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13.88% One Piece: Path to Power / Chapter 21: [21] The Power of Whitebeard

Chương 21: [21] The Power of Whitebeard

[2850 words]

For reference, 50 meters = AoT walls.

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"Bwahahaha! Basara-san, It's your time to shine!"

Garp was as lax as ever. He stood on his dog-headed ship while looking towards the bear-headed one.

The man he spoke to, however, was not amused.

He stood around ten feet tall (~3 meters) with short black hair. The marine wore brown Navy attire with a white coat draped over his shoulders, a powerful air surrounding him.

He was perhaps in his late thirties. The scowl on his face was rather unsettling as he turned his gaze to the surrounded pirate ship.

*Thunk*

*Thunk*

*Thunk*

Heavy footsteps echoed through the thick wooden deck of the marine warship. The nearby marines revered the Admiral as he slowly raised his hands as if accepting a prayer.

.

"Pit of Despair."

.

"..."

A silent yet foreboding moment passed.

*Rumble*

The entire sea began to quiver, growing from a subtle trembling to a distinct rumbling which was growing in intensity.

Even the pirates nearly half a kilometer away felt the shaking as huge volumes of water began to displace.

*Splash!*

Towering bursts of seawater shot into the sky, eclipsing the Navy warships and unveiling something far more terrifying.

Ginormous walls of pure earth, brown in colour, rose out from the ground in a uniform, circular shape. They were 10 meters thick as they extended further and further into the sky.

*Rumble*

The shaking continued for a few seconds, far outshadowing the disastrous weather.

Soon enough, the walls reached their maximum height of 830 meters and entirely encased the battlefield in a circular ring made of thick earth.

[830 m = ~half a mile = Burj Khalifa.]

"!!!"

The sight of the encircling walls nearly 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) from the center alone cast a shadow that would put the fear of death into the souls of most, simultaneously raising Marine morale. 

Shakky sighed at the sight.

"The Mountain-Mountain Fruit; a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit with the ability to erect mountains wherever the user pleases."

[Image of Basara the Mountain (in Discord)]

.

Damien took a deep breath as he witnessed the power.

"He can even pull earth from below the ocean?"

The woman nodded, "Basara's control over anything mountainous is deeper than the water here... so he can do as he pleases."

The young pirate narrowed his eyes, glancing at the barriers: 'Even though the Admirals outside of Sengoku were forgotten and never mentioned, it would make sense for them to be monsters to be the powerhouses of the Rocks Era.'

.

Meanwhile, Whitebeard focussed elsewhere.

"Basara playing with his rocks as always but this weather is also a little too depressing…," he muttered.

The man's eyes were locked onto the hellacious climate that had graced them: snow, sleet, rain, snow, lightning and howling winds.

Suddenly Newgate coiled his hand to the side, the familiar earthquake bubble pulsing like a heart.

A single swing onto the area above.

Boom! 

The atmosphere around the fist was spreading with fern-like cracks, resembling glass. They continued their advent, stretching and branching off to the point where nearly 100 meters of the sky was left cracked!

*Shatter*

In a cacophony of crashes, the very air exploded into giant transparent shards, unleashing a powerful blast of white shockwave energy that reached the clouds.

*Gulp* The Marines who were high on the Admiral hype were brought back to reality as they saw the astonishing act.

*Vvoooo*

The entire storm and thunderous welcome were utterly and completely shattered. Bright and warm rays of sunlight soon bathed the entire canyon, gracing its prisoners with better weather compared to the Outer Seas!

Such a sight was as incredible as the walls being erected, yet Basara remained motionless.

Garp, not so much.

"Bwahaha! Get ready, you guys!" he roared to the other Vice Admirals.

Though they were of the same rank, it seemed as if they either respected Garp enough or were simply numb to his insolent behaviour.

*Whuuu* Whitebeard twirled his weapon, feeling the tense air spread across the pit.

"The ship is already on its last life, keep the battle away from it," he warned.

Thud!

The wooden deck shook as the twenty-plus-foot-tall pirate lunged forward with a single jump.

His body arched through the sky as he crossed the sea.

*Purrup*

Whilst in the air, Newgate wrapped his weapon in the white bubble that pulsated in impatience.

"Ha!" the pirate grunted as he swiped the weapon across the sky, directing it onto the Marine formation.

