18 Chapter 14: Rising

1 year ago.

Island of Monsters, West Blue.

"So, Ulysses. You've learned everything I have to offer. To grow even further, you will have to experience the world for yourself," an old giant advised the young man in front of him.

"York, are you sure I've learned everything?" the young man asked as he butchered a hog corpse.

"I'm sure," York nodded his head.

"In fact, all you need is a bit of experience with Haki fighters and you will become an unbeatable opponent for any pirate in the world," he took a jar of booze from his belt and gulped it down.

"Unbeatable? Are you sure?" the young man stopped in the middle of his butchering.

"Yes, I'm sure. It's just experience, Ulysses. Though you may have become exceptionally strong fighting against these wild beasts, they are far from humans. In mind, and skill," York affirmed his earlier statement.

"Is that so..." Ulysses, obviously the young man, finished butchering the hog and started a fire with the tree wood.

He fashioned some of the wood into pikes and stabbed it into the parts of meat he picked out. Creating a sort of roast, he hanged the meat over the fire, slowly cooking it. Ulysses sat on the ground, and gestured for Old Man York to give him a jar of booze.

Old Man York looked at Ulysses, then turned towards his belt of booze jars, then looked back at Ulysses. With great reluctance, he tossed over the huge jar of booze, which Ulysses smoothly caught with one hand.

"You told me there's three types of Haki. The first two types, Armament Haki, Observation Haki, I've already gotten a good hold of. But for the last one, Conqueror's Haki, what do I exactly do with it?" Ulysses asked as he poured a bit of booze into his mouth.

"Conqueror's Haki, isn't something you get from hard work or training, Ulysses. You already have it, but your mastery of it is a bit lacking to say," York spoke as he sipped a bit of booze.

"The only way to get it to the next level is through expression of will!" he continued.

"Expression of will?" Ulysses was confused at York's words.

"Expression of will! Your Conqueror's Haki is without a concept. You need a firm mind, a firm grasp on your goals, and a desire to dominate all who stand in your way!" York lectured.

"And what does it do exactly?" Ulysses moved the pikes to cook the sides evenly.

"It bends the world to your will! Your desires will decide how things will go, and nobody else will be able to stop you! Of course, out of the all the few people in the world that have Conqueror's Haki, the number of people able to get it to the next level are far less," York nodded his head in appreciation as he smelt the pig being roasted.

"Bend the world to your will?" Ulysses laughed at his words.

Back to present day.

Midpoint Island, West Blue.

Stormy clouds loomed over the entire island. A torrent of rain swept over the area. In the forest, Ulysses sat on the branch of a tree, with a umbrella over his head. Besides him was Mizuki, sharing the protection of the umbrella with him.

"Geez~ you're so weird, Ulysses," Mizuki puffed her cheeks.

"Sorry," Ulysses stared forward at the pouring rain.

"Why do you even want to be outside in a scenario like this?" Mizuki grumbled as she asked.

"It's very peaceful," Ulysses commented.

"Peaceful?! How... forget it," Mizuki sighed.

She had been with Ulysses long enough to understand that his behavior was completely out of the ordinary. His bloodlust against pirates was insane, he carried around one of the 12 Supreme Grade Swords while also claiming that swordsmanship was just a hobby, and he also confused the heck out of her with his talks about 'willpower'.

"Here, let me hold the umbrella, no need to exert yourself," Ulysses lent out his hand.

"I mean, if you really want to, ok~" Mizuki handed over the umbrella and scooted closer on the large branch.

"Mizuki, I'm really curious about something," Ulysses spoke up.

"What is it?" she wondered.

"Do you know what Nico Robin did as a child to get a bounty like 80,000,000?" he was confused about why the World Government placed such high importance upon her.

"Not exactly, but she was from Ohara. I think that explains it all," Mizuki sighed.

"Ohara?" Ulysses naturally had no idea what Ohara was.

"Ohara, an island, the people were wiped out in a Buster Call for trying to get the Ancient Weapons!" Mizuki emphasized the words 'Ancient Weapons'.

"Wiped out? Ancient Weapons?" Ulysses was even more confused.

