The Time Is Soon

Three knocks. Pause. Four knocks. Pause. Two knocks. That was the signal. The door creaked slightly open as a letter slipped through the crack. I opened the letter and read the first few lines, smiling as I walked back over to the shoddy bed. This was what I have been waiting for.

{In two weeks, seven of the twenty families are leaving the Holy Land, and heading to an island called God's island. Master Quintit is bringing his strongest slaves, you, the six giants, The Amazon, and two others. Your personal servants will also be brought. The Roger pirates and Rocks pirates have left their usual areas. Vice Admiral Garp will also be there along with four other vice admirals. It seems the prophet was correct as always. Pass this along to them, Ears of the Prophet.}

Fools. I am the prophet. Granted, it took a little convincing that I was only the messenger between them and the prophet to cover my tracks. Two weeks huh? Finally, I was getting impatient. I knew it would happen sometime this year, but the exact date was a mystery to me. I have been preparing for this for ten years, and it was damn time to escape. 

"What is it Love?" Cherry asked. I could feel my heart begin to pace a bit more at her cute face. This damn fruit of hers. 

[Hibiscus Cherry]

[Level 40]

[Devil fruit: Aku-Aku no mi model Muma/Demon Demon Model Succubus]

This is what caused me to lose control when we first met, along with a combo of abilities her devil fruit gave her

[Title: The Succubus [%50 chance for people you first meet to be overcome with lust. Chance increases by %50 if they are weaker than you.]

[Skills: Hands of pleasure lvl MAX, Bed of Venus lvl MAX, Rope tying lvl 15, navigation lvl 5, swordsmanship lvl 6, dreams of pleasure lvl MAX, poison resistance Lvl 1, seduction techniques lvl 16, demon fire lvl 1, soul eater lvl 1, fire resistance lvl 10, dark element resistance lvl 1]

[Devil fruit abilities]

[Halt the unworthy]

[If a person with unworthy traits attempts to desecrate the users body, they shall fall victim to [Dreams of Pleasure] and become addicted to the dream, coming under the skill, [Bend the weak] permanently]

[Bend the Weak]

[If a person weaker than the host is in the area (50 meters), they have the subconscious instinct to bow to the host and follow every command]

[Aura of protection]

[If the host is in mortal danger, someone under the skill [Bend the Weak] or is inherently stronger than the host will rush in to protect the host, raising their stats by 500% temporarily, until the host is no longer in danger. The victim of [aura of protection] will fall into a coma for 3 days]

{Aura of Lust}

[A faint aura covers the host, living beings caught in this aura will have growing feelings of lust depending on their resistance to mental attacks, or sexuality.]

This is why I was able to use my full strength plus some even when this body couldn't use it. It no longer matters, As I was able to free myself of most of the abilities' effects not long after. Since then, I have been helping her get stronger, as much as I could anyways. It backfired when we had a small sparring match, and she 'imprinted' on me for a while, leading to her trying to bed me at any possible point. Over time it wore off, but there were lasting effects. Normally I wouldn't care, but I don't want to risk anything major happening, like her getting pregnant, while we are still slaves. After we escape? Hell yeah!

"Yeah, We are leaving in two weeks. Heading to a place called God's Island. The top ten are coming along, along with seven of the noble families." I said as I sat on the bed with her. "Two fierce pirate groups are on the move, and there will be some marine bigshots that are going to be accompanying the dragons."

I held the paper over a small flame, watching as it turned to ash. I then explained my plan to my partner in crime.

"I have been talking with the giants and Amsonia. They are ready to start when we give the signal. When we get to this island we are going to use the keys to unlock our cuffs, then hold one or two of the families hostage in order to sail away. Once we get to an island, we shall throw the dragons overboard, and go different ways. Staying together is a good way to put targets on our back." I said. That is honestly the plan. Except the small detail I left out of doing this when the pirates and Government are going to be fighting. I wasn't confident in my strength, mostly because I have been having very few matches in the past years, and have only raised my level a little bit.

I opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out sheets of paper, writing out instructions to send to various guards I bribed or blackmailed. Ten years of planning, and yet I still expected something to go wrong. Paranoia I guess, but little known about what happened at God Island. Roger and Garp teamed up against Xebec, killed him, and Big Mom gave Kaido the Uo Uo no Mi but besides that not much is known and that's troublesome. Especially if there will be 5 Vice Admirals. I don't plan to engage in combat with them, but I don't think they will survive. It was only Garp who was mentioned in the story retold by Sengoku. If he is there, along with the woman who was part of that trio when they were younger I don't think things will go as smoothly. I must be careful. Worst comes to worst, I grab a ship, load the slaves and sail away. I will need to prepare. There are too many variables, and not enough info, not even Nyx could help. She only has information related to what is given in the manga, and what is in the One Piece Wiki.

No matter, but I still have to plan for any possibility. Agh, damnit. This is so fucking difficult! How does Batman do this shit! Oh wait. It's fucking Batman. This shit is what he does for a living. How annoying. I suppose I could just steal the dragon fruit and fuck off if things go south. That is always a possibility, a slim one, but a possibility. Ugh. God damn it.

"Now what? What is our next step?" Cherry asked, watching over my shoulder. I gave her tail a quick grab, making her yelp and let go. I hated people watching over my shoulder, especially if they had their arms around me. My friends did it too often back on Earth, and now it has become a habit to get people off me whenever they do that. And as a bonus, Cherry always lets out cute yelps everytime I grab her tail. The annoying part is that she constantly does this whenever I am writing out orders, or reading reports from my network. Which is almost everyday. I think she likes it when I do it, which wouldn't surprise me.

"We need to get the keys, and make copies of it. These collars are one of the barriers that will prevent us from freedom." I pulled out a folder. Inside was info on the special guards that oversaw the slaves and arena. The suits. red, blue, yellow, green, and purple. Interestingly, those are the colors of the future admirals. But it doesn't matter. Despite the fact that they are the head guards, they are not well versed in combat. Three years ago, a new giant slave broke free, and it took all five of them to bring him down to his knees. During which I could determine their powers, which is what has allowed them to keep the rest of the slaves in line.

Red Suit, the glitchy motherfucker. Their name is Hanato Juzaki, and they have a paramecia fruit that allows them to open short range portals by folding space around them. They disguise their identity by using the same principle, folding space around them, which seems to be a form of defense. Debris and other small projectiles that enter their space get warped elsewhere. They prefer to use a pair of short swords.

Blue, Julia Hardial, a woman with a Zoan type, model white tiger. Nothing special, she prefers to fight in her hybrid form, using her teeth and claws as weapons. Agility is her strong suit, dodging around the battlefield and being a little gremlin. Like seriously, she is 4' 10". Not a shortstack, more like a loli. Flatter than an iron. Complete washing board. 30 years burdened with the curse of being built like a plateau. I'm saying she's got nothin.

Yellow, Ivan, has the Echo fruit, which is what allowed him to find those caves years ago. It also allows him to use sonic attacks. He has a bad gambling habit, as well as chain smoking. I have managed to get some blackmail on him, but not enough to get him on our side. Just enough to sneak weapons into the arena to even the odds. This is also how we get info from the outside world and the movements of the celestial dragons.

Purple, Yuki. yeah. His name is Yuki. He possesses a devil fruit that allows him to manipulate glass. He prefers to use it to perform party tricks for the child slaves here, he's not all that bad, but he has a cruel side to those who break the rules or try to break free. His favorite punishment is shoving glass shards down someone's throat. Let me rephrase, he's fucking sadistic.

And finally, Green, the Arena handler. Her name is Taki Yukino. She ate a fruit that gives her telekinetic abilities, which she has used the most, acting like Tatsubaki but built like her younger sister, Fubuki. She prefers to launch rubble and discarded weapons like missiles at her opponents. She is honestly the nicest of them all. Honest to Gus. She sneaks chocolates to the children, and is one of the people in this network that lets us smuggle out slaves. Yukino serves as the Left Hand of the oracle. She doesn't know that I am the oracle, or that I am the one who also saved her brother from slavery. Story for another time. Long story short, she owes me a large favor. She is a good gear in this machine, and will be a good way to free the slaves. 

This is my current plan, when we land on the island, Yukino will use her master key to open the safe that holds the keys to the collars of the slaves. With those keys, we can open the collars, allowing the slaves to fight back. From there, we use our blackmail against Ivan to get his key to the armory to get our weapons, well, the weapons for the slaves. From there, we take one or two of the nobles hostage and sail away, hopefully before the whole fight begins. If not, then fuck it, save Cherry and myself and fuck off in a small sailboat if there is one, or use her ability to control weak people to sail a ship for us.

