Chapter 135: Pandemonium (2)

Beyond the war zone that Smoker's group were engaging the Beast Pirates, there was Onigashima, the Beast Pirates' base.

Within this sub-island in Wano, within the Skull Dome that sat in the middle of the island, a room full of jail cells—recently established by Queen—was found on a basement floor.

On this floor, three individuals were found in separate jail cells, locked without a way out.

"...Something is happening outside. It's awfully quiet here."

A muscular man with long, flowing hair and a pointy, upwards-facing beard remarked. He was Kyros, the legendary gladiator of Dressrosa who was serving King Riku Doldo III as the captain of the royal army.

"It's as you say, Kyros. I've heard those pirates getting louder as they sleep, but never quieter. I wonder..."

In another cell, a seemingly old-aged yet muscular and well-built man followed up on Kyros's remark. He was King Riku Doldo III, the father of Scarlett.

Riku turned to the third cell where another man sat. Carefully, he asked,

"Do you have any idea of what may be happening outside, Dr.Vegapunk?"

Vegapunk. He was an elderly man with an abnormally elongated head wearing a scientist's lab coat. With keen eyes, he gazed at the locked door that leads to the staircase.

"...White Hunter, Kaidou announced. In this world, there is only one man who wields the title... it must've been him."

"...White Hunter?"

Kyros, who wasn't interested in the news of the world, tilted his head, wondering who this White Hunter could be. On the other hand, Riku seemed to have realized.

"White Hunter Smoker, now that you mention it..."

Riku closed his eyes and thought for a second. He then asked,

"Then the question is, is he on our side? Though Dressrosa has gone into ruins, we are affiliated to the World Government—"

"Worry not, King Riku."

Vegapunk responded knowingly.

"I've heard many things about White Hunter throughout the years. His feats, his power, his charisma, there were many who praised or feared him. however, what made him truly stand out from the others... was that he blatantly and directly refused the idea of Marine's and World Government's 'justice.'"

"Then,"

Kyros spoke up,

"What exactly is that justice that he refused?"

"..."

Vegapunk closed his eyes to collect his thoughts. Opening them back up, he answered Kyros slowly.

"Above all else, justice in today's world can be defined by one simple word: ambiguity. Justice changes depending on circumstances, they say. Absolute Justice, Thorough Justice, Reigning Justice... there exist so many types of justice, such that it is essentially impossible to define what true justice is.

Through this ambiguity, the World Government seizes benefits. By keeping people across the world lacking and uneducated, they prevent anyone from developing doubt in this ambiguity. And through this ambiguity that masks right and wrong, the World Government, up until today, has successfully been using Marine as their personal force, as their dogs.

Therefore, justice, to the World Government, is ultimately a power, an authority. In that sense, their true belief can be deciphered as... there is no right and wrong, for the winner is justice."

Vegapunk's eyes sparkled as he shared his thoughts, genuinely enjoying the process of relaying his knowledge.

"And I suppose that in that sense... White Hunter, because he refused such justice, is the one who sits closest to what we may consider a true justice—in terms of morality."

"White Hunter Smoker, is it."

Kyros whispered the name.

"Do you believe that he can win against Kaidou?"

Vegapunk looked up at the ceiling.

"...Only fate knows."

__________

"Blast Breath!!"

The wide beams of red-hot fire blasted throughout the night's sky. Illuminating the area in crimson, the view was mesmerizing yet fearsome.

Dodging and flying through those blazes, Smoker gathered a dense white smoke that swirled at the tip of his index finger.

'White Storm, Pesado,'

The smoke swirled dangerously before Smoker blasted it right at the gigantic azure dragon that was flying straight at him.

Ten-fold.

Ten times, the dense smoke-made storms were blasted onto the approaching azure dragon with a frightening force, consecutively.

The dragon's approach immediately ceased, and with each strike, it was knocked back more and more. The wisps of fire that surrounded were blasted away through the gust alone, and the calm night sky returned once more.

As Smoker's attack finally ended and the surroundings were now covered by the wisps of smoke,

"...Having clashed against you a few times thus far, I've come to notice."

Kaidou, still in his azure dragon form, exclaimed, with his tough scales having managed to endure Smoker's attack. His slitted eyes peered on Smoker in seriousness.

"What is it that you carry on your shoulders, White Hunter? What is it that makes you this desperate to win?!"

Beyond Smoker's overwhelming strength, Kaidou saw a wisp of the effort that was put in just to achieve this level of strength. Kaidou could feel the arduous journey that Smoker has gone through, and couldn't help but get curious.

One Piece? Conquering the world? What was it that made him a Supreme King? What was it that made him strive for a strength of this extent?

