True Powers of the World

The group kept walking down the narrow clouds towards a place that looked like a massive building filled with shops. On the way they were saluted by many Skypeans who recognised him as their god, they said that there weren't many of them on the streets because they were still healing and recovering from Enel's invasion which he understood. The majority of them were taking medicine from one place to the other.

"What happened here? where is this place?" Mihawk who hadn't left the infirmary in the entire time didn't even know where they were. It was a confusing sight because Angel Island wasn't destroyed or even had the aspect of a city that had gone through war, but the citizens on the other hand were scarce.

An enthusiastic Hancock explained to her where they were how they ended up there and the consequences of their actions. They had killed Enel the one that invaded the Upperyard which was the spot Skypeans and Shandians worshipped as 'Vearth'. They didn't have the possibility to go down the Blue Sea and hence, any 'earth' they could get their hands onto was something worth worshipping.

All of those things were explained to her by Gan Fall.

"So you became the God of these people?".

"Sort of, I didn't ask for it... but now that things have turned out like this, there is no better person for the position than me. If the 'God' was either Shandian or Skypean, both tribes wouldn't be at ease".

"I didn't take you for a politician. I thought the two of us would live peacefully on an island forever without... intruders" She cast a cold shoulder to Primrose who merely harrumphed and ignored her ramblings.

"Hmph!".

"I thought so too but... things ended up being like this, I can't abandon them to their luck".

Perhaps even more than with Amazon Lily, he longed for Skypea to have a good ending, these people were happy until some bastard decided that they were good to be exploited.

'Now that I think about it... didn't I just erase a major hurdle in the Straw Hats' path?'.

Veyron didn't know how much the story had changed until now but surely giving the Yami Yami no Mi and taking down Enel determined that things would never be the same for the Straw Hats. Little did he know he had yet to make a massive change in the story.

...

"It is not like I can do anything at this point. I want wine, where is the wine in this place?". She hoped to drink her frustrations away, hopefully, the wine in these sky islands would be somewhat decent.

Hancock who had explored the area the most led them to sort of a commercial centre with all sorts of goods for sale from dials to clothes. The buildings were not modern futuristic type but Veyron realised that their knowledge in the field was not behind Amazon Lily's.

They sat down at a table. Veyron together with Mihawk and opposite to them Primrose with Hancock. They were attended by a group of attentive Skypeans maids and butlers who immediately recognised their God. They thanked him to the point of even kneeling down and Veyron had to accept all of their gratitude before they were served, free of course.

"The time you were unconscious I was investigating this area. They have their own currency called 'extol'. It is predominantly dominated by Skypeans while the Shandians are a bit more rundown tribe at the edge of their own island.

According to their legends, there should have existed a city called Shandora from where they hail but this city can no longer be found in the upper yard, hence, they don't have a home and that's why they keep having strifes with the Skypeans over this territory.

This island was sent to the skies by the Knock Up Stream and when that happened the Shandians inhabited it, how can this be resolved?" Hancock took the reigns, surprising Primrose with how much intel she had assembled in a short time.

"You don't need to worry about that. Shandora is a city of gold floating on a sky island way higher than the Upperyard, when I have rested enough I'll take it down back to the Upperyard with my powers".

!!!

"A city of gold?".

"Like the tales of Noland the Liar" Mihawk added.

"You say it so simply, how did you know?"

"When Peter exploded I had to take him to the skies far away. That's when I saw all those islands floating high above, I marvelled at the way those clouds were able to hold gigantic structures. I think Robin hasn't returned because she found them".

"I see...".

Both mother and daughter deliberated for a few moments mostly about how they wanted to take at least a few tons of that gold to Amazon Lily. A moment in which Veyron could only dreamily look at the both of them. Ever so gorgeous beautiful ladies that belonged to him.

They quickly received their drinks and biscuits. Veyron was okay with just juice made out of some odd fruit in the Upperyard while Mihawk got her wine, and both Primrose and Hancock got biscuits.

Mihawk sipped her wine and regarded the enraptured gaze of her son, she grits her teeth and downed the whole cup in one go. Veyron noticed this and smirked, leaning on her side.

"Are you jealous?~"  "Shut up". "Don't worry, I'll take you on a date tonight".

"Who wants a date with you?" She hissed and turned around, asking for another cup... but her lips curled up in a smile that even she didn't notice. 

...

The discussions regarding Skypea continued until an ever so common noise startled them.

"Pero pero pero~"

Veyron took out the Den Den Mushi that Mihawk had gifted him and answered it.

"Kacha~".

The Den Den Mushi popped up some cute lashes and lipstick out of nowhere.

"Who is this?"

"Master~".

