89 Chapter 2

After reading over his new skills, Markus focused on his Observation Haki and immediately noticed the difference. Before he could sense the energy and movement of people, along with their emotions. Now, he could get a very vague picture of their bodies. It was kind of like looking at them through dark blurry glass giving him only a vague impression of their shape. The skill said it would improve as his control improved so he had something to look forward to.

He wanted to test out his new abilities right away, who wouldn't? An iron ingot from his inventory appeared in his hand before he tossed it on the ground. He lifted his hand and focused on using his Gravity Press. A dark purple, almost black, cylinder of energy appeared around the ingot. With a quiet sound, the ingot was crushed into the soft sand and created a small crater.

Markus rubbed his chin and looked at the results. It wasn't super impressive but... it was only level one so it would get stronger over time. He switched to Gravity Crush, the big brother of Gravity Press, and used it with an extra two hundred Willpower. There was a low rumbling sound as another dark cylinder of power appeared around the ingot and hit it with a crushing force. The ground shook a little as the sand was compressed into sandstone while the ingot was deformed.

He canceled the skill and moved to walk down into the much larger crater he created. After collecting the ingot, he examined the damage to it, "Impressive."

Since he already had the ingot in his hand, he decided to try out the Gravity Lift skill. As soon as he used it, the ingot began to rise from his hand and float into the air. He felt a connection between himself and the ingot that gave him a feeling of how far the ingot had risen. The ingot rose for a while under his command before he cut the connection. As could be expected, normal gravity took over and the ingot began to fall. Seeing it fall gave him an idea. As it fell, he used Gravity Press on it. The ingot immediately picked up speed and crashed into the desert.

The impact sent up a cloud of sand and dust while forming a rather large crater from the impact. Markus whistled at the results. The poor ingot looked like it had been through hell at this point. He tossed it back into his inventory. Now he just wanted to try and experiment with the power on its own, much like he did with the Goro Goro no Mi.

He started small and pulled a bullet out of his inventory. He closed his eyes to focus a little more on the new energy within his body. Once he felt it properly, he focused it on the bullet with the intention to slowly raise it into the air. When he opened his eyes the bullet was gently floating above his palm. By using the gravity manipulation with his intent, he was able to move the bullet around however he willed. It reminded him of one of the best superpowers, Telekinesis!

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You have gained the skill "Gyro-Telekinesis."

Gyro-Telekinesis

[Active, Level 1, 0.0% Experience]

Gyro-Telekinesis isn't all that different from the Telekinesis that most people are aware of. Instead of using your mind to manipulate objects, you instead manipulate the gravity fields around the object. The method may be different but the end result is the same. When used outside of combat, this skill has no cost.

+5% Damage

Cost: 5 Willpower per second

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The moment he got the skill, his control over the floating bullet became more refined. It moved however he wished it to move. It was as easy as breathing to him. He juggled the bullet for a while before catching it and storing it back inside his inventory. He felt rather excited by the prospects his new power granted him. There was just one more thing he needed to do before calling it a night.

He used his Gryo-Telekinesis on himself! It didn't feel all that different as he manipulated gravity to lift himself into the air. He felt so... free! Markus started laughing as he moved through the air with ease. He couldn't stop enjoying the feeling of flying so he flew back into the city all the way to the hotel. Fortunately, it was late at night so there weren't very many people out and no one noticed him.

The following morning, he went to the docks and saw Issho off. Issho seemed to be in a pretty good mood, he even thanked Markus for the Ito Ito no Mi. It seemed like he liked it more than the Zushi Zushi no Mi. He'd already developed a technique to create a three-dimensional spiderweb around himself that let him sense his surroundings in even greater detail than he could before. He still needed to practice with it but he was certain he would become much stronger soon.

After seeing Issho off, Markus looked in the direction of the capital. His body slowly lifted into the air garnering gasps of surprise from the people around him. He didn't mind it though and started to gain altitude and speed. He could reach his destination near instantly if he used his Lightning Speed but it didn't have the same feeling of freedom. Aside from that, he wasn't in a rush.

He lazily flew through the sky for a few hours until he could see Alubarna. As he drew closer, he noticed someone else in the air and closing on him rapidly. He knew who it was so he came to a stop with the intention of showing he had no hostility. A short time later the much faster flyer came to a stop in front of him. Markus smiled at the birdman in front of him, "Long time no see Pell!"

Pell, one of the two head guards of the kingdom, looked surprised, "Markus?! What are you doing here? No, before that, how did you get here so fast?"

Markus laughed, "A lot has happened since we last met. I needed to take a little break so I came here. Since I was in the area, I thought I should meet up with Vivi and say hi."

Pell smiled and nodded in understanding. Just by the fact that Markus was flying, he could see things had changed quite a bit. Pell turned in the air, "Follow me."

