Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Gion patiently waited for Fleet Admiral Sengoku to pick his Den Den Mushi. It gave her time to think what she would say. Letting Snow escape would put a spot on her flawless record. Her goal didn't end with being Vice Admiral; she was looking at a higher position. But if she could not capture a pirate from one of the Blues, what right did she have to aspire to be the best of the best that Marines can offer?

"Sengoku speaking," Hearing the Fleet Admiral's voice, Gion quickly focused.

"Gion, reporting. Gravedigger Snow had escaped my clutches and was probably heading for the reverse mountain. I am seeking permission to pursue."

"Escaping you shouldn't have been easy." That statement cut deep into Gion's self-esteem. "How did he manage to do it?

"He is different from other pirates I met," Gion replied as she tried to gather her words. "He was almost at my hands. But as our fight continued and he saw he couldn't win easily, he chose to flee. I think he didn't want to show too much of his powers. His devil fruit abilities are still not very well known to us. He chose to prioritize his future than fight here."

"So, he isn't as reckless as most of them," Sengoku concluded with a sigh. "He might pose a bigger challenge to us than we expected. But sadly, I can't permit you to pursue him further."

"But sir, I…"

"If he escaped you, he is already ahead of you," Sengoku interrupted Gion. "For all we know, he is probably already in the Grand Line. There is no point for you to try and track him down now. With any luck, they might die trying to cross the reverse mountain. Come back to your post and wait for further orders. I promise if we hear of him, you will be the first person I call."

"Thank you, sir." Gion knew she couldn't have asked for more of him.

"Is there anything more about him that you noticed?"

"His ability to fly is troublesome to deal with, sir," Gion remembered how fast Snow was in the sky. "Once he was transformed into his Zoan form, bullets wouldn't work on him. Even my slash barely left any mark. And one more thing, a town on the other side of the island tried to capture him."

"Bounty hunters?" Sengoku wanted clarification.

"Yes, sir," Gion confirmed. "They pretend to be hospitable people and trick people into letting their guard down. According to what they said, they fed him enough poison to kill a sea king. Yet, in the end, he still managed to walk it off."

"Disturbing," Sengoku sighed. "Good job. Return to your post and wait for further instructions."

"Before that, sir," Gion bit her lip as she knew what she was about to ask might be out of bounds. "I would like to visit Snow's homeland. To see if I can find anything about him."

"I am curious about that, too," Sengoku said, reacting differently than Gion expected. "You aren't the only one who suspects that there is something more going on behind the Gravedigger's name. But I can't grant you that permission. The top made it clear there is no need for further investigation into our new rookie. But there is nothing I can do if you stumble on it on your way back or if the wind pushes you in that direction."

"I understand, sir," Gion smiled. "I make sure to follow the most suitable current to return to my post. Over and out."

"Good luck."

Once Sengoku hung up, Gion stood up and ordered her men to prepare to depart. But before she could come up to her ship, one of her men gave her a wanted poster. Gion looked at a new face or a rookie pirate. Another one had shown up out of nowhere and started to cause mayhem. But once she read the name and the bounty of the rookie, she grimaced.

"Monkey D. Luffy. 30 million berry."

Now, taking a better look, she could clearly see that his smile matched that of Garps. Leave it to him to raise troublemakers. Hopefully, he will be overshadowed by the other rookies, and the Marines won't take much notice of him. The Marines already have many rookies to deal with, one worse than the other. And on top of that list was Eustass Kid and now, Gravedigger Snow.

…

Snow trembled as he felt the poison running through his body. Why the hell did he even want to do it? And why did Law have so many poisons lying in his ship? His body was a wreck, and he felt cold and hot at the same time. He was starving, but even thinking about food made his stomach churn. And worse was that Law seemed to enjoy seeing Snow suffer.

"Three hours," Law said as she looked at his watch. "Impressive. You are the perfect subject to test these poisons and find ways to cure them. With the stuff I gave you, normal people would only last a few minutes. It is time to get to the next stage."

"Are you sure this will build up my resistance to poison?" Snow asked, not sure about it anymore.

"Are you the doctor, or am I?"

"I don't think doctors smile so much seeing her patients suffer so much," Snow replied, as he could hear colors. "So, what is the next stage?"

"Turn to your zoan form," Law instructed.

"It's easier said than done," Snow replied as he struggled to control his human form.

"Stop whining and do it."

Snow will make Law pay for this. He was definitely out of line by doing this to him, even if Snow asked for it. He thought that Law would gradually increase the poison in his body, and he would gradually get used to it. But no, it was too slow of process. So, let's feed him everything we have and hope for the best was Law's choice. Snow didn't even know how he was convinced that it was a good idea.