"Yes, the World Government apparently got all of them, except for Nico Robin. For Ancient Weapons, they're the three weapons that can destroy the world! I don't know what they are exactly myself though," Mizuki explained.

"Got all of them? They killed all of them?" Ulysses frowned.

"Yes," Mizuki nodded.

Ulysses's brows furrowed as he contemplated the idea of wiping out an entire island. It was nonsense to think that every single one of them were all conspiring, and to kill them all! How outrageous was the World Government?!

"You talked about a Buster Call? What is that?"

"I don't really know much about a Buster Call. But it's where the Marines wipe out an entire island with a fleet of warships," Mizuki answered.

"How cruel," Ulysses commented coldly.

"Yeah," Mizuki agreed.

The rain still poured down, and the two rested on the branch. Ulysses closed his eyes and immersed himself in the area with his Haki, while Mizuki laid out and listened to the sound of the rain and thunder.

Earlier, at Yellow Bull's warehouse. The marines surrounded the area with their guns up, they arrived vigilantly, and prepared themselves for the worst. The leading officer, who had his sword out, gestured for the marines to storm in.

"YahHH!" the marines gave a warcry as they rushed in.

However, what greeted them were no armed pirates, no crowd of devious grins, but corpses laid out everywhere. The smell was unbearable for some of the newer Marines, who stepped out and soaked in the fresh air.

The leading marine lowered his sword as he looked all around. The corpses were all cleanly beheaded by a swordsman, and Yellow Bull's beaten, decapitated body was resting on one of the walls. Who could've done such a thing?

"What the fuck..." the Marine Captain muttered.

Assuming that the spy they planted was telling the truth. One man casually walked in, and utterly wiped out Yellow Bull and his crew. For Yellow Bull, a pirate with a considerable bounty, along with his entire crew to be killed by one man...

The Marine Captain gauged the perpetrator to be at Rear-Admiral level. He would have to inform Marine HQ about a potential threat looming over the area.

Suddenly, the Marine Captain remembered the reports coming from the south. Numerous pirates had been killed, some brutally, but all quick, and the area of the deaths was slowly heading north. It wouldn't be a surprise if this was the same person that was killing the pirates in the south.

"Leader, what do we do?..." one of the Marines behind him asked.

"Clean up the area, we'll have to report this to Marine HQ. I'll get a hold of the spy. We'll return back to base after disposing of the bodies," the Marine Captain shot out orders as he picked up Yellow Bull's head with a look of disgust.

The marines began to carry the bodies and stack them up on carts. They would dump all the bodies into the sea, and the sea animals would take care of the rest. The Marine Captain inspected the warehouse, as they cleaned up.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed a covered-up snail figure. The Marine Captain walked forward and took off the cover.

"Den Den Mushi!" he exclaimed.

The snail was currently sleeping, and the Marine Captain picked up the snail. Half an hour later, the Marines were done cleaning up the corpses, though blood was still all over the place. The Marine Captain gestured for the group to leave, and they headed back to the Marine base.

The Marine Captain went up to the highest floor and took his seat. He turned the numbers on the snail's shell and the snail woke up.

"Purupurupuru..." the snail's voice rang out in the room.

"Purupurupuru..."

The Marine Captain leaned forward on his chair, waiting for the person on the other side to pick up.

"Purupurupuru..."

"Purupurupuru..."

After a few moments passed.

"Katchak!"

The snail suddenly changed expressions. Its eyes were sharp, and it had a slight frown.

"Marine Captain of Midpoint Island, West Blue... what is it?" a rough voice came from the snail, evidently different from before.

"Rear-Admiral Superset, Yellow Bull and his crew were wiped out earlier this morning by a single person," the Marine Captain picked up the circular speaking device and spoke.

"And?..." Rear-Admiral Superset, the man on the other side, showed no concern.

"I just thought that you might want to know, just in case..." the Marine Captain tried to explain himself.

"A small pirate and his crew gets killed, and you call me? Don't waste my time," the snail said before suddenly falling asleep.

