Taste My Blood II

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Chapter 102: Taste My Blood II

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"Mmm? Hey Sanji! Is it like chicken? Is it a special type of crow chicken?" Well, their Captain seemed clueless.

The crow flapped its wings, jumping off the crow's nest to fly away towards the Island, much to the crew's surprise.

"Hoi! Come back! I don't want to eat you that much, I swear!!" The Straw hat kid yelled, but the crow didn't stop, so he took it upon himself to get some lunch, "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!!!"

"Luffy! Stop!" Someone in his crew tried to stop him, but it was too late.

The kid named Luffy was strange because his arm stretched far away from him like rubber. His arm stretched out to the point of reaching the crow and catching it, quite quickly at that.

His stretched arm retracted itself, looking normal again. He opened his hand to find out that didn't actually catch the crow, but merely a few feathers much to his confusion, "Where is the crow?!"

"I... Don't know?" But something was clear to the group. That was no ordinary crow.

Asuka Island isn't big, and it's certainly not popular, mostly to a certain variable in the Island that drove people away and terrorized those who can not leave.

Yovan found himself in the Island's town, its only town. There were a few villages around, but they were too small to be taken into consideration, especially since he wanted to visit a restaurant o contemplate a few things.

"Recommend me something, or you know what, get me everything," Yovan said as he took the biggest table for himself, choosing what he deemed the most popular restaurant on the Island.

"Y-yes!" The waiter gulped, eyeing the giant of a man, reaching almost nine feet in height. Everything about him spoke of someone that shouldn't be messed with, so the waiter was understandably nervous.

'Protagonists... The pillars of stories that would otherwise fall flat without them, in most cases at least. What will happen if I kill him?' It was merely curiosity and Yovan's spontaneous nature speaking.

So he brought out his pragmatic nature, 'Will he be a risk to my survival in the future? Likely, but does the value of getting rid of the risk outweigh the benefit of using him for greater threats?'

The Straw Hat pirates, Yovan never gave them many thoughts because they were pretty much inconsequential to him... Not their Captain though.

'No,' Yovan closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, 'I have to ask myself first, am I holding back just because of who they are? Was I holding back before?'

"No," The more he thought about it, the clearer it became. He never cared about their story because it was his story now, and it was a completely different one, one of survival.

'The desire for destruction,' Yovan let out a sigh, feeling a bit more relaxed, but he could feel another fire burning deep inside of him, burning bright.

He brought out his hand to hide his face, hiding the peculiar smile on his face, 'I'm a bit weird. This desire within me, to do something that shouldn't be done, way too whimsical and spontaneous.

I felt it many times before. It's a desire in all of us, to set a fire ablaze, to cause a bit of chaos, it seems sweet, but I can't, not when it could ruin the relationship between the Pantheon and the...'

His musing came to a halt as the food started to arrive, and only then did Yovan start to pay more attention to the people around him and the atmosphere of the town... It reeks of fear.

The fear wasn't overwhelming, but it was certainly there, but none in the restaurant spoke of what brought them that fear.

Yovan's sense of hearing was monstrous, so he would've certainly heard them. He can, in fact, hear every word spoken in the restaurant with clarity.

"Have you heard about a sword called the Seven-Star Sword?" That ended when a few individuals entered the restaurant.

They ordered some supplies before taking a seat, and waiting for lunch, "I read a few things about it long ago."

They were the Straw Hat pirates, or most of them anyway, and the ones talking were two gorgeous ladies, one with somewhat radiant orange hair while the other had smooth silky black hair.

Their Captain, on the other hand, was using his chair as a swing, drolling while waiting for food to arrive.

"It's said to be the most beautiful sword in all of the Grand Line, and rumored to be on Asuka Island! This Island!" The orange-haired lady excitedly explained, her eyes shimmering with greed.

"Hmm, I read something different about it," The black-haired lady said, "I read of the red moon, a terrible disaster occurring once every one hundred years.