Pell led Markus to the entrance of the palace where they both landed. Pell shifted back to his human form, "The princess should be inside still."

While the two of them walked through the halls, Markus received many greetings from various guards and other people working in the palace that recognized him. Anyone who didn't know him was quickly informed leading to looks of adoration. Markus didn't really enjoy being looked at like that, but he played his part as a 'hero' and didn't ruin their impression of him.

Pell led him straight to the throne room where King Nefertari and Princess Vivi were excitedly waiting. It seemed the news of his arrival had traveled through the palace at lightspeed. As soon as he walked in, Vivi ran across the room and jumped to wrap her arms around his neck in a tight hug, "Markus! What a wonderful surprise! But, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the others?"

Markus returned Vivi's hug and smiled, "Well, some stuff happened so we're all taking a break for a couple of years. They're all on different islands training to get stronger."

"But you're all so strong already! You beat Crocodile!"

He slowly shook his head, "They're not strong enough for the second half of the Grand Line yet. So, I decided to take a break and relax. This was the first place I thought of so I came here. I'm really glad I did."

Vivi smiled happily while King Nefertari stood from his throne and walked over, "It's good to see you again. Vivi has been following the exploits of your crew this entire time." He leaned in to whisper, not so subtly, "She even keeps all of your wanted posters on her wall."

Vivi blushed a little and gently pushed her father away, "Stop trying to embarrass me!" Though she perked up a bit, "Though, I do have your newest bounty posters..."

Markus perked up, "Newest? How old?"

"Just a day or two. They came out after what happened at Marineford..." She shook her head and tried to forget about that, "You and Luffy both had increases to your bounties."

"Oh? What are they now?"

Vivi smiled brightly, "Well, Luffy's went up to 425,000,000. You... Your bounty went up a crazy amount! 4,500,000,000 What did you do?!"

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Your class has changed to Yonko Candidate (4.5b)

Your strength, infamy, and bounty have given you the right to fight for a place among the Yonko. You are without a doubt one of the worst enemies of the World Government. They will do everything in their power to stop you from now on. Expect no mercy.

System Function: Territory Control, has been unlocked.

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Markus started to sweat a bit. His bounty was monstrous! He knew his actions since Sabaody would make it jump but... Holy crap! With his bounty that high, every person in the world would do their best to put an end to his life! He was willing to bet every Belly he had that the Celestial Dragons had more to do with the huge increase than his actions at Marineford.

Markus was pulled out of his thoughts by Vivi shaking him. Markus shook his head to clear it, "Sorry, I was shocked. I just helped Whitebeard out a bit."

Vivi tilted her head to the side, "Is that really all?"

Markus looked up at the ceiling, "Well... Maybe I made it extra hard for the Marines to kill Whitebeard and helped Rescue Ace."

Vivian smiled brightly, "I'm glad you all were able to save Ace. He seemed like a really good brother to Luffy."

Markus nodded, "He is, but he's also a bit of a hothead. If he keeps getting in trouble as he has been, then he'll end up dead before long. I tried to give him a warning but I don't know if it will stick."

Vivi looked concerned. She was a caring woman who didn't want anyone to die, no matter what side they were on. Markus pat her on the head, "Don't worry about it. Ace has good people around him that can keep him in check."

Vivi nodded and brightened up, "Since you're here, let's have lunch! When Terracotta heard you were coming, she went into a cooking frenzy!"

Markus laughed, "She knows I'm not Luffy right? I eat like a normal human!"

Vivi laughed, "Yes, she knows but she's still very excited!" She grabbed his hand and tugged on it, "Come on, let's all have lunch together. Chaka will join us too."

Markus nodded and obediently let Vivi drag him toward the dining room. As they drew closer, delicious scents came wafting out of the room. When they stepped inside, he saw the table piled with a small mountain of food. He grimaced, "I'm really not like Luffy!"

Terracotta, Igaram's wife slash doppelganger, laughed at his complaint, "Eat! Eat as much as you can! I won't be satisfied if you don't!"

Markus gave a resigned laugh, "I'll do my best but you know you guys don't have to treat me like this, right?"

King Nefertari shook his head, "No matter how much time passes, you and your friends will always be the people that saved our country. You will always be welcome here and given the best we can give!"

Markus sighed and just gave in. He wasn't going to stay long anyway so they would only have a couple of chances to spoil him like this. He decided to accept their gratitude even though he didn't really feel like he deserved it. He picked a seat to sit at while Vivi immediately sat down next to him. He glanced over at her and received a bright smile from her.

He decided to give them a bit of a show. Food started to float off of the serving plates and onto everyone's dining plates. He used his Gyro-Telekinesis to serve them all. His actions drew ooohs and ahhhh's from the observers. Vivi even clapped while giving a radiant smile.

