Chapter 41: Determination

"Brother."

I found myself sitting on a plain chair, dazing off. Upon a call, my consciousness returned, and I saw a young boy in a hospital gown, lying down on a white hospital bed. In his hands was 'One Piece' manga, one of his hobbies along with reading various fanfictions.

He, without a doubt, was my younger brother, diagnosed with a chronic illness that has no known cure.

'But wasn't I...' Looking down at my clenched hands, where the curled-up bills sat by, I thought, '...Was it all a dream?'

"Brother, you are a good person, right?"

I froze upon hearing that statement. My face then unconsciously morphed into a forced grin, before I said, "Yes, of course."

Standing up from my seat, I waved, "I'll be back later, so stay safe and eat well, alright?"

"Okay! And make sure to bring me the newest volume of One Piece as well!"

"Gotcha."

Pocketing money in my hands, I exited the room and took the elevator downstairs. Moving out of the hospital by its main entrance, I casually walked to one black SUV that sat nearby. Opening the already-unlocked door, I took a seat in the backseat.

"...Had a nice time with your family?" A middle-aged man who was dressed formally, was found sitting in the driver's seat of the car. Not even waiting for my response, he handed me a slip of paper, "Well, whatever. Here's your next target."

"Kruz Whitlock—hold on." I looked up at the man with a frown, "I'm not looking for a big game."

"And?" The man chuckled in amusement, "Do you even have enough to pay for your brother this month?"

"Fucking—"

"Look. It's either that or nothing. If you decide to turn away here, aw... your googoogaga brother will die, all because of just how bad of a brother you were."

Leaning down in my hands, I took in a deep breath, "Ha... shit." Raising my head back up, I said with an evident dislike, "Tch, it's just the same as before, right? Plop in that weird pill thing that you give me."

The man grinned, "Now we're talking. And believe it or not, the payment will be... a little higher!"

Subsequently, He threw a neatly folded black suit at me, "Change into that thing. I'm going to slap you at a party he's attending today. You got two hours to do your job."

Driving. Moving. Changing, and getting ready. In due time, I found myself at a luxurious party, trying not to frown at the sight of people smoking from all around.

"Why, you don't seem to be enjoying the party." Then, a voice was heard from my right. Turning my head, I saw a blonde man standing. He then reached his hand out at me, which I shook with my own, "I'm Kruz Whitlock. A little unusual for me to be invited, but nonetheless, it's quite a refreshing experience, I'd say."

"...Nice to meet you." Replying dryly, I sighted a glass of wine in his right hand as I turned my eyes away from the man.

"Haha... it seems that you aren't really a fan of communication." Laughing in an awkward manner, the man rubbed the back of his head. Then, before he could talk any further,

"""HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"""

the others' boisterous laughs echoed all around the room, causing the man to flinch while momentarily closing his eyes. Seizing that chance, I flicked a white pill, which I've been holding with my left hand, into the glass.

'Wyatt... it seems that I'm not a good person after all.' Chuckling hollowly at myself, I then nodded at the blonde man and exited the party, being unable to bear myself any longer, 'But there is no other way for me to make enough money to pay your fee.'

And honestly speaking, I'd rather kill others than let my only remaining family member die.

Walking to the parking lot, I returned to the same car driven by the same middle-aged man, who drove me back to the hospital. Then, walking by the entrance, taking the elevator back up, and walking to my little brother's room—

'—ah damn, I forgot the newest volume of One Piece.' I groaned in realization, but nonetheless opened the door, 'Whatever, I'll do so next time—'

"...Who are you?"

My brother sat still with a pale expression. On his side was a crazed man, pointing his gun at my family.

"Ha... hahaha... I've been waiting for this moment. Been so freaking long..." The man whispered in glee, "At last, you are here. Do you remember me?"

My breathing quickened. Raising my hands up, I said nervously, "S-sir, please. Let's talk this through. Please... remove your gun from my brother."

"...Don't you remember me?" Ignoring my plea, the man growled, "Don't you remember me who lost his father because of you?!"

Two pairs of eyes fell on me. One was full of hatred and contempt, filled with nothing but murderous intent. However, the other pair of eyes, one full of disbelief and fear—those eyes made me feel dirty. I felt unclean, and having my brother find out the truth... my worst nightmare has come true.

"...Brother—"

BANG.

And the time seemed to have stopped as the horrific scene was unveiled in front of me. My young brother, whom I supported by committing bad deeds, was shot due to such deeds.

The white hospital bed was stained with red blood. Feeling dizzy and nauseous from the scene, I hollowly walked step by step, and looked into the hollowed eyes of my loved one.

"...I'm sorry that I was your brother." Feeling the tears that flooded out of my eyes, I whispered as I closed my eyes. With the gun next to my head, ready to shoot at any time, I reminisced,

<If I were to choose my favourite character, it would be this guy, Smoker! He never wins and acts stupid many times, but he's a good guy!>

'If only I was Smoker instead...'

<Wake up.>

My eyes opened wide. My young brother, who lied with his head still bleeding, was gazing at me all of a sudden. His mouth then opened,

"Control your breath, brother."

"Regain control over your body."

"Stop your bleeding. Close the wounds on your body. Temporarily shrink your body to accommodate for the loss of red blood cells."

I, finding myself in a daze once again, stuttered, "I..."

"It's time for your Life Return (Seimei Kikan)," My brother then made a blood-stained smile, "And you can't afford to fail again, can you, brother? Or should I say—

—Smoker?"

__________

BOOOM!

Moria's scissors slammed onto the empty ground, missing their targets. Moria initially frowned in confusion, before widening his eyes as he turned back in realization.