"...Desperate, you say."

Floating in the sky, Smoker looked at the moon.

"I guess you aren't wrong about that one."

Smoker has gone through many things. He's seen the collapse of many kingdoms and civilizations.

In this world where islands are separated by the vast ocean and wild climate, most civilizations tend to live in an isolated manner. The youngsters who seek freedom out of their communities set sail and become pirates.

Through this separation, the World Government rules as the absolute power without any contender. For this reason, Smoker has long wished for the unity among people. Through unity, people will stand up and fight. To achieve freedom and peace, a war was required.

Smoker supposed... that he's become desperate ever since Cancer's death. Watching as one of his friends faded away right in front of him—he learned that day that the more time that he gives to the World Government, the more of his close ones will suffer.

"I, Smoker, have a dream."

Smoker's eyes turned cold as he stared at Kaidou. In conviction, he stated,

"To eradicate the World Government and pirates such as yourself. To make this world a better place to live.

In order for me to achieve this dream of mine,"

Smoker breathed out lightly, emitting white smoke from his mouth.

"I must prove that I am stronger than you at the very least."

'Seimei Kikan: Ghost Body.'

Smoker's form blurred, and at the same time, Kaidou's form morphed into his Human-Beast form, where his arms and the top half of his face were covered by the blue scales of azure dragon.

"Too bad that your dream won't come true then, White Hunter,"

Kaidou roared,

"For I'm the strongest!!"

Then, yet again, the two of them clashed.

__________

It truly was an apocalypse, as the endless number of pirates swarmed in the dark night. The odors of explosion, blood, and innards of corpses mixed in the air, creating a foul stench that, in a way, smelled as if they were in an underworld.

The war was more brutal than any other as both sides knew no mercy. If one were to summarize the state of the sea in one word, it would be the following:

Pandemonium.

"DIE!!"

In this environment, X Drake jumped above Whist, the muscular and bald man with a scar on his closed right eye, and slammed his axe right on the man's head with all his strength.

"Lively, aren't you?!"

However, contrary to X Drake's expectation, his axe didn't split Whist into two. Rather, before his axe gained momentum, Whist's size began to expand into a gigantic dinosaur whose body was covered by armour-like osteoderms.

X Drake was knocked back. Without losing the grip on his axe, he landed on two feet as a huge dinosaur now stood in front of him.

"Dragon Dragon fruit, model: Ankylosaurus! Haha, that's the name of the devil fruit that I ate!! With this power of mine, there is no way for you to injure me!! Furthermore, in this Zoan form of mine, my strength vastly increases, and I can—"

Proudly, as he slowly contined to expand, Whist in his Zoan form spoke non-stop.

"I already know."

Ignoring Whist's continued blabber, X Drake smirked at this. After all, the powers and abilities Tobiroppos were one of the information that they gathered during their disguised stay in Wano.

Crack.

'According to Smoker's message, the reason for the Beast Pirates' invasion of Dressrosa was to abduct the Tontatta Tribe for Queen's experiment. Furthermore, from what we gathered so far, we weren't able to find any member of the Tontatta Tribe or the missing King Riku and Kyros in Udon's prisoner mine. Based on this information, they are likely to be kept in Onigashima. Coupled with the existence of Gum Gum fruit, Onigashima is essentially a treasure keep that Beast Pirates just protect at all costs.

...Therefore, once the war arises, Beast Pirates will attempt to evade the fights from breaking out in Onigashima. And we'll use this against them.'

X Drake recalled the words that Robin spoke in the past, and at the same time, Whist, who continued to grow, cried,

"H-Huh?! The ship—"

'We'll purposely "leak" the information of our acts and whereabouts once we reach Udon. In this state, the only battlefield that Beast Pirates get to choose is the sea that separates the Wano continent and Onigashima. And if we fight them on the ocean...'

Unable to support the weight of a huge dinosaur that was yet growing, the ship began to sink.

'They, who possess the devil fruit powers of ancient animals known to be heavy-weighted, won't be able to utilize said powers at their full extent.'

Jumping up and watching as Whist's size has become greater than the ship, X Drake found himself genuinely impressed at Robin's wit.

'...Smart, aren't you.'

"Ah, c'mon! This ship is so weak!"

Whist, before he completely sank into the water, quickly morphed back into his human form and complained.

"Heh! Weak? This ship?!"

X Drake grinned as he utilized Geppo to propel himself at the airborne Whist.

"Rather than the ship, blame your fat ass!!"

X Drake slammed his axe right on Whist, who quickly formed osteoderm on his arm to block the attack. Though Whist expressed no pain, he was sent downward due to the force behind X Drake's attack.

