Chapter 76

Even Giolla had recovered enough to move around on her own, but she had taken quite the beating while trying to save the kids so she had to take it slow for now as her physique was not as robust as Doffy's, so she will be mostly resting for a month or two.

Doffy currently sported hundreds of greusome scars on his body, a testament to the torture he had withstood during his capture.

"Quick, little brother, set up the sea kings carcass over the flames. Let me grill it," Doffy said, already having gained some weight but still needing to completely recover. He had begun to understand Seimei Kikan (Life Return) from the information I had shared, and with much intervention, Doffy was on his way to mastering the technique completely. With the massive amounts of sea king meat that I continuously brought in, none of us would have to worry about food nor their recovery.

Our family had completely isolated itself from the world. I did not want to take any chances. Although I could run away carrying Doffy, I couldn't leave behind the rest of the family. So, isolation for the time being was the best choice until we could grow a bit stronger and the seas became more chaotic.

From my estimate, there was still a year's time until Roger surrendered to the Marines, and I needed to help my family grow strong within this year, especially Doffy and Issho. Even I had to hone my skills so that I could comfortably challenge admiral-level powerhouses. My current power level had just breached the initial stages of admiral level.

Doffy's biggest drawback all these years was a lack of a proper instructor. While I studied under Garp, my brother had to rely on the snippets of information that I had sent him over the years. According to Doffy's explanation, he had just about mid-level proficiency when it came to Armament haki, and his observation haki was about the same. The only praiseworthy thing was Doffy's uncanny harmony with his devil fruit powers. Despite only having the flame fruit for a few years, his mastery over the flame powers seemed pretty good.

As I set up the new sea king while discarding the old bones, Doffy manipulated his flames to grill the food. The tantalizing aroma of the food attracted quite a few wildlife, but the true powerhouses of this island remained in the core. I was currently using these small animals, which towered over ten meters, to train and temper Lucci and Gladius.

As Ishho kept a watchful eye on Lucci and Gladius during their training against the island's monsters, it was just Doffy and me by the fire. Despite Doffy's attempts to conceal it, I could sense that my brother was struggling internally, his emotions in disarray. He had yet to open up about what had transpired in the New World before his capture.

Unexpectedly, Doffy broke the silence with a question that caught me off guard. "Why did you choose to follow me, little brother?" His gaze was fixed on the dancing flames, and his thoughts were clouded with doubt and remorse. After the loss of our mother, Doffy had only come to accept Trebol and the others as family, and their fate must have weighed heavily on him.

"I know how the world sees me now, especially after the last three months," Doffy continued, his voice tinged with vulnerability. "I used to believe I still held the privilege of a dragon, but I've come to realize how naive I've been. You could have left me for dead and started a new life of your own. Why did you come for me, brother?"

"Do I need a reason, Doffy? You're my brother, and that's all that matters," I replied, feeling a surge of emotion. "Tell me, would you have come for me if you knew I was the one captured?" Without hesitation, Doffy nodded, acknowledging that he would have done everything in his power to save me if our roles were reversed.

As the crackling flames cast flickering shadows across Doffy's face, I could see the turmoil raging within him. His eyes, usually gleaming with confidence and defiance, now held a hint of vulnerability, a rawness that cut through the facade he so often wore. It was as if the firelight had illuminated the truth he had long tried to bury beneath layers of bravado.

"Doffy," I began softly, reaching out to him, "the world's perception of us doesn't define who we are. Yes, the last three months have been brutal, revealing the harsh reality of how we're viewed by those who hold power. But you are more than just a pawn in their game, more than the sum of their judgments."

"So what if they laugh at us now? We will ultimately have the last laugh. Remember, brother, maybe you might think that it is our own choice if we want to give up, but that is no longer an option for the both of us it's not just just about us anymore. It's the dream of everyone who sacrificed their lives to bring us here. We need to at least achieve our goals for their sake and it that means burning the world in its wake then so be it. So what if people call us evil or villains? Who isn't a villain, brother? Everyone is a villain in someone's story," I remarked while tearing a chunk of meat from the grilled sea king.

For a moment, there was silence between us, broken only by the sound of the flames devouring the wood. Then, slowly, almost imperceptibly, Doffy turned to meet my gaze. In his eyes, I saw a glimmer of hope, a spark of determination that had been overshadowed by doubt. With my voice I could feel that the conquerors haki of my brother which seemed to crack under doubt blazed again, it roared like the all consuming flame.

"Thank you, little brother," Doffy whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "For reminding me of who I am and of who we are." Then he started laughing while looking at the sky like a maniac as if the final shackle that held him back was finally released, his conquerors haki soared and even I felt a bit of a pressure from by brothers Haoshoku but I composed myself , meanwhile Issho who was helping the kids train also felt the pressure soaring through the Island " there is another little monster, sigh what have I got myself into " he chuckled, he had already made peace with how he ended up with a family that stood exact opposite to his morals, but then he realised that fate must have some grand plan to make him follow this family, and as he had already made his decision despite Ross giving him a way out, and as a man who believed in fate he would remain loyal to the end.