There is also the problem of the Vice Admirals. Garp alone could destroy this plan, but I don't think he would do anything. And if he does, perhaps I could use the threat of the incoming Pirate invasion to get him to back off somehow. Maybe. The other four are a mystery. I don't have any info on them, and only the old trio of the marines is what I can draw reference from, I don't know of any other old Marines that are canon. Damnit, I don't like unknown variables. First things first.

I give a signal to the guards, and slip out a paper with instructions to find info on the other four vice admirals, and that the ears of the oracle wish to have an audience with the Left Hand. Next was a message for the slaves to prepare for departure to God's Island. The third Message was to be sent to Amsonia, The Right Hand. Her job was to gather as much blackmail on the guards as possible, so we could exploit them as much as possible to transport supplies to feed the freed slaves after our escape.

A little while later, another knock was at the door. I handed a mask to Cherry and put one on myself. It was a plain wooden mask, with no slits for eyes but still allows us to see. There was a thin veil covering the eye holes in the mask that makes it look like we can't see. Yukino opened the door, and she was dressed differently than usual. Her green suit was replaced with slaves' rags, a false collar on her neck. She had a glove on her left hand, and a black wig on her head. 

"Welcome, Left Hand of the Oracle." Me and Cherry said in sync. "We have your orders."

"Thank you, Ears of the Oracle." Yukino saluted "What is the word of the Oracle?"

"During the transport to God's Island you are to gain access to the safe holding the collar keys." I said. "The Oracle shall lead a revolt, and we will be free of this hell. Warn the others, 5 Vice Admirals will also be at God's Island. The revolt unfortunately can only be held at God's Island, otherwise an admiral will be summoned to save the Nobles before we can properly escape. Spread the word, but be discreet."

"I shall, may the Oracle protect us all." Yukino said as she left. I waited a few moments after she left before I took off the mask. My pieces are moving into place, and now I only have to wait a little while longer. Let's hope nobody throws a wrench into my plans. 

I feel like I just jinxed myself.

ELSEWHERE

"Ah-Choo!" A burly man standing on a warship sneezed.

BACK WITH THE PLOT

'Nyx, how far along is this current update to the system?' Recently this has become a common occurrence, Nyx will get new data and update the system accordingly. We suspect that the battle at God's Island, if we see it or take part in it, would be the final update. Currently we have used the giants and humans as a reference for abilities, but it still isn't proper. The numbers on the system act more like a sensor than a true representation. Like when this body was stronger than what it could properly use, it still showed the body's strength, not what I could use. We estimated that this body could only use 10 points of the strength when I obtained it.

Needless to say, the current ratio is currency this, one point of strength is what the average human possesses, and one thousand points is what an average giant possesses. I currently have one hundred points of strength, a tenth of a normal giant's strength, which is still no small feat, but is considered weak in the grand line. 

'Well, currently we are %70 completed on this update. *Sigh* This is so troublesome. I didn't expect to be here for ten years updating this damn system. Going to end up like Skyrim at this rate.' Nyx responded. She has gotten pretty temperamental lately and hasn't said why. The most I got was that there is trouble with the reincarnation program Gus oversees. 'But luckily, you only have to put up with me for two more weeks, then the system should be properly finished. Also, I managed to convince the higher ups to grant your request. Here we go.'

{Ding}

{System feature updated: Music Player}

{The system can now play music the host has listened to in previous lifetimes, and the current one. Music can only be heard by the host. Warning: Please don't listen to music while fighting}

'Cool, about damn time my request got through.' I was overjoyed as I scrolled through the list of music. 'Thanks Nyx, I'm sure it wasn't easy.

'Yeah, about that.' Nyx what the fuck did you do? 'Well, in order to grant this request I agreed in your stead that you will help out some other deities from time to time, and in return, you can get rewards.'

'WHAT THE FUCK NYX!' I mentally shouted, trying my best to keep a straight face as Cherry read through some other reports that agents dropped off throughout the day. 'I thought we agreed, you talk to me before deals are made!'

'I was put in a tough position man!' Nyx whined. 'It was either that, or I got thrown in the soul blender!'