A silver tear cut through the atmosphere, giving birth to a shockwave that raged out to the five warships in its way.

*Fwooo!*

The air screeched from the incoming hell, giving way for the attack to meet its target.

BOOM! The entire marine formation shook, though the three warships at the front bore the brunt of the damage.

Thick chasms opened up through the ship that was the size of Ancient Giants, forcing the marines on board into a grave panic. The seas underneath grew chaotic and rampaging, summoning giant tidal waves that enveloped the warships.

"Ahh!"

"Hang on!"

"Eugh!"

Basara stood tall under the raging winds, annoyed by the turn of events, "Don't act so pathetically," he told the soldiers screaming at the five sinking warships.

He then raised his right hand.

*Rumble*

The seas shook once more as huge, blunt spikes of earth shot from the seafloor and pushed the collapsing ships up and out from the water, saving them from sinking; three crumbling ships were easily salvaged without significant casualties.

Yet the true threat, Whitebeard, was still mobile.

"Garp, hold him down!"

The order went out as a silver figure dashed through the sky and rocketed on ahead like a comet.

BOOOM!

A huge explosion rang through the sky, originating from a Haki-clad fist meeting a giant glaive.

"Let's go too, Kaido!"

Two bursts of air boomed as the young duo of pirates dove onto opposite sides.

While Whitebeard went down the middle, holding down three Marine Warships and the two unique battleships himself, the other available ships began to move in.

*Pop*

Damien Moonwalked through the air as he found himself landing on a warship.

Thud!

The Sin Incarnate's black boots made contact with the enemy ships, all the while alerting the near-thousand marines on board. A grin etched on his face.

"Take down the pirate!"

"For justice!"

"Fire!"

Damien eyed the masses. A sharp red glint passed through his eyes.

The rambunctious marines soon paused as dark-red waves of pulsating energy emanated from the young pirate.

The overwhelming weight and despair overtook many of the marines as their eyes darkened and rolled back into their sockets.

*Thud*

*Thunk*

*Twuck*

Tens, hundreds, and thousands of bodies soon fell to the ground, taking victims from not only the immediate ship but all three other nearby ones. 

"T-That was… Conqueror's Haki!"

The marines on Damien's side of the battlefield, though thinned out, still had a few thousand standing.

*Whizz!* Two shadows shot forth towards Damien.

"We must take him down before he reaches the Pirate Island!"

Damien saw the coming shadows and raised a hand that released some ominous red particles.

.

"Utter Ruin."

.

The crimson energy bubbled into a crimson circle as it exploded forth.

A huge current, nearly ten meters in diameter, shredded apart everything in its wake, drilling through a huge chunk of area.

"Ahh-"

The incoming Rear Admiral Duo was encompassed wholly in the energy. They couldn't even finish their wails before all that remained was a cloud of blood.

*Splatter*

The crimson liquid dyed the wooden floor with a fresh paint of red, eerily reflecting the imminent fate of the others.

Damien wasted no time and tapped on the ship.

.

"Shatter."

.

The crimson energy spread out and began to encase the entire ship.

Reaching a good ten meters every passing second, slowly but surely endangering the hundreds of marines on board.

A nearby Vice Admiral felt an ominous feeling.

"Abandon ship!"

*Creak*

Boom!

A few lucky marines near the edge were able to jump out, however, the others were not as lucky. The deck under them crumbled to dust as they fell from the height into the bottom of the ship. 

Damien was about to jump to another ship and yet a shadow appeared behind him.

.

"Iron Body: Slam!"

.

The opponent's arm thickened as he slammed his fist onto the unsuspecting Damien.

Yet the result wasn't what he expected.

Clang!

Damien's blackened fist clashed with the enemy marine's fist, sending out a burst of shock.

The navy officer saw the smirk on his opponent, hearing a few passing words, "Don't you know Iron Body locks you in place?"

Within a split-second, Damien's finger wrapped with a current of air drilled into the man's shoulder, exploding his rotator cuff.

"Ugh!" a loud groan rang as the marine yelped in pain.

His right arm was no longer functioning from the torn shoulder, sending out copious amounts of blood.

The officer forgot his pain as saw the enemy pirate jump onto another warship.

*Whizz*

He soon reappeared onto another warship utilizing Shave of the Rokushiki, grasping his right shoulder.

"Vice Admiral Hux!"

