[41] The Tipping Point

[2100 words]

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"Devil Fruit Extraction Theory."

Such a topic was considered taboo, but naturally, an Overlord didn't care. Therefore, Damien could only accept all of Enigma's hard work and make it his own to explore.

"Enigma, I wonder if you ever thought your research would fall into my hands."

Damien was about to turn the page but felt someone's presence approaching. 

A few seconds later, he glanced to the side and saw a rather small and rotund man. He had a beak-like nose, big lips, and black sideburns. The co-founder of the Big Mom Pirates: Streusen.

[A/N: Streusen Image (in Discord)]

The man dressed like a musketeer glanced at Damien and cleared his throat. "Kukukuku, young pirate, dessert has been served, Linlin awaits your presence."

"I'll be right there," Damien replied.

…

[Few Days Later]

A news graced the seas via the World News Agency.

A shocking event that resulted in the fall of an Overlord under the hands of some monster rookies. The upset of order came less than a year after the fall of Borealis, now bringing the New World down to a single ruler, a sole Overlord. 

Alas, the Government had 'no choice' but to increase the reward for the raiders, which was sent out with the news:

-----< WANTED >-----

< ZENORA⋅INDRA >

< 'Evil Omen' >

< 𝔅 366,600,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

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Shown to be Damien's one and only subordinate. A resolute swordsman of deep loyalty. 

The news warned the people to stray from the pirate, as his appearance could be considered the 'Evil Omen' to the arrival of the Sin Incarnate.

The caption to the bounty even gave a straightforward, though odd detail: "Zenora Indra's bodily markings are particularly similar to those of the Warborn."

It was not much, but enough to make the critical readers curious.

-----< WANTED >-----

< KAIDO >

< 'Hundred-Beast' >

< 𝔅 861,110,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

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There wasn't much to add to the monstrous Kaido. His name has been prevalent since his apprenticeship with the Rocks Pirates. 

A weapon of destruction, ever-growing in strength and power.

-----< WANTED >-----

< EINAR⋅D⋅DAMIEN >

< 'Sin Incarnate' >

< 𝔅 1,487,600,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

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The words in the paper depicted the masterful attack at the command of the newest addition to the Rocks Pirate Fleet—Einar D. Damien. 

The rather detailed caption went on to highlight the 'evil' of Damien, who let out uncontrolled destruction upon the mindless ones. The ones who had no choice but to be puppeteered by Enigma. 

The Sin Incarnate came true to his epithet, uncaringly obliterating the pitiful civilians-turned-pirates, killing tens of thousands of them without batting an eye.

Fortunately, after their departure, the nearby marines swiftly arrived, saved the surviving people and brought them to safety at G-1. 

Such a meritorious act of bravery; truly heroic!

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[Fleet Admiral's Office, Marineford]

A loud sigh resounded from the grand office.

Kong sat in his seat, a newly finished desk before him. 

It was evident that he had a knack for destroying desks in his anger, forcing his attendants to keep a large stock of replacements.

"These brats," he muttered, massaging his temples. "They can't let me relax for even a single moment."

Kong's eyes were sleepy, bags hanging from them.

"Puru," "Puru," "Puru."

The transponder snail that was by his side suddenly rang. 

Kong squinted his eyes; a call right after the upset of order would naturally be bad.

"Katcha~!"

The snail took on the human appearance of a man with golden hair and a beard style like a mane alongside a battle-scarred appearance, resembling that of a lion!

"Kong, it's me."

The words alone left a frown on the marine. "Xerxes, what do you want?"

"The Five Elders have deemed the constant disruption from the Rocks Pirates to be a great threat to the authority of the World Government," the snail replied. "You have yet to deliver any positive news."

Kong's eyes sharpened to the point of becoming that of a wild beast.

The fury leaked out of his mouth along his words, "The intel from Cipher Pol is far from useful, perhaps if you did your work properly then the Rocks Pirates would not have grown to such levels!"

The anger of the Fleet Admiral did not seem to impress the man on the line.

"Do not get impatient with me, Kong. Don't forget, both you and I are equal in rank and authority."

Kong let out a growl, calming himself down.

"..." A pause took place until the snail once again spoke up.

"You wanted more news on the recent rookie making waves? We found traces of the bounty hunter he came in contact with near the core of Paradise."

The voice continued, "Though it's nothing concrete, It may grant you the chance to weed out the Sin Incarnate."

"Katcha~!" without waiting for a reply, the snail hung up and went to sleep.

.

Kong let out a soft sigh, taking in the final ounce of information.

His gaze shifted to the bounty posters at his desk, particularly, the highest of the three in reward.

He then reached out to the transponder snail one more, this time dialling a number.

The call soon connected: "This is Admiral Sengoku."

"Sengoku, report your status."

The snail replied posthaste, "We've reached Encephala Island as planned. I brought Tsuru with me as asked."

Kong nodded, satisfied. 

"Is her power working on them?"

A strong response came from the snail: "Yes. Tsuru's Wash-Wash fruit has the power to wash away the evil in one's soul."

"She has been 'washing' the tens of thousands of Mindless Ones who were left unconscious. By the looks of it, we should be able to recruit a good few ten thousand or so of them."

Kong gave a rare smile.

"Good. With the rise of the Rocks Pirates, we can take as much help as possible."

"On top of that, it seems that Sol, the final Overlord, is scheming something big. I'll have Basara control the situation for now."

However, the atmosphere turned a little odd as Sengoku's voice grew unsure.

"There is something else, Kong-san. We confirmed the death of Enigma and the destruction of his crew, but we cannot locate his corpse nor recover any of his treasure, especially his research notes."

