13 Great Age of Pirates
(Kuzan POV)
I am watching as Pirate King Gold Roger is brought to the execution platform. Loguetown has never seen this many people at once. All of them are here to witness the death of such a famous figure. I am interested as well. Something tells me that it won't go as the World Government hopes for. Roger has something about him that causes such unforeseen circumstances.
I wanted to know why he would willingly turn himself in. Why now? But using Kenbonshoku Haki now, I can see why. I can sense his dwindling health. But even though his health seems bad, his strength is still the same. So why would he allow the World Government the satisfaction of killing him publicly? It made no sense. A last-second rescue won't happen, I and the rest of all the Marines will make sure of that.
I watch him walk up the stairs and then sit down with a thump, the smile never leaving his face.
"All right, let's get this over with quickly.", he says and then smiles again. The executioners do the useless turns of their blades that are supposed to mean something but I can't remember what. And then I got the same feeling I had when I left Karate Island and went to God Valley. My future sight activates and I search for danger ... but I don't find anything.
"Hey, Pirate King! Where did you hide all the treasure you found?! You got it, didn't you?! That legendary treasure! That great treasure!
One Piece!!", someone shouts from the crowd.
"Rahahahahahaha. My treasure?", Roger begins.
"All right! That's enough!", the two executioners scream and point their spears at Roger. But he doesn't care. My full attention is on the man at the moment and I can feel his will spreading through the place right now.
"If you want it, you can have it! Find it!", he continued and the two executioners pulled their blades back to pierce him.
"I left everything this world has to offer there!", Roger says and then the two blades pierce him.
Everything is silent for a moment and I can tell in this singular moment, when I look at Roger's smile ... that this is what he planned. He planned for this to happen. He planned on the curiosity of humans and their greed. He planned for someone to ask him about the One Piece and he planned to cause what will inevitably happen now ... he planned all of this.
"Ha ... haha ... hahaha ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA", I started to laugh ... hard. I was holding my stomach at the sheer unbelievability of the situation. This man was special indeed. Not only did he not fear death, but he also smiled when it embraced him and gave one final middle finger to the World Government. What a guy.
"WWHHHHOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAA"
All hell broke loose after those words. Everyone listening at that moment cheered. Not because he died, but because of what his words meant. I can see it. A new era has just started, thanks to Roger. Instead of culling the pirates, the World Government has increased the problems. We're going to be busy from now on. I can tell that the World Government will only use even more extreme measures in the future, in order to strike fear into the public.
What a moment to be part of. I don't regret it one bit. And no matter what happens in the future, I will be there to protect the innocents as far as it is possible for me.
.
.
(3rd Person POV)
The Great Age of Pirates has begun and Kuzan was busy during that time. Hundreds of new Pirate crews were established and began to cause havoc in the world. At first, they believed that they could just enter the Grand Line and look for the One Piece, but the dangerous weather and the powerful Marines and rivalling PIrates quickly stopped that trend. So the pirates were located in the four blues.
This was problematic, as the weaker Marines who were located in the four blues, couldn't possibly handle such an increase in pirates. For that reason, the World Government created a new 'order' in the world. And to use their words was to fight fire with fire and stop the fast increase in pirates.
The reason they did this, was because of the so-called Emperors. Edward Newgate, AKA Whitebeard, Kaidou the Beast and Charlotte Linlin, AKA Big Mom became known as the three Emperors of the sea. To combat this title, the World Government created 'the Seven Warlords of the Sea' also called the Shichibukai. A selection of seven incredibly powerful and notorious pirates allied to the World Government. Collectively, they constituted one of the Three Great Powers that kept the world in balance ... or they were supposed to.
Kuzan hated that system and surprisingly so did Sakazuki and most of the Marines. The fact that pirates were to be granted immunity to most of their crimes, was something that didn't sit right for them.
The purpose of the Seven Warlords was to have the pirates deal with other pirates. They were also a great symbol of the government's strength. In return for their alliance with the World Government, every member's bounty was frozen, and they had significantly more leeway to commit crimes.
.
One year after Roger's execution and shortly after the establishment of the Shichibukai, Kuzan was tasked with personally inviting a particularly powerful young pirate who was rising to fame at the moment, Dracule Mihawk.
Mihawk became famous even before the start of the Great Age of Pirates. While the full details of his rise as a pirate and swordsman are still a mystery, it is known that Mihawk was betrayed by the Marines at some point and held a grudge towards them as a result, leading to his moniker of "Marine Hunter" as he presumably killed several of them.