Still, Snow listened to Law and tried to transform. It was as difficult as Snow expected. He couldn't even tell where his arm began and where it ended, so how could he transform it into a wing? The rest of his body was no different. The poison messed up his head, unlike the toxins he had for more than half of his life inside his lungs. The pain he could endure, not knowing what he even felt, was a different story.

"Concentrate on your heartbeat," Law said as he saw that Snow wasn't able to transform. "Your heart doesn't lie. You should be able to hear it beat inside your chest. From there on, you can feel your body little by little."

Law knew what he was talking about, as once Snow concentrated on his heartbeat, he became more focused. He had a start, and the poison in his system wasn't able to mess with him that badly anymore. Slowly, he regained his bodily functions. Soon he could feel the floor with his feet and turned them into talons. His arms turned into wings and his head into a beak.

"Fuck yeah, I did it," Once Snow transformed, he felt a lot better and stronger.

"Yes, well done," Law said, a bit disappointed. Did that bastard try to test him? Snow would probably never know. "What this?"

Snow looked at where Law was staring. He saw something dripping down along his feathers. Law took a sample and tested it. It was a good thing that they were in his laboratory, and he had the equipment to do the testing. Snow was quite worried about the bodily fluids coming out of him, especially when they were purple and smelled very unpleasant.

"It's the poison," Law said, surprised. "How do you feel?"

"Fine," Snow replied as he swung his wings to see if his body moved to his will.

"We need to do more tests, but I suspect that while in your human form, you are able to store poison, and once you transform into your zoan form, you are able to extract that poison through your feathers and use it."

"That would explain why I manage to endure so much of it," Snow replied, quite happy finding out a new ability he had. "But why didn't it work with the toxins in my lungs? It clearly was killing me."

"Hmm," Law was thinking as he played with test tubes. "It could be that not all kinds of poison work the same to you. Maybe breathing them in is your weakness, but the poison you ingest makes your body store it and later use it while you are in your zoan form. Next, we should test if the same effect can be achieved by injecting poison through your blood."

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Snow asked, a bit scared about how excited Law was about that idea.

"You will be fine," That wasn't the grin of a doctor, and it scared Snow.

"Captain!" Bepo came to the rescue. "We arrived at the reverse mountain."

It scared Snow even more when Law turned to his normal stoicism with Bepo here. Snow never knew that Law hid his sadistic and, most probably, mad scientist personality from everyone. The next time he asks for help from him, it will only be in times of emergency. He isn't risking it otherwise.

"Wow!" Snow wasn't the only one impressed by the size and wonder of the reverse mountain before his eyes. "Are we going up that?"

Caribou wasn't too pleased about it. Looking at the river that flowed up the mountain didn't make many people confident in their ship. One mistake, one moment of losing control of the ship, and it was over. The current was way too strong for anyone to be able to swim in it. And where would one even swim in this river? There was a one-way journey.

"Well, good luck," Snow said as he turned into his bird form. "See on the other side."

"What?" Everyone turned to Snow as he prepared to fly up.

"Where are you going?" Law asked with a raised eyebrow. "Surely you are not abandoning your crew and the ship, right? And surely it isn't because you don't trust the ability of the crew and the ship to sail through this, right?"

"What? How dare you?" Snow looked insulted and hurt that they would think that. "I am the only one with the ability to fly. So, I will go in first to see that the Marines aren't waiting on the other side of the mountain."

"The Marines won't be here," Law replied, not believing a word coming from Snow. "It's better to let the pirates cross and let them die by themself because of the Grand Line weather and beasts. There is a reason why the Grand Line has a reputation as a pirate's graveyard. This way, it's less work for them, and it allows them to concentrate on places that need them. I have done my research. You have nothing to worry about."

"Well, when you say that, all I can do is listen to your words. But you have not thought of one thing."

"And what is that?"

"I trust my wings more than your ship," Snow gave everyone a big smile before turning and jumping into the air. "I trust you all will be fine! I see you on the other side!"

Snow quickly flew up the mountain. And the further he flew, the more he thought it was the right decision. The current only got stronger the further the river flowed up the mountain. It gave him shivers just thinking about being on the ship that would go up the river. The dark clouds and the mist surrounding the canal going up didn't give Snow any more confidence.

Of course, he wasn't going to leave his crew alone. He just flew ahead and above them to observe the situation and was ready to help at any moment they needed help. Well, all they needed to do was to keep going straight, but Snow guessed it was easier said than done. Still, he had trusted his helmsman to be up for the job.