Once everyone's plate was filled with food, Vivi glanced at Markus, "From the moniker the Marines gave you, 'Thunder Beast,' I thought your power would have something to do with thunder."

Markus lifted his hand and generated a few small sparks of electricity at the tip of his finger, "It does. Moving stuff is just a different application of my power."

Everyone looked at the sparks with interest until Markus canceled them. After a simple toast welcoming him back to the island, they all began to eat. Markus couldn't help noticing how much quieter the meal was without Luffy and the others around to liven things up. Still, he acted like a good guest and told stories of their exploits since they left Alabasta, including their new crew members. Needless to say, hearing about a living skeleton caused a bit of shock to everyone.

There was happiness and laughter during the dinner but to Markus, it felt a bit awkward. He was used to boisterous noises, shouting, even a bit of playful violence. A calm dinner where everyone used knives and forks was just plain weird to him, and it shouldn't have been. He was actually kind of glad when it was over. As they sat around the table relaxing after a delicious meal, Markus asked, "Do you have the newspapers from the last few days?"

He'd been spending so much time relaxing, shopping, and hanging out with Issho that he hadn't really paid any attention to the news. He wanted to get caught up on current events and see how things were progressing. Though he knew things would start to get bad soon enough. Honestly, the Marines were idiots for wanting to kill Whitebeard.

Vivi had one of the servants deliver the newspapers to them in the dining room. Markus started reading through them. There had been several emergency releases about the events on Marineford. The Marines were still trying to say it was a 'victory' for them. That was laughable. Their base was destroyed, thousands of Marines were dead, even Akainu was listed as 'missing in action,' and they still tried to claim it was a victory. They didn't even kill Whitebeard themselves! Blackbeard and his crew did it!

Whitebeard's death was the only thing they had to show for their victory. Thanks to Markus's intervention, around 90% of Whitebeard's crew had survived the war, including all of the commanders. Then there were things that didn't get written in the news, things like the mass breakout from Impel Down. There wasn't a single mention of it which meant the government was covering it up. That was beyond stupid. Now civilians would have no idea and pirates who had been in jail for years or decades and wouldn't be recognized, could go out and terrorize with impunity for a while.

Once he finished reading the news, Markus sighed and set the papers to the side, "This is bad."

Everyone in the room looked at Markus with concern so he elaborated, "The government is suppressing important news just to save some face. During the war, Blackbeard led his pirates into Impel Down and released prisoners from the lowest level. Not just that but hundreds of other prisoners from various levels were released at the same time. With the government not saying anything, those escaped prisoners are free to move around as they please until they attack somewhere. It's like they've been given a pardon."

"Is that true?!"

"How could they do that?"

"Isn't it impossible to escape that prison?"

"What should we do?!"

Markus waved his hand to calm everyone down, "I can't really tell you what to do, but I can promise you that this is the truth. Pirates really did escape Impel Down and are now free. It gets worse though."

Vivi frowned, "How can it get worse?"

Marus sighed and leaned back in his chair, "I don't know if you're aware or not but the Yonko, like Whitebeard, perform a very important function in the second half of the Grand Line. Each member of the Yonko has territory. In exchange for money, supplies, or whatever else, they protect the island from other pirates. It's kind of like the tribute system of the Celestial Dragons only more effective and at least you know the pirate is a scumbag who doesn't pretend to be something else."

He took a sip of water before continuing, "With Whitebeard dead, his territory is now up for grabs. That means that every island he was protecting from other pirates is now fair game. All of the innocent people living on those islands are now in danger of being raided indiscriminately. All killing Whitebeard did was cause the Marines more issues and put innocent people's lives in danger."

Vivi looked crestfallen, "Is there nothing we can do?"

Markus rubbed his chin in thought, "Well. I suppose I can offer my help to you."

Vivi looked excited, "Does that mean you'll stay here?"

Markus shook his head, "No, I can do something else though. Can you have someone fetch a few sheets of paper?"

Vivi nodded and a while later a small stack of paper was placed in front of him. He started patting each paper with his palm to mark them with his tag. He might not be able to tell individual tags from each other but he could easily feel a large pile of them. Everyone watched him curiously until he finished. He picked up a piece of paper and held it out for them to see. His tag was invisible to the naked eye so all they saw was a blank piece of paper.

"Alright, I've put a special invisible mark on each of these sheets of paper. I suggest writing or drawing something on them so they don't get lost. If Alabasta is ever in danger, rip one apart and I will know immediately and make my way here as soon as I can. From now on, Alabasta is under my protection. Feel free to use my name to dissuade any pirate from giving you trouble."

King Nefertari accepted the stack of papers, "Thank you, Markus. With this, we can feel at ease."

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You have gained your first territory. Please look at the Territory Control section for further information.

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