The marines saluted.

"Be ready, that pirate is aiming at our ships!" Hux warned, tying a cloth over his deltoid.

"..."

An ominous silence arrived as a dark figure appeared in front of the marine, utilizing a familiar technique.

"How did a pirate get a hold of the Rokushiki?!" Hux questioned in surprise as realized Damien had used three of the Six Styles already.

*Click*

*Cock*

*Clank*

Not only dozens of rifles and pistols but also cannons locked on the invader. 

Damien gave a small grin as he began to release his power.

Hux saw the pirate's smirk as his Haki began to flare: "No-!"

.

"Desolation Zone."

.

A powerful and crushing power soon exploded from the young pirate like a volcano. It stemmed from his heart that had gathered a large clump of pulverizing energy.

It spread out in mere moments, encapsulating everything nearby in a complete circle, stretching out over the majority of the warship.

*Vvooo!*

The air within the zone began to bubble and churn as the crushing energy rained down like red raindrops, leaving hell behind for anyone in its way.

The men, the weapons, and the deck began to crumple and shred from being compressed and crippled.

Damien walked on under the carnage, the circular zone moved alongside him. The soldiers closer to the center, in other words, closer to Damien, had long become nothing more than droplets of blood and bits of bone.

The bright sunny sky was completely dulled away, replaced with a crimson cloud.

"..."

The grinding energy soon dissipated, leaving a sole Damien at the very center of the ship. Going from a mix of yellings, groans and grunts to complete silence was truly deafening.

*Creak*

The sails were long gone, just some simple framework remained as it touched the seawater that dispersed his attack.

*Whizz*

Damien's eyes widened as he felt the movement of air behind him, it was the bloodied-up Hux!

Bang!

A dull boom went off from hundreds of meters away, echoing past the turbulent seas.

"Augh!"

Damien saw the Vice Admiral's eyes lose their luster, and a small hole appeared through his head.

The marine fell into a pool of blood with a loud thud.

"Hmm?"

Damien's eyes drifted to the far side and locked onto the figure of a woman with a pistol, blowing the smoke.

Feeling his gaze, the woman gave a wink in return.

However, it seemed something had clicked in her mind as she proceeded to mouth out an order: "Clear the path for the ship to sail to the walls."

That said, Shakky returned to unloading endless mags of bullets at distant marines.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

One hand holding the cigar, one hand pulling the trigger. 

Damien no longer waited and jumped into the sky with his Moonwalk and raised a hand.

.

"Utter Ruin."

.

The stream of ravaging red energy once again blazed out and enveloped the ship and its backside where the rudder was located.

Not only was the back half left in dust but the entire navigation of the warship was gone, leaving it impossible to be salvaged.

"Damn pirates!"

The voice was that of the Admiral himself.

Basara stood at the bow of his ship as he saw the mission begin to fall apart.

Garp was busy holding down the powerful Newgate aboard a wrecked warship, sending seismic torrents from the core of their clash.

This forced seven Vice Admirals to jump from ship to ship, clearing up the tsunamis and shockwaves to protect their troops.

It seemed that a naval battle against a man of quakes was not the best idea.

.

Whitebeard also saw the battle turn in his favour, yet something was afoot, credit to his alarmed Haki.

Boom!

The air suddenly exploded as a giant tentacle-like structure made of pure earth shot out from the seafloor toward Whitebeard.

The attack began to morph into a hand that spanned a good 200 meters in width (656 ft). In a simple and crude motion, the limb balled up into a fist, crushing Whitebeard in its palm.

*Fwwm!*

A pristine black colour soon wrapped around the arm, wholly capturing the enemy pirate with dense Haki.

*Splash!*

More and more tendrils of earth continued being birthed from the seafloor, wrapping and crushing their lone prisoner.

Within moments, Whitebeard was entirely covered in a giant mass of earth, resembling a small moon.

"..."

Pebbles and debris floated down from the structure, leaving a silence behind. The nearby area was eclipsed by the ball, spreading its darkness to the edges of the walls.

"T-The Admiral made a move!"

Garp landed on a shaken ship, narrowing his eyes on the locked-up pirate.

*Shiver*

The hair on the Vice Adimiral's arm stood up in instinct, alerting him to the coming chaos.

