28 Awakening

Who's who was not interested in talking to that crafty old woman, Tsuru. He knew that the fight was over, and Lord Mark must be hungry.

This was his top priority. That was all he cared about.

"Lord Mark! You must be hungry after fighting for so long, so I brought you some food; it's steak, your favorite."

"Here, catch it!"

Mark stopped his beatdown of Sengoku and turned around. He quickly caught the steak as if it were a precious object.

His body was tired after using life return for such a long time; almost all of his stored nutrients were used up.

He was absurdly hungry right now. Who's who brought food at the best possible time.

As expected of his trusted subordinate!

*Chew*

Mark gave up beating up Sengoku; he ignored the Marine boss and sat down on the ground. His giant body soon started shrinking.

With each bite of food, his body was getting the nutrients it needed, and its energy was being replenished.

Sengoku might not have fought back against him, but Mark still learned a lot in this battle.

He had a better idea about his body's abilities and its energy efficiency.

This time, using life return, he figured out how to create a Zoan awakening-like state. In this state, he had quick regeneration, strong strength, and precise control over his body, just like an awakened zoan has.

The only problem was that this state was extremely energy intensive; he could not maintain his 'awakening' for too long.

*Crack*

While Mark was eating food without a care in the world, Sengoku climbed out of the hole he had been punched into.

Mark noticed the man climbing out and nodded to him.

"Thanks for the fight, Marshal. Although you never took me seriously and Miss Tsuru ran away mid-fight, I will be generous enough not to hold this against you guys."

"But remember, I am allowing it only this once, as I have learned a lot even with your below-average performance."

'Ahem'

Sengoku and Tsuru's eyes dodged; they felt embarrassed that Mark actually thanked them. They didn't keep their end of the deal, but they were helpless too.

They didn't want to hurt Mark!

"It's... quite alright, Saint Mark. I am glad that you are satisfied."

Sengoku spoke in a tired voice; his golden body had big fist marks on it everywhere, his metal body was bent out of shape as he was taking Mark's punches repeatedly.

Still, it wasn't a big problem for Sengoku; just like Luffy was made of rubber, Sengoku was made of gold, a notoriously soft metal.

His body easily bent back to its natural shape, smoothly transforming back to his regular human form.

'It's over, finally. I was beaten up so much because of those two bastards.'

This was a bad situation for Sengoku, and it was all because of those two bastards.

Sengoku knew that Smoker and Kujaku's actions deserved death; they would have died if this was any other celestial dragon. Even if Mark was different, someone had to take the blame.

Knowing the world government, Smoker and Kujaku would take all the blame and would be killed without question.

That's why he kept begging Mark before; he knew that their Marine life was obviously over, so he hoped Mark could intervene and save their lives at least.

'Saint Mark probably won't let those two die, but their lives will be in constant danger after this incident.'

'People will try to kill them to please Saint Mark; there are always people who want to please the celestial dragons.'

'Smoker and Kujaku might be assassinated by such people in the future.'

Sengoku was worried, but he didn't have a solution for this problem, and neither did Tsuru.

Sengoku was exhausted; by now, he had given up thinking of a solution. Hell, he might have given up entirely if this was any other marine, but this was his friend's granddaughter.

Tsuru, on the other hand, was thinking hard like never before; even if a bad future seemed obvious for her granddaughter, she was going to fight for a better one.

And she just had an idea—a plan using which both Kujaku and Smoker can survive—and the Marines can also build a good relationship with Saint Mark.

"Saint Mark, are you okay? You aren't hurt, right? That was a great fight!"

"I also noticed your transformation; did you eat the human fruit by any chance? Your state was like a zoan awakening."

Tsuru spoke gently, trying to seem like a caring grandmother; in reality, she was making small talk, so Mark puts his guard down, and she could start brainwashing Mark and convince him to take her granddaughter with him.

That's right, this was her plan; if people were going to try and kill Kujaku to please Mark, she might as well give Kujaku to Mark herself. Kujaku and Smoker were strong; they could be Mark's personal CP agents.

"Hmm?"

Mark looked up, yet he didn't speak. He was carefully observing Tsuru, and his sharp mind immediately understood what she was trying to do.

It wasn't difficult to guess. After all, he had created this whole situation himself, so that Smoker leaves the Marines and follows him.

Right now, Tsuru was thinking that she was manipulating Mark, but she didn't know that Mark was playing everyone from the very beginning.

'I got Smoker, nice! That Kujaku girl will probably follow along as well, whatever. she has some potential.'

Knowing that his plan had worked out, Mark finally gave Tsuru a bright smile, and he pointed towards his muscles.

"As you can see I am great, just a bit hungry. As for my abilities, I haven't eaten a devil fruit; it appears I am simply built for this; this is all natural."

Mark's words didn't get to Tsuru correctly, but she thought she knew what he meant.

His body was mutated, just like big Mom, but unlike her, he wasn't as strong. His mutation was a bit different from hers; it was much weaker, although it was powerful nonetheless.

Unlike big mom, Saint Mark's entire body was built in a balanced way; he was as strong as a garp in his base state.

And he had another power on top of that, a power she would like to call awakening; at least that's what that muscle mountain-like state looked like to her.

Meanwhile, Mark was observing Smoker and Kujaku with a smile.

'I'll have two powerful subordinates with them; I simply have to agree when Tsuru asks me to take them in.'

'She is getting desperate; she should ask me any minute now.'

Mark thought carelessly; he was so sure of Tsuru's mental state because he could feel her emotions. He was doing this using his observation haki.

That's right, when Mark transformed against Sengoku, all his senses had become stronger, and in this new hypersensitive state, he unlocked emotion-sensing observation haki. A kind of advanced observation haki that Otohime and Fujitora had.

This was a great thing for Mark; this was one of the main reasons why he didn't get angry at Sengoku and Tsuru. He had learned his own brand of advanced observation haki after all.

Emotion-sensing observation haki was on the same level as future sight; they were both advanced versions of observation haki uses, and both had incredible potential.

This was good enough; his plans went well; there were almost no losses; and the situation was bad enough that Smoker was forced to leave the Marines. A man like Smoker was hard to convince. Mark had to take a few drastic measures.

"Lord Mark, please listen to me; I have a suggestion."

"If you want to go on a journey, you can take my granddaughter and Smoker with you. They can be your bodyguards."

"I know they made a terrible mistake, so you can punish them as you see fit. But I believe they would be useful tools for you, my lord."

Tsuru finally couldn't help it and spoke up. She said everything in such a way that it seems like this was a punishment for Kujaku and Smoker. When in reality, she was trying to save them.

'And there it is, the offer; she couldn't help herself.'

Mark smiled. At last, he got it—his new crewmates. Next, he will roam around the world while hiding his true identity, just like Saint Saturn had suggested before.

He had already decided which group he wanted to join; he would be a pirate, a noble king of a destroyed kingdom who turned to piracy—a perfect cover story.