There stood Smoker who was on one knee, with Robin lifted up by his arms.

"Marine..." The veins popped out of Moria's forehead, "How the hell did you wake up after getting your shadow cut..."

Placing Robin back down, Smoker stood on two feet while breathing calmly,

'Seimei Kikan: Ghost Body.'

Robin looked at Smoker with widened eyes, filled with nothing but awe. She... she thought everything was over, that there was no way to overcome a situation like this. And yet, this man, Smoker, stood back up with severe injuries on his body, and...

'...Saved me... yet again.' Robin thought as her heart beat fast from the sudden development.

"The reason I want to be good, the reason I want to be righteous, and the reason I seek for the virtues of the world... it's so that I will be able to stand proud in front of my family." Smoker, clenching his right fist hard, muttered at himself, "...And I'm not going to fail, never again."

Making a grin full of confidence and determination as his body began to emit the wisps of white smoke,

SWOOSH!

Smoker then disappeared from Robin's sight.

"...You're going down for sure this time around... MARINE!!!!!" Moria, seething from the rage that he, the one who's gone up against Kaidou of the 'Beast,' is now struggling against a mere teenage marine, roared as his eyes gleamed in read,

BOOM!

however, before Moria had time to react, he was knocked upward to the sky by Smoker's 'White Blow.' Perhaps this wouldn't have happened under normal circumstances, but Moria too was suffering from the injuries that's been accumulating for quite some time.

"Doppelman!!!" While airborne, Moria willed his shadow to arise just as previously, before quickly swapping places with it to evade Smoker—

Poof!

"—Huh?" Moria found himself dumbfounded as Smoker who was floating at the back of his distant doppelman, suddenly disappeared with a puff of smoke. And the real Smoker was currently in front of him, with his right hand holding a dense, swirling ball of white smoke,

"White Ball!!"

Said ball was smashed onto Moria's exposed face. Smoker, pushing through, slammed Moria down to the ground with the ball,

BOOOM!

and simultaneously, said ball exploded into a huge volume of white smoke that engulfed Moria.

"IT DOESN'T HURT AT ALL!!!!!" However, Moria's scream was heard from within. Smoker, being able to see through the smoke, noticed that Moria coated his face with Armament Haki to protect himself.

Then, swapping his place with doppelman to escape the tightening smoke around him, Moria stood at some distance away from Smoker, "Kiiiishishishi! Even without the use of my doppelman, you still can't—"

However, he then swayed. Moving his foot to prevent himself from falling, Moria noted in disbelief, "—What...?"

Moria, standing still, looked at his trembling hands.

"I, the 'Nightmare' of the sea who's been winning and winning until Wano... KISHISHISHI!!!!!" Suddenly exploding in crazed laughter, Moria screamed, "JUST HOW MUCH HAVE YOU FALLEN, GECKO MORIA?!!!!"

Moria's doppelman suddenly dispersed into numerous bats, which began to swarm around Moria's body. Moria, detaching his scissors and holding two sharp blades now, daringly walked at Smoker with fury, "Just you watch, Kishishishi...!!! This is a new beginning for me. I will build an infinite army of the undead, and swarm the entire sea!!! And in my path to power...

...you are nothing but an annoying fly!!!"

Moria then dashed at Smoker, who had the dense smoke swirling around his body,

"White Snake."

the snakes shot out at Moria, one by one. Moria, using his Haki-covered blades, cut through the snakes, however, they continued to reform over and over, relentlessly chasing after the huge pirate.

"KIEEEEEEE!!!!!"

Moria, letting out a war cry, locked his eyes on Smoker who was yet to move. With the shadow bats swarming from his back, intercepting the white snakes, Moria advanced with the intention to cut through his target. Uncaring of the fact that all the patchworks on his body was undone, and he was bleeding severely, he continued to cut through the never-ending swarms of white snakes—

—swoosh. Moria's blade stopped right in front of Smoker's forehead, with his entire body tightly bound by the tens of white snakes. The bats too were bound by the huge hand made out of smoke, unable to move.

Smoker, with his bangs covering his eyes, then raised his hand up,

"Transmutation: Black,"

The coiling white snakes then turned into dark, terrifying-looking black,

"Hydra."

The snakes opened their fangs as if screeching. Then,

BOOOOOM!

they exploded simultaneously, and from the explosion, Moria was blasted upward once again, with his whole body emitting smoke from the burns. It seemed that he was running low on Haki.

However, Moria didn't give up. While airborne, Moria's blades began to enlarge with his shadows attaching themselves, and as he coated his last remaining Haki on them, two pitch-black greatswords were held by Moria.

"Shadow Doomsday!!!"

BOOOOM!

Moria landed directly on where Smoker stood, slamming his blades down at his maximum strength. The cloud of dust arose, and the gigantic spiderweb-like crack was generated by the pirate's attack. However,

Tap.

Moria felt the pair of fists coming in contact with his chest. He saw through the dust, that Smoker was still standing in between his blades, having managed to dodge his final attack.

'N-No,' Moria subconsciously cried in his mind, as he saw Smoker's fists gaining a faint black hue, 'I... I—'

"White King Gun!"

BOOOOOM! An incredible surge of white smoke blasted forth, driving through Moria's exposed chest. Bulldozing through the buildings, houses, and whatever lied in its path, Moria was sent flying all the way to the edge of the island, before,

SPLASH!

helplessly falling into the water, with a huge, unrecoverable hole in his chest.

"Haa... haa..." Smoker, breathing heavily as he stood in the site of ruination, turned to Robin and grinned,

"Alibi... complete."

before falling to the ground.