"W-Whoa!"

Below X Drake and Whist, only the crow's nest of the ship was present, and even such was seconds away from sinking. Whist, barely managing to land on the crow's nest, jumped back up to dodge X Drake's axe that was swung down.

"Tch!"

X Drake, who also landed on the crow's nest that Whist briefly touched with his feet, propelled himself at Whist who landed on another ship where the goons of Beasts Pirates were found with wicked smiles on them.

Meanwhile, the previous ship completely sank with a splash, and the pirates within cried for help as they swam toward whatever ships they could find near them.

"Numbers mean nothing in front of me!"

Now, X Drake bravely shouted as he landed right on top of the mass of pirates. Twisting his body to dodge a stab of a cutlass, X Drake's axe cleaved one pirate's neck as he seized the airborne cutlass with his free hand.

Then, holding onto his axe as well as the owner-less cutlass, X Drake swung both weapons in a way that resembled X shape.

"X Calibur!!"

Numerous pirates fell as X Drake's attack slashed through even the metallic weapons.

As soon as the corpses of many pirates fell, X Drake immediately crossed two weapons to block an osteoderm-covered punch by Whist.

CLANG!

"I don't like fighting with a handicap, but complaining won't do! My devil fruit power's still broken without its Zoan form anyway!"

Whist now had his entire body covered in an ankylosaurus's osteoderms—resembling a stone-made armour.

"Take this, X-man!"

Before X Drake could counterattack, Whist sent forth another punch, which ended up in a direct hit onto X Drake's abdomen.

The blood gushed out of X Drake's mouth before he was sent crashing onto the railing of the ship. Immediately standing back up, X Drake dodged a sword that was stabbed right where he was rolling just a moment ago.

"...That didn't hurt at all!"

Slashing his axe through the pirate who attacked him with the sword just before, X Drake wiped the blood off of his mouth and launched himself at Whist.

BOOM!

Upon the clash, both the X Drake and Whist had their respective arms knocked back.

BOOM!

Without giving each other time to take a breathing, the cutlass clashed with the hard fist. Once more, it ended up in a stalemate, and Whist growled in annoyance.

"Fuck! If only I could use my Zoan form... you would've been dead already!"

"Hah! Did you forget what you said just a second ago?!"

And just when Whist spoke, X Drake, grinning, was already swinging his axe once more.

Whist, though his eyes briefly widened upon realizing that he was one step late, smirked eventually, thinking that the axe won't penetrate his osteoderm armour since it wasn't able to do so up until now.

However, just before the axe reached the armour, X Drake's eyes flashed dangerously, and at the same time, his axe revealed a pitch-black gleam—the indication of the coating of Armament Haki.

Then, the blood was drawn, and Whist's eyes became bloodshot from a sudden pain.

"W... hat..."

Looking down, he saw that X Drake's axe managed to penetrate his chest. Growling, he quickly stepped back and ordered,

"Ugh... buy some time for me!!"

"You heard Whist-san!"

"Boys! Get that axe guy!!"

"Arrrrr!!"

as if having waited for this moment to come, the remaining goons on the ship swarmed onto X Drake as Whist backed off wobbly.

"Hah—!!"

CLANG!

"Wha—"

And onto these pirates, X Drake swung his axe and cutlass circularly. With overwhelming strength, he managed to parry all the approaching blades at once, and utilizing this gap as an opportunity, leaped himself at Whist who seemed to be caught off-guard.

"For the past 4 years, I trained like there was no tomorrow!!"

Whist's eyes shook as he hurriedly covered his entire body with the thickest armour that he could produce.

"So that I won't have to feel useless anymore!! So that I will be able to become strong like Smoker!!"

"W-WAIT!!"

Whist cried but X Drake ignored. Releasing his hold over the cutlass, X Drake held his pitch-black axe with both hands, atop his head.

"X Calibur..."

Then, said axe dropped straight onto Whist's chest.

"Howling Strike!!"

Upon the strong blow, the armour helplessly splattered into pieces. The axe drove through the already-present wound on Whist's chest and dug through it.

"RAAAAAAA!!"

And then, the axe continued to push through—until Whist's body was cut in half.

Thud.

The corpse fell on the deck and rolled until it met the other corpses that lied nearby.

X Drake, filled with adrenaline, huffed as he turned his gaze to pirates who were yet numerous.

"...Heh,"

Grinning, he lifted his bloody axe once more.

"I can do this all day."

Taking in a deep breath, the 19-year-old man resumed bulldozing through the goons, and he was determined not to stop until all the enemies were taken care of.