The next morning, we were already immersed in our new training session ." Issho san is going to play an very important part in our upcoming training," I explained. "Ross-kun, are you sure? Don't you think this is going a bit overboard?" Ishho couldn't help but ask. Standing before him was Doffy, wrapped in sea stone chains that I had taken away while I had rescued Doffy, sea stone was a rare resource so even back then I chose to take it back with me so that it could help us develop resistance, and this was the chain used to restrain restrain Doffy in Mary Geoise so the purity of the sea stone was pretty high. Doffy was completely pale now, influenced by the sea stone. He had an ugly expression when I told him that he looked like an sick flamingo.

Barely able to keep himself up because of the sea stone, Doffy nodded as Ishho used his gravity powers on him.

As Ishho exerted his gravity powers, Doffy's already weakened state became even more pronounced. His knees buckled, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he struggled against the overwhelming force pressing down on him. Despite his efforts, Doffy couldn't maintain his composure, his breathing becoming labored as he gritted his teeth against the pain.

Gladius and Lucci stood by the side, observing the intense training with a mixture of awe and apprehension. When I invited them to join, Gladius quickly shook his head, preferring to remain on the sidelines. However, Lucci's determination shone through as he stepped forward, his eyes filled with determination.

As Lucci approached, Ishho moved to decided to reduce the gravity pressure, but I intervened, allowing the full force of the pressure to bear down on the young boy as well . With a determined expression, Lucci pressed his hands against the ground, his body straining against the oppressive force.

Despite the overwhelming pressure, Lucci refused to give up. Gritting his teeth, he pushed against the ground with all his strength, each tiny movement a testament to his unwavering determination. His muscles trembled with exertion, but he remained steadfast in his resolve to overcome the challenge before him.

Watching Lucci's perseverance, I couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration. Despite the immense difficulty of the task, he refused to back down, demonstrating a resilience far beyond his years. With each struggle, he grew stronger, his spirit unyielding.

"Determination like that is rare, Lucci," I remarked, offering him words of encouragement. "Keep pushing, and you'll achieve greatness."

Turning to my brother, who was already groaning under the influence of the sea stone and gravity, I said, "Doffy, even little Lucci is standing strong. Don't tell me you're going to admit defeat in front of a kid. Invoke your flame powers; let me see how far you've come in all these years." My tone carried a mocking edge, knowing well that Doffy disliked comparisons and had pride. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself upright once more.

"You moron! Can't you see I'm wrapped in sea stone? Do you think everyone is an idiot like you? How am I supposed to use my flame powers while being influenced by the sea stone?" Doffy managed to yell despite the discomfort.

"And who told you that one cannot use their fruit powers under the influence of sea stone? It just means no one dared to explore such a possibility; it just means no one has found a way. But we wouldn't know until we tried. So stop complaining and invoke your flame powers, Doffy," I retorted. I already knew what I was asking of Doffy might not even be possible, even with my twisted soul I was influenced by the sea stone to a certain extent, but I was pushing Doffy to achieve something unprecedented .

I had two vague possible theories that might help someone achieve this feat of developing resistance to the sea stone to an unprecedented level, but in this mysterious world where ones will could achieve anything even my theory might be a possibility .The first theory that I had in mind was absolute mastery of haki, which seemed simple yet mysterious. If will can manifest itself into tangible forces, then there should be a way to hone haki to a level where it can help a devil fruit user ignore the weakness. However, this was too monumental a task as never before such a feat was recorded in the long history.

Even someone as strong as Whitebeard in his prime was not completely immune to the sea despite being called the strongest man in the world he was a landlubber, and his haki must have been top-notch. So the haki mastery required to achieve immunity must be way beyond the level that was achieved by these monsters.

The second theory was even more exaggerated and it involved gaining absolute control of the devil fruit itself. I believed there was a stage beyond awakening, and when a devil fruit user reaches such mastery, it might help mitigate the weakness inherent to the devil fruits, no one exactly knows where exactly these devil fruits come from and this was a mystery yet to be answered.

My enhanced resistance towards sea stone was an anomaly and by my estimate it could be explained because of me having two souls. So according to my second theory,This meant that there hasn't been anyone in this world since the advent of the devil fruits, who has truly mastered their devil fruits beyond the stage of awakening. Maybe those who ruled the world might have reached that stage with them being immortal and all.

Now I realized why mythical Zoans were so favored, even above Logia. Consuming the mythical Zoan alters one's physique to an inhuman level. Maybe it might even give them a certain degree of leeway under the influence of the sea, even without mastery. With that in mind, I turned back to teasing my brother, attempting to channel his anger to invoke his devil fruit powers.