girl just 'humphed' though before holding up her hands to display a pair of metallic gloves.
"With my Grab-Grab Anything Gloves, I can grab anything I want that can't usually be grabbed onto, like fire, air, water, and even hot lava! Which also means that I can hit meany heads like you!"
Sticking her tongue out at him as she said that, Akainu began to grow enraged that he had been hit by a....child.
"Little girl... You should really learn to tell who you should fight, and who you shouldn't..." He growled irritably as most of his body began to transform into magma.
But even as Akainu and Kizaru prepared to fight, neither one of them noticed the other girl that was singing in the background, her voicing carrying over all of Mary Geoise to spur those who were suffering into action, while also steadily doing slight damage to the God's Knights and Royal guards. But over time the damage would increase to the point where even the slightest attacks would deal critical damage to them.
And as the world descended into chaos, a certain figure sat silently upon a grand throne with the Five Elders kneeling before them.
Even as the destruction occurred outside, and all of the slaves escaped from Mary Geoise, the figure did not stir. Instead, they and the Elders focused entirely on the sound that could be heard even through all of the fighting.
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
*DUM DUT DA DA🎶!*
And as that sound echoed throughout the entire world, the figure only narrowed their eyes hatefully as they sneered a single word in disdain.
"Joyboy."
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