Kong pondered for a moment. An annoyed look took over. "Those notes are priceless; turn the island upside down if you have to!"

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[Big Mom's Ship]

"Stop relying on your physical senses so much." 

It was Damien. He whizzed through the air and landed a solid smack onto the dome of a younger yet taller boy. 

Bam!

A red bump grew on the magenta-coloured hair, causing the boy to reel in pain. 

"Observation Haki is a sense of its own, beyond your eyes and ears. Even a blind man can become all-seeing with high enough mastery," Damien instructed. 

"You want to see more? First, you must know what it's like being unable to see; unable to sense."

He wrapped up Katakuri's face with a cloth and resumed the training. 

…

Damien was a little bored. 

If anything, Katakuri became a rather fun vessel for him to unload years' worth of deathly training onto. It was nice to see others go through the hell he went through. 

Though the Katakuri's drive was quite impressive. 

'Every time he wants to quit, he finds some anchor to bring his mind back to the task and push through,' Damien thought. 

In the middle of his thought process, the Sin Incarnate slashed a branch at the boy, smacking his shoulders and back every so often from unpredictable angles. 

Damien went through with the familiar motion, though this time the distinct thwack sound did not erupt. 

He glanced down and saw Katakuri twisting his body sideways, fully dodging the branch. 

"Oh? You're beginning to see something, don't lose it now!"

With that, he upped the ante and increased his speed and power per slash. 

*Thwack!*

…

[A While Later]

"Furl the sails!"

The chess soldiers scrambled over the main deck, all busy in their tasks. Some hoisted up the sails, some readied the anchor, while the others secured up the goods. 

Damien calmly gazed at the horizon and the slowly appearing island. 

The familiar skull-shaped mountain. "Home sweet home…"

The nearby pirates had their thoughts. 

"Damien-sama seems glad to return to such a blood-ridden island. As expected of a Division Commander." Many nodded at the words, gazing at Damien with a bright light of piracy.

Though his next words left them stumped. 

"…oh how I wish to sink this filthy island to the bottom of the sea." 

Damien sighed, walking to the very front, leaving behind a frozen group of pirates.

…

"It stinks even more, looks like the news of Enigma's death catalyzed the pirate recruitment," Damien commented as he walked down the ship ramp to step on the bloodied soil of Hachinosu.

He had disappeared from the ship before Linlin could 'encourage' him further to donate his seed to her cause.

"Hmm?"

The Sin Incarnate squinted his eyes as he felt the gaze of tens of thousands of vermin.

A month ago there was greed and aggression aimed at him, but now there was respect. Though naturally with some hidden aggression rooted in killing Damien and taking his colossal bounty.

The pirates cleared the way through the bustling streets as Damien walked on toward Skull Rock.

On the way there, he felt a different gaze upon him, attracting Damien's eyes.

He looked to the island's far end and saw a giant man ready to set sail on a large ship. It was Whitebeard.

The towering man gave the younger pirate a grin to congratulate his return, then returned to his journey out to sea.

.

"One of you, tell me what happened while I was gone," Damien strung along a recruit.

The man stuttered at the grasp of Damien, his eyes shaking in fright.

"D-Damien-sama, I'll catch you up to it now!" the man said. "While you were gone, Captain Rocks sent out Captain John and Silver Axe to attack nearby islands and recover goods."

"And Whitebeard?"

The man nodded vehemently while answering, "Uhm, he was sent to rob the Heavenly Tribute of a New World Kingdom!"

Damien threw the pirate to the side like a sack of potatoes, pondering.

'Looks like Rocks is letting his ambition out now with two Overlords dead. Seems like the entire New World will soon be under his cold, dead hands.'

Other than that, Damien felt the pirates were oddly scared of him… When did he become some boogie monster?

What Damien didn't know was that he had officially been placed on the List of Avoidance. Said list detailed a few people of grave danger that recruits were advised against annoying. Specifically, they were:

1. Kaido when he's drunk.

2. Damien when he's walking expressionlessly.

3. Big Mom when she's hungry.

4. Shiki when he shares his thoughts about taking over the New World.

5. Whitebeard when he talks about family.

6. Rocks.

…

[Skull Rock]

"Xahaha! Looks like you didn't let me down, little monster."

Damien gazed up to see the menacing captain, shrouded in the cloak of darkness under the decrepit room. The stench of death assaulted the young pirate's nose as his captain's words echoed in his ears.

Damien gave out a low sigh as he replied, "You were right, his overreliance on his Devil Fruit was his downfall."

Rocks just gave out a deep hum at the words.

"I've sent a lot of pirates out to start ravaging the New World, it's about time I usher in a new era…"

"An era that belongs in my hands!"

Damien felt the powerful waves of Conqueror's Haki blast onto his body, all the while the broken room creaked in its wake.

"The final Overlord, Sol, bears the name of D., I hope he can put up a better fight," Rocks grumbled.

He seemed bored.

"Divisions One through Three, Five, and Eight will focus on stealing as much loot as possible, it's time to prepare for the final battle with the few enemies that remain," Rocks said. 

"Tell me, brat, what will you do?"

Damien looked straight at his humble captain and noticed the curious gaze.

Perhaps taking down the Overlord left him with some time to kill? It took Damien a few seconds to decisively come down to a plan. 

"I want to take a little vacation around the seas," the Sin Incarnate said. "There are a few things I've been meaning to do…"

To Be Continued…

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Author's Corner.

Naturally, things are boiling in Damien's absence. Spanning from the actions of the other Rocks Pirates to the final Overlord and lastly to the Marines; the world keeps spinning.

Simply put, Enigma's death was the tipping point to an era of chaos.

Images are available on Discord alongside other niche details: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q