To protect the island, the king was given three magical gems to use as a shield, and the Seven-Star Sword, an unbreakable sword, to use as a weapon. However, the sword would meet an ironic fate, as read in a prediction:

When the red moon shines, the sword will be imbued with great power. If the Seven Stars should fall to it, the world will be forever ruled by darkness."

"Three magical gems, huh?" Yovan murmured to himself, his one opened eye gleaming with a bright light, 'The three orbs.'

He stood up, leaving behind the majority of his food, and made his way outside, attracting the attention of some of the Straw Hat pirates.

His form was too special to be ignored. His golden hair. His golden eye. His tall majestic frame... His peculiar presence.

It especially brought the black-haired lady's attention. He seemed somewhat familliar, but she couldn't quite pinpoint the familiarity.

Yovan knows her quite well. He had met her before. In fact, he had even allowed her to get away with trying to manipulate him to betray Crocodile... Mostly because he wanted her to betray him.

He saw value in Crocodile losing, falling into the abyss only to be pulled back by him. You know, building trust and the such.

Indeed, it was Nico Robin whose expression turned strange, "This place is strange. First, a Three-legged crow that can just vanish, then someone like him... We should leave quickly."

"Mmbakc... mMm Ic,amn han,dle kheverytj,thing!!" Their Captain voiced his opinion while trying to swallow an entire chicken. He then pointed to Yovan's table, "Anlld He's RUuDE!! Wastiiimng Food!!"

Yovan not eating much seemed to have gotten on his nerve, or perhaps it was a blessing, something he realized as his eyes lit up. He took Yovan's table for himself, starting to devour the food still left on it.

"Umu, yes! We can easily handle him!" A man with blonde hair somewhat agreed with his Captain, seeming like he held a grudge against Yovan.

"He looked rich." The orange-haired lady agreed.

"Ugly." A blonde-haired man remarked, seeming pissed off for some reason.

"And..." a strange deer next to her pointed out. Well, he can't exactly be a normal deer considering he just spoke.

"And?" Nico said, "You know something, Chopper?"

"And familiar," Chopper cutely nodded, "I think I know him. I'm not sure since he looks a lot different, but he visited my home before... I think his name was Night?"

"Oh, Ok... Wait." The orange-haired lady gulped as she glanced at Robin, "N-no way, right?"

"I... I don't think so?" Robin frowned. She had met him before. She even talked to him for christ's sake, and she had certainly seen his face, and it was a skeleton!

She saw absolutely no correlation between that horrifying skeleton that she had once met and the majestic presence that just passed by them... Except for one, "The Crow."

It slowly but surely dawned upon them. Some of Yovan's capabilities are known throughout the world, pretty much public knowledge by now, an example of which would be his Zoan Devil Fruit, that of a crow.

"But but... T-the crow was different than what I had heard?" The orange-haired lady shook her head.

"Mmm, whmat's hwamkppening?" Their Captain, Luffy, asked with confusion, and Chopper shared similar doubts as he nodded.

"I told you about him before. The Stranger, the second person to ever escape the Impel Down! The person responsible for the destruction of Jaya Island!" Their doubts were somewhat answered by the orange-haired lady.

"But... Is Night the Stranger?" Chopper wondered, and so did most of the Straw Hats.

They seemed clueless. In fact, most pirates would find themselves speechless at the fact that someone doesn't know about him, or his appearance.

Sure, his appearance was only updated recently from its previously skeleton-looking form to his healthy form, but no knowledge of even his name would come as a surprise to anybody.

"Maybe, but we can't take the risk either way," Robin hastily stood up with a vigilance apparent on her face, "We have to leave! Right away!"

"But..."

"No buts! He... He... His bounty is 1.5 billion Beli!" And his dealings with Crocodile certainly weren't assuring.

The Straw Hats indeed listened and quickly made their way back to their ship... Only to find a member of their crew missing.

They naturally left someone behind to protect the ship, and in their case, they left two individuals, one of which vanished.

Thus they were in a predicament but with no choice in the matter. The kind of crew they were dictates that will certainly go back out there and find their friend despite the potential danger.