*Rumble*

The short tranquillity came to an end with a rumbling of the giant earth arm-turned-moon. Dull shakes broke out as increasingly larger bits of stone rained down.

BOOM!

With a single beat, the colossus exploded into a rain of endless bits of earth, revealing the silhouette of the unhurt Whitebeard.

*Creak*

Basara rose from his ship under an identical stone platform in the shape of a rising arm from under the sea.

The Admiral's own arm and half of his body were covered in thick rocks as he glared at the pirate.

"I won't let you harm my troops any further."

Whitebeard returned a grin, "Then protect them!"

He then smashed both his hands towards opposite sides as the cracks spread through the atmosphere.

Basara's mountainous defences were against their greatest foe. Perhaps using the earth to stop a man of earthquakes was not overly efficient.

A giant 200-meter-tall tsunami rose from up ahead and began to rage toward the main battalion of marine Warships.

"Garp!" Basara roared.

*Woosh!*

The charismatic Vice Admiral shot in chase towards the giant wave, his metallic fist ready to pummel it.

Boom!

Dull explosions carried on near the other sides of the battlefield.

Kaido had been on a rampage, destroying a couple of ships only to be stopped by a Vice Admiral.

His size was working against him as he had trouble keeping up with the smaller, and more agile master of Rokushiki.

Only with the aid of Shakky was he able to take the marine down.

"I had him!" Kaido roared out.

Yet his roar was left on read, angering him further.

Boom!

Clang!

Bam!

Once again, sending the Hundred-Beast into a frenzy to unload hell upon unsuspecting marines.

The clash of Whitebeard and Basara alongside the roaring seas holding down Garp gave way for the tired ship led by Shakky to reach its destination.

"Damien-chan, can you break open a large piece of that mountain?" the woman asked in her usual playful tone.

The pirate in question looked at the ring of earth trapping them in, spanning over 800 meters.

"Define 'a large piece'."

Shakky puffed out some smoke and casually said, "As big as possible."

Damien nodded and jumped into the air and towards the mountain.

*Tap*

His hand touched the earth.

A sound of pixelation broke out as the dull-brown wall began to turn red with a chequered pattern, spreading in all directions.

Not long after, a giant piece of pure earth was dislodged from the wall. It was around a quarter as tall as the barrier, 10 meters deep and 100 meters across.

Shakky smiled at the display, "Perfect~"

She then aimed her beloved pistol at the mountain, much to Damien's confusion.

His eyes zoomed in on the weapon as he saw the bullet to be fired change colour. It went from the usual black to a gray hue, wrapped in some form of inconspicuous energy.

Bang!

The Sin Incarnate traced the bullet's trajectory as it nailed the separated mountain dead in its center.

*Poof*

Damien's jaw almost fell at what followed.

"..."

"The mountain… where'd it go?" 

Shakky winked and charmingly replied, "To Marineford, of course~"

To Be Continued...

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Author's Corner.

Damien certainly is not yet strong enough to take the limelight from such a battle, giving it to Whitebeard instead was fun to write up.

Images: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q


Chương 22: [22] Forged in Fury

[2680 words]

I also have been going back to rectify the typos highlighted by others in the paragraph comments. I appreciate it. There is also a new channel in the Discord server specifically for typo and inconsistencies.

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Damien saw the giant piece of earth simply poof out of existence and disappear, leaving a giant gap in the wall.

Shakky giggled as she saw Damien's surprised appearance.

"The mountain… where'd it go?" 

The woman winked in reply, "To Marineford, of course~"

Shakky held up her trusty pistol, showing it off to her young friend.

"My gun ate the Roulette-Roulette Fruit and can shoot six different types of bullets."

She began listing them out, counting with her fingers:

"Piercing rounds that can rip through thick steel like butter,"

"Incendiary rounds that burn upon impact,"

"Explosive rounds that go boom-boom,"

"Medicinal rounds that can heal non-fatal injuries,"

"Storage rounds that can create a little space to store things,"

"And lastly, warping rounds that can teleport objects to a place I've left a marker behind."

Damien gave a wry smile, "Let me guess, you can combine them all as you please."

"Ara~ You're giving away my secrets now."

Both of the pirates halted in talk as another voice resounded the battlefield.

.

"Dreaded Devastation!"

.

A giant cone-shaped column of earth shot forward at speeds faster than a normal human could react to. It shot towards the giant pirate as he smashed his fist to meet the attack.

