[17] Trouble in Paradise
[2040 words]
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*Ding Ding*
The cabin door creaked open, ringing the bells at the top.
The 20-feet tall doors were quite the sight.
It was the first time Damien had seen such an 'inclusive' door design in the One Piece world, well, to an extent.
.
Damien made his way through to a dimly-lit bar, under the noisy interior.
Damien scanned the audience and it didn't take long to see where he needed to be.
It wasn't just the ginormous 19-foot tall Kaido who was gulping down alcohol, or the tiny Shakky who was sitting beside him leaving quite the physical contrast.
It was instead the other man who sat at the same table.
He was seated but it wasn't hard to see that he was even larger than the 17-year-old Kaido!
He had loose, grey trousers, an open green shirt that showcased his muscular upper chest, and a durag over his long, blond hair.
The giant pirate boasted a glorious moustache in the shape of a wide-U shape.
An equally large glaive leaned by his table as he drank some saké.
Damien paused for a second as his mind instantly clicked on a name:
'Edward Newgate – the future World's Strongest Man, aka Whitebeard!'
[His Image (in Discord)]
.
The pause only lasted a second before he continued to the empty seat at the same table.
"You're here, Damien-chan," Shakky smiled.
Whitebeard leaned forward a little as he lowered his alcohol barrel.
Narrowing his eyes, he said, "You're the kid who made all that noise just a while ago, Rocks really sees me as a babysitter for the brats that interest him."
Damien looked at the giant in front of him. Even though he said some annoyed words, his smirk carried another meaning.
The young pirate simply shrugged, "The Marines knew of our meetup here, trouble was bound to appear anyway."
*Tap*
The saké cup in the overpowering man slammed on the table.
"..."
An eerie silence broke out that even the nearby pirates began to sweat.
And yet something unexpected followed:
"Gurarara!"
The nearly 22-foot-tall pirate broke out into a rambunctious laugh.
"You're right, I'm sure Sengoku's golden ass was waiting for us anyways, I wish I could see his face when he sees what you did!"
.
Shakky sighed at the mess and shook her head, "Boys will be boys."
"You got all the Eternal Ore?"
The eyes were soon diverted to Damien who was sipping on some alcohol.
He nodded while waving a red pouch around, "All here."
Shakky gave a small smile and then gestured to the others, "We should hurry to Fishman Island, starting a war right under Marineford is too risky."
Newgate slowly nodded after stopping his laugh, "With the mess at Grove 1 we won't have too much trouble sneaking away."
Shakky nodded in agreement, "Mhm, the ship is coated and ready, let's go."
Kaido just gave out a loud scoff, "I'd rather take the chance to kill the Admiral right now!"
"Maybe when you can take a punch from me and not get knocked out," Newgate responded as the others stood up to leave.
Kaido grumbled but accepted the reason, ready to leave.
Damien and Shakky also made their way out to the readied ship.
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[Grove 1]
"Kong-san will not be happy with this mess," a rather tall and bulky man muttered.
He was a man draped with the usual Marine coat, rocking a black suit underneath.
He had a black afro and moustache paired with black circular glasses.
A marine Rear Admiral saluted the prestigious marine: "Admiral Sengoku, the Sabaody Forces are at your disposal, would you like us to scour the Archipelago to find the perpetrators? According to sources they have dispersed all over."
Naturally, he talked about the freed prisoners who mauled the World Nobles.
[Sengoku Image (in Discord)]
.
Sengoku shook his head, "There were four Celestial Dragons but we only found three, where is the final one?"
The marine reporting had no answer.
"We have no clue, it seems Saint Wilhelm disappeared, m-maybe kidnapped for ransom by a pirate?"
"Did you try their Vivre Card?" the Admiral questioned.
The marine in front of him looked to the ground in shame.
"What is it?" Sengoku said with a turbulent feeling.
"A-Admiral, the Celestial Dragons didn't have Vivre Cards made…"
Sengoku blinked and broke out in tension, "What?! How could that happen!?"
The Rear Admiral shook in his socks but answered immediately, "N-No one has killed a Noble in a long time… they've grown used to not needing such precautions!"
Sengoku sighed defeatedly, "...Then let's hope the Saint was indeed kidnapped and not anything worse."
"Until then secure the Archipelago, no one leaves without my notice."
"Roger that!"
…
The Admiral was about to leave to report but another marine soon came running over.
"A-Admiral!" he exclaimed between bated breaths, "we located the Rocks Pirates, their ship is coated and readying to leave!"
Sengoku turned his attention immediately to the tired marine.
"According to some unconfirmed rumour, the prisoners were freed by the 'Sin Incarnate' who was also spotted on the departing ship," the marine reported.
.
Sengoku, who is also known as the 'Resourceful General', naturally had some thoughts with this information.
"If he was responsible, then he may have kidnapped the Celestial Dragons… Rocks has a certain delight in harming the Nobles, there's a chance the Saint is with them."
The Rear Admiral then gave his thoughts, "Should we encircle them?"
"How troublesome," Sengoku massaged his forehead in indecision. "Keep your eyes on them, and notify the marine unit at Fishman Island to maintain surveillance at their arrival, I already have three dead Celestial Dragons, I can't risk another dead!"
The Rear Admiral saluted the order and began to notify the marines under him.
"And where's that fool?" Sengoku questioned, though he soon felt a bad feeling.
An answer soon echoed in his ears.
"He's what!?"
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[Edge of Grove 50]
A coated ship was moving towards an open area.