Kuzan cared about this, only so far as it would tell him what he had to expect when dealing with Mihawk. This incident apparently fed into Mihawk's loneliness and general distrust of people. It was said that this betrayal of the Marines was what made Mihawk choose to sail alone in the world and challenge increasingly powerful opponents. It was said that he held the title of 'Strongest Swordsman in the World'.
Kuzan knew that had Roger still been alive, Mihawk would not dare to hold that title. Apparently, the strongest swordsman didn't necessarily mean the most skilled one. And Roger with his powerful Haki could flatten the 20 year young Dracule Mihawk. Heck even Kuzan himself could easily do that. And it seems ... that that's what would happen.
.
.
(Kuzan POV)
I was sailing towards a place where I was told Dracule Mihawk would be. The young man already had amassed a giant bounty of almost 4 billion Berries. And considering his title of 'Marine Hunter', it did make sense. But I wasn't worried in the slightest. I was interested in meeting Mihawk only if I could fight him and capture him. Now though, I had to invite him to the Shichibukai and basically grant him immunity from persecution.
I found Mihawk on an island some distance away from Hachinosu, that lawless Pirate island. He was inside an inn, enjoying some wine when I entered the bar. We locked eyes with each other and I sat down in front of him. I motioned for the waiter to bring me some food and then waited there. Neither of us said anything. We were both waiting for the other to speak. I was thinking about what I should eat for dinner when I got back when Mihawk decided to break the silence.
"You are the Freezing Hunter, Vice-Admiral Kuzan."
"Indeed."
"What do you want here?", he asks me and I notice for the first time that he is very tense. I guess my presence has made him tense and he was waiting for what I might do. Funny, I didn't even realise that my presence had changed so much.
"I am here for you of course.", I say and that makes him even more tense. He is ready for a fight at the smallest sign of attack and I only smile at him. I didn't want to put him on edge but it was funny, considering I despised my current work as a Vice-Admiral. We didn't talk and when my food came, I dug in. It wasn't bad and I enjoyed it.
As I was eating leisurely, Mihawk didn't relax one bit. If anything, he was getting even more tense.
"What do you want with me?", he asks me with venom in his voice.
"Hm? Oh, you're still here. Right, I am here to invite you to the Shichibukai. Here.", I say and take a wrinkled document out of my suit and handed it to him. I could see the twitching in his face but didn't bother with it. I continued eating while he was reading the document. When he was finished, he looked at me and I looked at him as well.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Yes or no?"
"I have a condition.", he says and I immediately shake my head.
"No conditions. Either yes, or no. There is no in-between."
"I want to challenge you. I heard that you use a sword, you make out of ice to fight. I want to challenge you to a swordfight.", he says.
"A swordfight. Why would I agree to that?"
"I would sign the papers after we fought."
"Is that so? ... Well then, alright. But not here, let's go somewhere else.", I say and then finish my food.
.
We faced each other at the beach on an island that was close by. I don't want to damage the surroundings too much. And from what I gathered, he is a very skilled swordsman and fighter in general. The bounty is proof of that fact.
"Alright then. Let's start. But just so you know. I am not aiming to become the strongest swordsman in the world, because I fight with my fists and devil fruit as much as I do with a sword.", I tell him. And that is true. I do use a sword, which I make out of ice, but I also use spears, especially my fists. Garp and I like to duke it out with our fists when he has the time. I should go find Whitebeard to fight him and have a good time.
Mihawk unsheathes his giant sword, Yoru. He takes it into both his hands and then swings it. The swing is powerful and a sword slash forms shooting towards me. For the sake of the fight, I also use a sword. I create one, that automatically coats with Haki and swing at the incoming slash. I also create a sword slash and our attacks meet in the middle.
*SHHIIING*
*BOOOOM*
He repeats his action and shoots another slash my way. I do the same. Again they meet in the middle. I have to say that he is very skilled with a sword. More so than I am. I am apparently 6 years older than he is. He is currently 20 years old. Very young for one with such a high bounty.
I move towards him after our third clash. With each swing, he increases the power of his slashes and I retaliate in kind. And then we are very close and our blades meet for the first time. I coat my blade with the advanced version of both Busoshoku and Haoshoku Haki. Something which I can tell, he is not yet able to do.
He has advanced Busoshoku Haki but hasn't grasped the advanced Haoshoku technique, Infusion. His strength is impressive for his age but he can't hold a candle to mine. It becomes apparent that I am the stronger fighter and after a while of back and forth, I decide to end the fight and cut him with a powerful slash, making his body shoot back and fall into the sea.