*Crack*

A crack broke through the air as the coming earth began to crumble away.

"You don't learn, do you, Basara?" Whitebeard said with an annoyed sigh.

The Admiral gritted his teeth in impatience as he saw the results.

His eyes were then drawn to the now-opened gap in his mountainous defence as the Rocks ship sailed ahead.

A marine warship was about to commence bombardment but instead was pummeled by a flying figure that crashed upon it.

"WORORORO! You're falling apart, Navy!"

...

"Looks like you couldn't protect them."

Newgate pointed his naginata towards the Admiral and gave an ultimatum: "You can either send Garp to take them down, but that would leave the other marines to sink from our fight. Or you let them go and we fight another day."

Basara's face twisted with a scowl.

Being threatened by a pirate in such a manner brought great shame to his position as an Admiral.

Yet it was also his position as an Admiral that calmed him down.

He pulled out a transponder snail, expressionlessly sending an order: "All forces, stand down."

Whitebeard gave a small grin as he shot forward to the pirate ship, leaving behind a disgruntled Basara.

Garp who was extinguishing the tsunamis left, right, and center also got the order. He saw the Rocks' ship reach beyond the canyon and could only sigh.

"A battle at sea against a quake-man is never easy."

A nearby Vice Admiral began to instruct the marines, "Look after the wounded, the rest of you, rescue the ones who fell to sea befo-"

"No need."

Basara raised his hands with an annoyed face.

*Rumble*

The ground shook incessantly and under the eyes of the shaken marines was hope. A giant platform, equal to the size of the entire canyon, over a handful of kilometers in radius, rose from the depths.

The men, the ships, and even the Sea Kings below were uplifted and placed on the hard earth, rescued from sinking into the depths. A single motion to birth a spanning landmass.

Garp walked ahead and began directing, "Look after the wounded and collect the martyred, they deserve a funeral!"

""""Roger that!""""

The Vice Admiral then ordered a rookie marine, "Go get me my rice crackers."

"Y-Yes sir!"

It seemed this little skirmish had come to an end.

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[A While Later]

Damien rested at the edge of the ship.

They had sailed beyond the ring of earth, leaving the marines behind.

"An Admiral is quite the challenge."

Whitebeard was devouring litres of saké as he heard the words.

"Gurarara! That Basara is like a mad dog but he has enough sense not to gamble too many marines just for us."

"Especially considering the state of the New World now," Shakky added.

Damien's ears perked at her words and he asked, "Can you give me some more details on that?"

The woman hummed in response and began the info dump.

"Well, quite a few big names are roaming the seas. The Government ranks each with their World Threat Index."

"It outlines a pirate's threat level from one to five," She said. "There are quite a few in the highest level, but three of them take the cake."

"The Overlords of the Seas," Damien said from his past knowledge on the subject.

Shakky nodded, "Mhm, nowadays people are claiming a fourth, being Captain Rocks, but the Rocks Pirates aren't all that centralized like the Overlords."

"The boss is on the Pirate Island of Hachinosu (Fullalead; Beehive) with a pack of rabid dogs, but they aren't the type to go around conquering lands, rather, they prefer to loot, kill and destroy everything in their path."

Whitebeard grumbled at her words, not disagreeing with them but not liking the reality either.

"The Government's hands are full with all these bad names and things are getting even more hectic, I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to take down an Overlord or two to calm the seas a little."

"Are we headed to Hachinosu to build the ship then?" Damien asked.

Shakky shook her head, "We're going to Naufragium Island."

*Puff*

A cloud of smoke swarmed out from her mouth as she continued:

"A man reached out to Captain Rocks a few months ago, saying he would fulfil his wish to make a behemoth of a ship if we could gather the proper materials."

Damien raised an eye at the news, "Is he credible enough?"

Shakky nodded, "Naufragium Island was once called the Haven of Shipwrights."

"Was?"

A look of pity appeared on the woman's face as she explained:

"It was reduced to rubble in an unknown siege that took place under the cover of night a couple of decades ago, most of the shipwrights either died or fled to Paradise, I hear many were recruited to Water-7."

She gave out a small sigh, "One man still remains there, he's the one who called the Captain. His name is Quentin Hammer."

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[Four Days Later]

[Fleet Admiral's Office, Marineford]

Seven people were seated upon a wide, round table. Each had a marine uniform, six men and one woman.

