68 Jumping On Board

Issho used his gravity abilities as he jumped up from the ground. When he finally landed on his feet. He turned his head towards Mark's position even though he couldn't really see him.

"Is this how you treat your elders?" Issho asked in a steady tone.

"My elders? Seniority doesn't have a place in this great age of piracy." Mark laughed with a grin on his smile.

"Let this old man teach you a lesson on seniority," Issho said slowly as he drew his sword and slashed towards Mark.

Mark gave the old man a gleeful smile without moving away from the incoming slash.

"Swish!"

The slash went straight through Mark's body. Lightning began to howl a bit from his body.

"Lightning, logia?" Issho thought.

The slash didn't just stop after going straight through Mark's body, it actually slashed the entire gambling den into two parts.

"What power." The Z pirate leader thought frightfully with cold sweat running down his back. The Z pirates all lay on the ground motionless, they tried to stay as still as possible.

"Are you paying for the damages, old man?" Mark asked with a smile on his face when he saw the entire gambling den separated into two parts. What an amazing power!

"I will take full responsibility for my actions," Ishho answered calmy after hearing Mark's question. He was quite stunned when he noticed Mark actually using two kinds of devil fruits, but he still managed to keep his calm as he focused on defeating Mark.

"You are a quite strong kid, why don't you disband your pirate crew and join the marines, do something good in the world," Issho suggested as he took a fighting stance. While sheathing his sword slowly.

"Marines? And why would I do that?" Mark's responded mockingly with a sneer on his face.

"Because of divine justice," Issho calmy answered as he pulled his sword slowly out of its sheath.

"Hahaha" Mark immediately laughed when he heard Issho's words.

"Is there something funny about what I said?" Issho questioned silently when he heard Mark's laugh.

"The love of justice is, in most men, nothing more than the fear of suffering injustice" Mark calmy answered as darkness began to pour out of his body as if it was dark smoke.

".." Issho didn't know how to respond so instead he answered with his actions as he slashed his sword towards Mark in an incredibly fast speed which couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

Mark covered his hand in Busoshoku Haki as he defended the slash coming towards him.

"Cling!"

A metallic sound could be heard as the slash had been defended by Mark's hand. Mark didn't standstill as he ran over to Issho and attacked him with a punch.

The two went back and forth as the exchanged some moves. Issho was pushed back a couple of times but he never backed down as he kept fighting Mark.

After getting bored of exchanging punches and kicks for some time already, Mark decided to spice things up a bit, he took a step back as his body figure dissipated as the darkness began to consume the entire gambling den.

"Black world." A calm voice vibrated through the gambling den.

Issho pushed his observation Haki to the max as he scanned the entire building. He couldn't find any trace of Mark which stunned him tremendously.

"Hiding from an old blind man, your something else, Kid." Issho tried to make Mark step out from his hiding place. As he couldn't really locate his position.

"Observation Haki won't work against me Old man, This is the power of awakened darkness." A tranquil voice entered Issho's ears, which made him stiff for a second.

Issho didn't panic as he slashed towards the floor and the used gravity powers to lift the floor which gathered the wood under his feet and he began to raise himself towards the roof using gravity powers, he used the wood floors as balance. Issho didn't stop there as he slashed the roof apart and tried to escape by flying towards the sky.

"Escape?" Mark suddenly appeared as he started towards the roof where Issho tried to escape.

"Stay behind! Weren't you going to teach me a lesson about justice?" Mark said with an ironical tone.

A dark figure could be seen glued to Issho's back as he fell down to the ground while losing his balance.

"What is this?" Issho commented as he lost his devil fruit ability. He was horrified! His gravity powers suddenly couldn't be used, this both scared and shocked him. His miserable figure could be seen laying on the floor twitching a bit.

"This is the power of darkness, no devil fruits abilities work against it, and you friend depend too much on your devil fruit," Mark said slowly as he walked over to the laying down Issho while reaching a helping hand towards him. The darkness powers which was trying to consume Issho from the inside disappeared.

Issho was terrified when the dark powers kept eating something from the inside of his body, he didn't know what was being eaten from his body, but it obviously had something to do with his devil fruit.

When Issho saw Mark reaching his hand towards him using his observation Haki he immediately grabbed it he pulled himself up from the ground.

"What do you say you join my crew old man, I'm in need of a swordsman," Mark asked with a sincere smile on his face.

"I only believe in justice, I can't become pirate," Issho answered slowly while sheathing his sword.

"Justice? You keep talking as if only the marines can provide justice in this world." Mark said while scoffing at Issho.

"Are you saying you can help me bring some justice to this world. I've blinded myself because of all the injustices and cruelty I've seen in this world." Issho said calmly with a tranquil and recalling face.

"I'm not going to lie to you and fill your head with rubbish, I'm not some righteous saint. If you join my crew you can do whatever you want even if it means saving the entire world, my crew or should I say our crew would be standing behind you." Mark said sincerely as he patted Issho's shoulder.

"..." Issho didn't respond to Mark's as he kept quiet while considering his options. His original plan was to join the marines as he believed that they were the best option for him to help save the world of its wickedness. The only problem with joining the Marines was If he was obligated to start from the bottom and work his way up which he didn't want, this could take years.

"You like to gamble don't you old man?" Mark said as he pressed on when he noticed his difficult face.

"I do," Issho answered calmly with a happy smile on his face. He really did enjoy gambling, he couldn't even keep his smile away when he heard the question that's how much he loved gambling.

"Life is a gamble. There are no sureties. If you want something badly, you'd have to trust your heart and your instincts and then take a leap of faith." Mark said in a convincing way.

"Will you take a leap of faith with me?" Mark asked sincerely again while he looked at Issho's eyes which were blinded by Issho himself.

Issho's believe in justice were a bit twisted, one minute he talked about saving the world and the next moment he was ready to gamble his life away.

"Alright, kid! I will try to take this so-called leap of faith." Issho said slowly as he accepted Mark's offer with a smile on his old wrinkled face.

"Hahaha! Welcome on board." Mark laughed happily when he heard Issho agreeing to actually join his crew. This was a huge matter! This man had the power of an admiral! His pirate forces power level just skyrocketed by huge amounts.

"Are you ready to meet your new crew members?" Mark said with a smile on his face.

"..." Issho smiled friendly without commenting on Mark's question.

Mark didn't take any offense of Issho actions as he placed both his hands behind his back and then strolled towards the exit of the gambling den.