'Wait, what? Soul Blender? They have one of those?' Nyx proceeded to rant at me. 'Well, not really a soul blender, but it's a void where souls get turned into energy for opening dimensional portals. Souls that commit unforgivable sins or seek to overthrow deities get put there. Just one soul has the power to open up 20 dimensional portals to reincarnate people. Usually only one or two people get used as fuel every primordial rotation, or roughly 100 years in earth terms.'

'I see. How many portals could you open if used for fuel?' I was genuinely curious. Nyx wasn't weak that was for sure. Any being that could pull weight with deities had to be strong.

'About 30,000. Our souls get used more often if we run low on energy for portals. Souls like mine are made of fragments of divine souls that shed their mortality or left overs of souls that don't survive the crossing of realms. I am made up of 1,400 mortal soul fragments that failed to cross to the after life, and 100 divine mortal fragments.' Nyx said. God damn. That is not a small number, but why did she serve as a system A.I. then? Oh well.

"Come, let's get back to our room." I stood up and walked to the back wall of the room, revealing the wall to be fake. Cherry pulled out a match and burned the reports, watching as the paper turned to ash, then followed as we walked through the narrow tunnel into a closet not far from our room. After ranking up higher in the arena, I was able to walk around at my own will, as long as I was back in my room at certain times. This whole situation is odd. No other dragons treat their slaves like this, so why does Quintit? Why let us grow strong? Pride? I have no idea.

As we got back to our room, I laid on my bed as Cherry went to perform her duties as a cleaning slave. I mostly laid around when she was nearby, but when she was gone, I would use a wooden copy of Gravitas to practice. 

{System update complete}

{System can now reward skills for performing unique actions, or when conditions are met.}

{System reward: unique skill {Trial by Fire} And {puppeteer} obtained}

{Trial by fire}

[You have grown your skills not by training, but by fighting with your life on the line. Combat skills gain double the experience while fighting. Non combat skills will gain double experience if used under pressure.]

{Puppeteer}

[You have spent time manipulating other people to complete your tasks and achieve your goals. You are more likely to turn people to your side by manipulating their emotions]

{Note, skills granted by the system do not level up, but will evolve or mutate if conditions are met.}

{System now can issue quests with various rewards depending on the actions of the host. With the updates and requests made in the past, some rewards have been removed, and replaced with alternative rewards}

{Quest available!}

[escape slavery!]

[Accept?]

Neat. Ten years and I get skills like this now, when I am about to leave. This system really is shit. I should have just taken a premade system. Fuckin hell. Accept the quest.

{Quest accepted, time limit, 1 month}

{Rewards will be issued once you break free.}

'Oi, don't blame the system. If anything it's your fault that you made such a broken system. You clearly don't understand how systems work and you have the balls to make your own!' Nyx exclaimed as she read my thoughts. I get no fucking privacy.

'First off, I had the opportunity and I took it. I was able to make it to my own specifications! I made it so it would track my progress. Why do you think I asked you to remove the attribute point and replace it with the skill point rewards instead? I want to grow using my own two hands, not relying on a system as if it was a crutch. I just use the system to improve my skills and give me a proper reference to how strong I am.' I responded.

Sure, people who use systems use it to get stronger, but I like growing stronger by using my own abilities. I use the system to help cover my weak points, and to see where I can still grow. That and to get skills and abilities that I wouldn't be able to get just by training. That and so I can have the technological edge over my enemies. Better boats, better guns, hell, even aircraft and submarines! This is why I have the system. Sure, blueprints are expensive, but I will be able to afford them in time. 

If not, I have 38 years before Luffy changes the world. That will be plenty of time to build a navy. I just need an island the government won't know about. Natural resources are a problem, an island is only so large after all. Once the resources on the island run out I will either have to raid other islands or forge an alliance with the world government for a while. But that is if I get an island to use. I am just planning for a possibility after all.

Surly enough, two weeks passed, and all of my pawns were in place. The slaves were loaded into boats, the six giants forced to stay on deck out in the weather due to their size. A fleet of 20 ships belonging to the world nobles followed by another 20 marine warships. Garp's signature dog ship was nowhere to be seen so either he will join later, or he hasn't gotten it yet. It would make sense, as he got his title, 'Hero of the Marines' after this incident.

It took about a week to reach God's Island, which left me with a week and change for the quest. Soon, soon I WILL BE FREE!