The room was white with blue accents, each side had an open window aside from the entrance.

*Fwoo~* A cool breeze of fresh air entered the room while the marines sat in solemn silence.

"Garp, Basara," a deep voice bellowed. "One of you better tell me why there was a damn mountain in my office!"

Naturally, the one who spoke was Fleet Admiral Kong.

The Admiral in question sat in silence. The other man, however, wasn't in the same dull mood.

"Bwahahaha!" a boisterous laugh broke apart the seriousness. "Kong-san, don't get so angry, these things happen now and then!"

Garp was munching on his favourite rice crackers as he, rather rudely, devoured the snacks amongst such prestigious marines.

A vein popped in Kong's forehead, almost as if it was about to burst.

"Garp, show some respect to the Fleet Admiral!"

The man voicing his annoyance was Garp's good friend, Sengoku.

"These Rocks Pirates are getting far out of hand."

It was a different voice, one calmer and softer than Sengoku's.

It came from a muscular man wearing sharp marine attire. Short purple hair alongside a heroic posture.

Vice Admiral Zephyr!

[Image of Zephyr (in Discord)]

.

"What is your input, Tsuru?"

The Fleet Admiral looked at the woman to his side, she was a beautiful woman with turquoise hair tied in a ponytail.

She held the title of Vice Admiral yet she was known not for skills as a fighter, but her brains as a tactician.

[Images of Tsuru (in Discord)]

The woman squinted her eyes, "We have tried to hide their emergence... but it's getting more and more difficult. Many Reverie Attendants have shared their impatience with our handling of the situation."

She gave out a slight sigh, "The Overlords have already kept our forces stretched, and now the Rocks have grown stronger with the addition of the two demonic rookies."

*Flutter*

Tsuru placed two bounty posters on the table.

"With the big names already under Rocks' flag, I'm afraid only the crew's terrible camaraderie can slow them down. At this rate, they will amass a force that can rival the world itself!"

"..."

Kong exhaled while tapping his finger on the table.

Sengoku then chimed in, "With the intel from CP-1 about the 'Black Death' gathering materials to build a ship, we can infer their next moves."

Zephyr looked to the side of the Grand Line map and zoomed in on a single island.

"The island of shipwrights that was left in the dust, that's their goal," he chimed in.

The intel brought a silent man to speak up.

"Send me, I'll go and destroy that island once and for all," Basara declared.

Kong looked at the brown-clothed Admiral and shook his head, "I need you and Sengoku on standby, it seems Borealis is making a move."

He then glanced at Zephyr and took something out of his pocket.

It was a transponder snail, bright-gold in colour. Kong gave it to Zephyr.

"You know what to do."

The purple-haired Vice Admiral just sank into his seat without a reply, pocketing the device.

Tsuru saw the expression and ignored it, "It seems we need to review the bounties of the Rocks, especially that of the demon-rookies duo."

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[The New World, The Ruins of Naufragium Island]

The constantly-repaired Rocks ships eventually docked onto the Naufragium Island.

The four pirates stepped off and glanced at the island.

"Reduced to rubble was an accurate description," Damien muttered.

The tiny island was quite ruined.

Nothing but cracked earth and broken land. The trees were long dead, and the grass receded, leaving behind a barren land. It was quite obvious that a flourishing population once existed here by the sight of the ruined and revenge buildings and homes.

The overgrown moss and vines were the only colours left in this place.

.

'The nature here is void of colour and life,' Damien thought as he felt the silence of the Voice of all Living Things.

"Looks like the tavern has some life," Whitebeard said, though he was already walking towards it from the start.

Kaido joined in as the two went into the pub.

Shakky poked Damien in the ribs, "Don't even think of bailing on me, you're coming with me to find this Hammer fellow."

She dragged the rookie pirate towards the ruined town for the shipmaker in question.

[A While Later]

"This should be it," Shakky announced.

The two were standing before a broken-down house with pieces of the walls missing. A small well and ruined fences nearby.

"At least the grass here has some life," Damien said.

[Image of the House (in Discord)]

.

The pirate duo walked ahead and towards the door.

*Creak*

Damien had locked onto the man's presence for a while now.

He was seated on a barrel by the front yard, gazing at the sky.

With a size of around 12 feet (3.66 m), a burly figure with muscles.