The Marine Captain gulped, he got a bad feeling from the scene. Yellow Bull and his crew was killed far too easily. For someone with a Devil Fruit, it seemed like he was toyed with. Every corpse had a look of utter fear, and Yellow Bull was no different.

It wasn't a simple matter like the Rear-Admiral thought.

Back to Ulysses, he slowly opened his eyes. His vision for a split second was of his home. But it was quickly replaced with the scenery of the trees in the rain. He looked over and saw Mizuki napping, his arm was still holding up the umbrella, so neither of the two were wet.

He sighed as he reminisced about his childhood, before shaking his head. He would have his revenge soon, and he would savor it completely. A chilling glint appeared in his blue eyes. His training over the course of nearly a decade was all for one purpose.

The rain continued, and Mizuki still napped. Ulysses stared forward blankly, rubbing his right thumb and index finger together.

Lightning struck down and thunder rang out. Hardly anyone was outside, mostly everyone was inside their homes, enjoying the beautiful atmosphere.

Mizuki jolted as she heard the thunder boom in her ears. She almost slipped but Ulysses's figure suddenly blinked closer as he caught her before she could.

"Nghh~ why can't we just enter a good hotel, and stay there?" she yawned and groaned.

"If you want to do it, go for it. This is a place I can relax," Ulysses responded nonchalantly as he took a breath of the trees.

"Then I have nobody to talk to," she grumbled.

"Sorry then," Ulysses gave a light smile.

"Mizuki, what will you do after we deal with the Tiger Pirates?" a question came up in Ulysses's mind.

"I guess I'd go back home," Mizuki replied as she stretched her limbs.

"What would you do?" she asked back.

"I guess I'd settle down somewhere, and earn an honest living off the land," Ulysses thought for a bit.

"You'd become a farmer? With your strength?" Mizuki chuckled.

"What do you reckon I become then?" Ulysses wondered.

"Honestly, with your strength... you could work in the Grand Line for big figures, earn a decent amount, and come back and live luxuriously," Mizuki gave him her thoughts.

"Work in the Grand Line? For pirates?" Ulysses's brows furrowed.

"No, no, no, silly~ Pirates aren't the only ones in the Grand Line y'know, lots of people go there because for the vast amounts of natural resources," Mizuki quickly corrected him.

"Hmm. I might then," Ulysses nodded after clearing the misunderstanding.

"Seriously, what's a guy like you doing with farming?" Mizuki was curious.

"I used to farm with my parents," Ulysses reminisced as he replied.

"Oh... sorry," Mizuki quickly apologized.

"It's no big deal," Ulysses shrugged.

Out of the blue, a loud noise came from below. Ulysses and Mizuki both looked down and spotted two grown men holding down a teenage girl. The girl struggled and one of the men took out a knife, bringing it to her face.

"Shhh... shhh..." he warned as he 'gently' traced the knife on her face.

"S-stop..." the woman's face was horrified.

Ulysses looked down, and lamented inside. Midpoint Island seemed like a wonderful place, but no matter where you went, there would always be disgusting animals. He carefully slashed his sword in the air, and send invisible waves towards the two men.

As the men took off their clothes, a line appeared, going from one side of their waist, to another.

"What the fu-" one of the men was confused, but quickly realized that their upper body was slipping.

Ulysses looked away, but Mizuki's eyes were stuck. She had hardly seen how Ulysses acted so close, her eyes revealed a bit of horror as she saw the organs of the men spill out. The girl on the ground was no different, and went stiff at the sight.

After a few moments, she recovered, and ran into the streets. Her clothes were bloody, and the streets were empty. The rain and the blood formed a horrifying appearance, but it seemed that the lady was going to the Marine base!

"Ulysses, have I ever told you that your methods are horrifying?" Mizuki took a few deep breaths.

"Not that I remember," Ulysses replied, uncaring.

"Your methods are horrifying."

"They are deserving of such methods."

The rain was beginning to falter, and it seemed that the storm would be over in the next half hour. Ulysses extended his arm, and let a few droplets of water fall on him. The cool feeling was soothing, and Ulysses enjoyed it.

The atmosphere reminded him of the Island of Monsters and his time with York.