The Great Age of Pirates

John stands on the beach In a low horse stance, plunging his hands deep into the sand repeatedly. To increase his finger and leg strength to practice the rokushiki techniques of the marines he decided to start as early as possible. Every time he stabs his hands deep into the sand he tries to grab as much sand as possible while twisting if forearms in an alternating direction to increase forearm strength. Ignoring the burning pain running up his arm he watches the waves crash against the shore and listen to people all over the island.

"Did you hear Shiki attacked Marineford yesterday?"

"Yea! Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Marine Hero Garp easily brought him down!"

"Of course!! The Marines are justice! First comes Roger now Shiki, is Whitebeard next?!?"

All over the island, the same conversation is happening. If he could see their faces he's sure they would be full of smiles.

"The old legends are falling one after the other, only Whitebeard holds the bastion now. The great age of pirates will soon begin and the Yonko will rise."

Sweat pours from his body as he continues to churn the sand with his hands.

"The Shichibukai, the seven warlords of the sea will soon begin their journey and I'm here playing with sand."

Pulling his hands from the sand he collapses on his back. His chest heaves as he stares at the clouds. "I bet even the kidnaped children and adopted children of Cipher Pol don't start training this early."

Looking down he can't help but smile "Should I get clothes first or continue running around in my birthday suit?"

As his breathing evens out he floats back to his feet and continues to train.

"One of the four Yonko John." His mouth twitches as he thinks about it. "Shichibukai John." Shaking his head he begins to frown.

"Pirate King John." Taking a deep breath he grabs the sand harder and faster.

"John is the name of my past life, and I need a new one for this one." Mulling it over for a moment he thinks of different possibilities.

"I'm the first mutant, so Alpha?" After saying it out loud he quickly shakes his head.

His chubby cheeks puff as he thinks of something. Suddenly his eyes shine as a name pops into his head.

"I shall take the name of the God King Gilgamesh, the King of Heros." A smile forms on his face as the name sinks in. "John died nine months ago, only Gilgamesh stands here now."

As if something finally clicked, his small back seems a bit broader and stands a little straighter than before as newfound vigor seeps into his very bones.

The days go by and the day of Rogers death finally arrives. standing on the beach the air itself seems heavy, almost as if the sea itself is mourning.

Closing his eyes he listens to the radio broadcast of the Den Den Mushi of the people at port. The heavy footsteps of the pirate king echo throughout the speakers as he climbs the stairs.

"Any last words?" The voice of the Marine sounds softly.

"Can you take these off? It's chafing me." The raspy voice of the pirate king answers the Marine.

"I can't do that!"

"Why would I run away now?"

Listening to the sound of Roger and the Marine bickering Gilgamesh can't help but smile.

"Hmmm, that's a little saddening" The sound of heavy footsteps continue for a brief moment followed by a loud bang and the rattling of chains.

"Well, go ahead and finish it."

The sound of metal rubbing fills the speakers

"Hey! Pirate King! What did you do with your treasure!" A random man yells in the crowd.

"It's somewhere on the grand line, isn't it? You have it, don't you? The greatest treasure in the world!"

"You insolent! hold your tongue!!" The Marine yells with all his might.

"Your one special treasure!"

"ONE PIECE!!!"

Silence fills the broadcast as everyone holds their breaths.

"Mhmhmhmh Hahahahahahaha! My treasure?"

"All right! That's enough!" The Marines begin to panic as the Pirate King speaks.

"If you want it I'll let you have it!"

"Go look for it!"

"I left it all at that place!"

"EXECUTE!" The marine yells at the top of his lungs to cut off the Pirate King's words.

The sound goes quiet all of a sudden.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

"WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

The crowd erupts in cheers and the transmission is cut abruptly.

Opening his eyes Gilgamesh takes a deep breath. "Things are going to become extremely dangerous from now on." Pulling his hands from the sand he jumps into the air and flies towards his base camp in the scrap yard.

Landing in front of the igloo he walks inside towards a basin of water. Looking at his chubby face, light green eyes, and stringy turquoise hair he can't help being excited about his potential. Splashing water on his body and hair he washes off the sweat and sand.

"It's been a month since I started strength training, I'll be a year old soon and I need to speed things up."

Walking back outside he looks at the iron sand surrounding the igloo. Waving his hand causes a sand cloud to surround his body completely.

Zzzzt electricity begins to crackle as his entire body Elementalizes. The iron sand becomes superheated and bonds together. More sand is added as the molten metal travels around his body and takes shape. Metal rings wrap around each of his toes, ankles, shins, his lower thighs, and around his waist. On his upper body a ring forms on each of his fingers, wrists, and a chain around his neck.

As all the iron accessories are formed he makes them as dense as possible. Each ring on his fingers and toes weigh 1 pound each, the rings around his ankles and wrists are 10 pounds each, and the ones around his shins and thighs are 15 pounds each.

Adding on the 20 pound rings around his waist and neck the total increased weight on his body is 160 pounds.

Trying to move is nearly impossible for now so he cuts the weight with his EM control to adjust first.

With the added weight every step and every movement of the fingers are a form of training. Moving around the scrap yard he finds an old rag and tucks it under the ring around his waist, turning it into a loincloth.

Increasing his exercise intensity he continues to pour sweat and blood to increase his strength and endurance. Every day for the next two months he trains his body, mutant gene, and devil fruits. As winter comes and the temperature drops he realized heat and cold no longer affect his body, or these temperatures can't affect his plasma body so he trained without worry.

Checking on Baby 5 he realized her destiny has not changed because of him. Including himself, Baby 1-3 have already been dumped based on the conversations he's heard.

He thought about saving them, but taking care of a less than one-year-old will hinder him for now.

Giving up on training Observation Haki as he has no one to help him and no idea how to start Armament Haki he can only focus on what he can do, and just like that the rest of the year passed by.

"Finally a year old." Looking at the wall of iron sand in front of him he raises his hand in front of him, taking up an open-handed fighting stance.

"Shigan!" Suddenly his right index finger stabs out like a spear and penetrates the sand up to his finger joint before his finger bends. His face warps in pain as he proceeds to stab with every finger on his left and right hand.

As his fingers turn red from the pain he proceeds to do squat thrust and lunges. By the time his legs turn to jelly, he moves towards a small table lined with an entire roasted boar. Last month a few teeth finally came in, allowing him to eat meat and drastically increase his training due to the increased recovery time.

"I know Logia Devil Fruits lose a lot of their advantages versus strong opponents, so I need to strengthen myself faster." Biting into the leg of a boar he can't help but frown. "Right now all my strength comes from my abilities, but the body is a foundation. If I meet someone my abilities can't beat all I can do is run!"

Dropping the leg of meat he stands in front of the iron wall again "1 million Volts! Shigan Blitz!"

Lightning clads his rights index finger as it shoots towards the iron wall. Like a hot knife into butter, his finger slides easily into the wall. Electricity discharges from the point of impact to the rest of the wall and the area around his finger become molten iron from the heat generated.

Pulling out his finger he can't help but shake his head. "To much power is a curse, why practice the basics to get stronger slowly if I can already go beyond the basics with ease. It's too easy to get drunk on this power."

Waving his hand the solidified iron is pulled from the sand wall and new iron sand replaces it. Throwing the iron into a pile of similar iron sheets with finger holes he takes up his stance once more.

"Shigan"