Coating was a process in which a ship was coated with special resin from the Yarukiman Mangroves, enabling it to sail underwater and survive the crushing depths of the ocean, such as at the bottom of the Red Line, and therefore, to Fishman Island.
Kaido was playing with the steering wheel, earning a scolding from Shakky who was seemingly doing everything.
Damien sat at the lookout tower and soon felt his Observation Haki spike like crazy.
Something was coming, the smell of a predator rushing towards its prey.
.
"We have company!"
Newgate, who was at the main deck, had already readied his weapon.
"Back up, brat. I'll handle this one!"
His heavy glaive thudded onto the ground as if he was readying himself.
"Get ready to dive the ship."
At that, he had jumped.
The entire ship sank a few meters from Whitebeard's hop as he arched into the sky.
Thud!
The large stature of the pirate whistled through the air and landed on solid ground with a boom.
.
"That wild dog, no care for backup or his surroundings," Whitebeard muttered at the sight of the black shadow rushing at him.
It was a man in a simple white shirt and blue pants, galloping through the mangroves.
He was clean-shaven with short black hair.
A wide grin plastered to his face as the man raised his right hand.
*Fwwm!* A pristine-black coat of pure Haki was wrapped around, erupting with great power.
Whitebeard raised his glaive as its bladed edge too was coated in Haki.
"Bwahahaha! Looks like the party's over here!"
The carefree man broke out into a boisterous laugh as he drove his fist in a primal motion toward the towering Whitebeard.
Newgate just scoffed in irritation and shot his weapon at the coming fist, not withholding even an ounce of strength.
And thus the two collided.
BOOOM!
Damien who was watching from nearly a hundred meters away couldn't help but rebalance himself as the ship began to move chaotically from the shockwaves.
The ground under the collision crumpled and was eradicated as the cracks and rumbles spread throughout the Grove and began to shake Sabaody as a whole!
The air blew like tornadoes in all directions, wrecking nearby buildings and even tree life as the two continued their clash.
The bright archipelago was dulled out, seemingly turning gray.
...
"WORORO! What monstrous power!"
Damien could only concur as he could only watch, 'They aren't even at their peak and a casual hello can do this…'
Boom!
Another secondary explosion resounded as the two men separated from their clash.
Newgate and his adversary stood opposite to each other, nearly 20 meters in between.
"Gurarara! Garp, you wild dog!"
The man in the simple clothes continued his smile as he cracked his knuckles.
Even with all that power from Whitebeard, not a single cut remained on his hand.
[Garp Image (in Discord)]
.
"Newgate, I can go all day!"
But his fantasies came to an end quite fast.
"Garp! You bastard, I'm in charge here and I'm ordering you to stand down!" a roar exploded through the Grove.
The cry of anger came from nearly half a kilometer away as another large marine made his way over.
Garp picked his nose as if ignoring the yell.
"Heh, Newgate, you heard anything there? I think my ears are a little blocked today."
"..."
"I know you heard me, Garp! Stand down!"
The figure of the Admiral landed on the wrecked land.
"The priority is the Celestial Dragon, you know that!"
Garp harrumphed in disdain, "Heh, I say you feed them to the Sea Kings, at least that way they'd have some use."
Sengoku grew livid, steam almost sizzled off his angered face.
The two began to argue back and forth as Whitebeard was left as a third wheel.
He saw the mess and returned to the ship.
"I guess one of the Dragons made it out, let's leave before another Admiral shows up."
Shakky concurred as the diving procedure began and the coating expanded.
…
"Oye, Sengoku, you really want to let them go? I thought the higher-ups wanted those two brats on the ship there."
Sengoku, who had calmed down, also grew solemn, "In the case the Saint was taken by them, it's best to save them stealthy rather than sinking their ship. I'll ask for CP-0 to take the lead."
Garp just shrugged, "Whatever, just give me my monthly rice crackers and we'll call it a day."
The Vice Admiral then walked away, probably to some spa nearby.
Sengoku was left sighing again and again, "I hope it all works out, it's been over a decade since a Celestial Dragon was killed, let alone three, I just hope it doesn't become four."
He then reached in for his snail and ordered:
"All troops! Work in full force to find news on that last Saint, no one goes off work until he is found!"
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[On the Ship]
"Shakky-nee, I take it our shipbuilder is somewhere in the New World, is that our next destination?"
The woman, who was puffing a cigarette, nodded.
"He's someone who'll put together the ship the captain wants, since we now have the wood and metal ready, we just need to get it to him."
Damien slowly nodded.
Whitebeard then chimed in, "Show me the ore Rocks was so fond of."
Damien nodded and swiped the red pouch in his hand.
*Thwonk*
A large piece of ore soon fell on the deck with a thud.
Whitebeard pulled out a piece of the crimson ore and examined it.
"Nothing I've seen before, hopefully, it's worth the effort."
Shakky nodded from the side as she puffed out another cloud of smoke, "Well, we completed our mission regardless."
She then changed the subject: "I wonder where that Celestial Dragon is that they're so concerned about."
Damien, who had begun to dine on some snacks, raised his hand, "Oh that, I fed him to the Sea Kings. After all, it's our responsibility to keep the cycle of life running."
"..."
"Gurarara!"
"WORORORO!"
"Ufufufu!"
"Rahahaha!"
Four types of odd laughs bellowed within the confines of the bubble as they heard the answer that could lead to the destruction of entire kingdoms and civilizations.
To Be Continued…
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Author's Corner.
Images: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q