Damien asked:

"Are you Quentin Hammer?"

The man looked down with a stern expression.

"Depends who's asking."

"We're asking."

"Who's we?"

"Depends who's asking."

"I'm asking."

"Who are you?"

"Depends who's asking."

"We're asking."

"Who's we?"

"Depends who's aski-"

Shakky broke the loop with a single word, "Rocks." 

The man narrowed his eyes on the pirates, taking a strong puff of his cigar.

"You've got the right guy."

Damien shrugged at Shakky, "He would've given in soon either way."

The woman rolled her eyes and then glanced at the man.

The dark-skinned man had a wild look. Overgrown beard and hair that linked together to give a rather feral look. His forehead was popping with veins from madness. 

He breathed out clouds of smoke through his nose, revelling in the cigar's taste.

'He's missing a few screws.'

[Image of Quentin Hammer (in Discord)]

.

"You got the stuff?"

Shakky eyed the man's crazed eyes and slowly nodded.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Her pistol fired as a small thrice a triangular portal-like construct appeared in the ground.

*Plop*

Soon, a handful of giant logs of thick wood shot out. Alongside a rain of crimson ore, separated into large blocks and set in neat rows.

Hammer slowly walked ahead and eyed the goods.

"Adam's Oak, nice stuff…"

His eyes then locked on the blood-red ore. "This is-!"

*Gulp*

An unconscious reflex from the shipbuilder resounded as he touched the ore with his blistered and scarred hands.

The previous weariness was instantly replaced with delight: "Oh, it's beautiful!"

Shakky saw the man grab the ore as if it could grow legs and run away from him and rolled her eyes.

"Ahem," she audibly cleared her throat, drawing the man's attention.

"Can you make do with this? I don't want to come all the way here on a man's delusion."

Hammer looked at the woman and squinted his eyes.

"Hamu-Hamu-Hamu!" he broke out in a laugh. 

"You're not wrong to call it my delusion, but that was before the tragedy of this island."

Hammer shook his head and elaborated, "You see, I was once a young lad with dreams to make a ship that would conquer the seas!"

The man's crazed eyes soon grow melancholy in nostalgia.

"But it fell apart; I couldn't make the final leap to conquer this chaotic sea. I grew old and tired, so I departed all my knowledge to the new generation, my son who I picked up from the sea!"

"We father and son were happy…"

Hammer's eyes returned to their frenzy state, almost glowing red in anger.

"But they came, the Celestial Dragons! They wanted a ship fit for a God!" 

Boom!

Hammer's fist crashed onto the ground, enough to draw blood.

"I rejected them and directed them elsewhere, but they didn't even hear me out."

"Those bubbled-headed scum, they ordered the dogs of Cipher Pol to take my 7-year-kid as a slave and dragged him away!"

Fury flashed by Hammer's face as he spat out, "My punishment was what followed: they set an Island Bounty! The next morning everything was in ruins! My entire life's work was ripped apart over a single night!"

The giant man fell to his knees in a moment of weakness.

"My hate for them has built up for decades, I'm old now, my son is probably long dead, and now I only have one purpose: I want to see the World Government burn!"

The manic expression mixed with the maddened eyes left Hammer a broken man yet his words carried an air of determination.

.

Damien heard the soliloquy and felt a hint of pity.

Shakky continued to smoke while questioning, "You want to bet that Captain Rocks will fulfil your purpose?"

Hammer looked up and nodded.

"Yes, if I have to make a deal with the devil then so be it. I will do what he wants, I'll make him a titan of a ship to conquer these seas and bring hell to the World Nobles!"

Damien still had some doubt, "You couldn't make it then, how can you make it now?"

Hammer stood up.

His eyes now shining bright in lost hope and maniacal. A pulse of pressure soon rippled out of the broken man in grey-coloured waves. The mad shipwright balled his fists so hard that it began to draw blood.

An insane grin spread across his face: "Because now I can put my life on the line for it!"

"..."

Damien and Shakky both felt the booming presence of the shipbuilder who had fallen from grace.

A few crows on the nearby dead trees had fallen to the ground, unconscious.

Shakky eventually nodded, "Very well then."

To Be Continued…

----------------------------------------------

Author's Corner.

Bit of world-building with the World Threat Index and the state of the New World, we like to see it.

Images: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q


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