A single word was enough to put him on death row with three powerful Conqueror Hakis being emitted in the shop for a brief second, for some reason Primrose seemed to be the most offended by that statement.

It was Stussy who upon hearing his voice rejoiced audibly.

"It is me, your little Stussy~".

"Y-Your?" The second phrase made Hancock's eyebrows twitch,

"I was calling you to know if you're okay after such a devastating fight... I didn't know that old hag you call mommy was such an irresponsible and cold person, how could she do that to you?!".

"I'm right here... girl" Mihawk's teeth racked, if she could slaughter someone from this far away, the blonde's head would be rolling already.

It hadn't been less than ten seconds and Stussy had already gotten into the kill list of everyone at the table except her master without even being present.

"Thanks for calling Stussy, I'm okay... I had some injuries but that was it. Are you with Gion?".

"I'm here, brat... I was worried as well" Gion's voice resonated from the other side, "We have reached Marineford, this woman is going to leave soon, so we're just calling you to check up".

"Little Gion here fainted during the incident and smashed her face on the deck, hehe~ now she has a huge horn on her forehead" Stussy mocked.

"Woman do you ever shut up?!".

The way it looked those two were having a row at each other in Marineford.

"Thanks for worrying. I'll contact you two to check up on your progress later on".

"By the way, Veyron... you should read the newspapers... your bounty increased again" Gion remarked.

"Bye-bye master~ call me whenever you want, I'm here for you... if you ever get bored of those old wenches by your side, remember that your little Stussy is here!~".

"Kacha~".

...

"I'm going to slaughter that b*tch".

"I'm with you on that".

Primrose and Mihawk agreed on something for the first time! Veyron didn't know if he should thank her or punish her the next time they met. Be it as it may, Stussy and Gion's call recalled him something important.

"By the way, mom. Do you remember our promise?".

"Hmn?"

"If I defeated you, you'd join my faction..."

A moment of silence followed in which Mihawk sipped her second cup of wine, looking at him, "Technically I wasn't defeated".

"..." His face soured, but then the beauty giggled and tapped her finger on the table.

"But I don't mind, son... I'll join you".

At this stage of her life, she didn't think if she wanted to fight all out against her son again. Every time they faced each other, there was always an exponential increase of power from both sides... next time one of them would die and that was not a conclusion she wanted.

"Really?!".

She nodded and leaned against him for a kiss on his cheek, spooking Primrose while Hancock clapped in happiness, mostly because of the joy displayed on her lover's face.

"You know I'm a Knight of God, I could be your spy in Pangea Castle~".

"Knight of God? What is that?".

"Mother-in-law, you're one of the Knights!?"

Unlike Primrose, Hancock did seem to have a bit more knowledge of the families in Marie Geoise, mostly during their time of slavery. She had talked to a lot of slaves during that period and shared information. The Knights of God were the most feared bunch in Marie Geoise, going as far as to peeve some celestial dragons.

"It is a very important position in the world government, there are nine nights together with me, and all of them are at least as strong as I am. All of this is a secret by the way" She remarked.

Primrose clenched her fists, berating her own strength... she knew she had reached new heights during this year's training period, but was it enough?

"We are a team... I'm going to take down the world government and I need you two with me, even if I wasn't going to, I still need you two with me, that's why I need you two to get along with each other, I don't ask you to be friends, just get along".

"Mom, Mother-in-law..."

'Girl, do you have any idea what he's asking!?' Mihawk and Primrose could only curse inwardly at how Hancock was literally asking them to get along without being aware of the brat's wicked mindset. 

"..."

"..."

Instead of giving any outright confirmation the two ladies just continued to have their treats, deciding to postpone this conversation into something more 'private'.

...

"So that's your decision? Are you going to join the revolutionaries?".

"No, I said I'd create my own faction. The revolutionaries aren't worth my time. I want to assemble a group to strike Marie Geoise directly... there won't be any power vacuum if the whole land of the gods is destroyed... since Dragon wants to play politics I'll let him decide how to organise this world later on after the celestial dragons are gone".

His fist clenched with sparks of lightning flickering in, after the last clash with Mihawk, he felt powerful enough to give the world government a devastating blow.

Mihawk downed her wine and sighed, all three of them awaited her answer.

"Congratulations, son... you are so young and yet you have already reached the peak of the food chain~" She smirked, sending shivers down his spine.

'The peak of the food chain'. It made his blood boil to be placed among those few.

"But your journey has only begun. Sadly, you and I are not the only ones at this peak".

"Eh...?".

"The four Emperors of the Sea, The Nine Knights of God, The Marine Fleet Admiral, The Commander of Cypher Pol, The Five Elders of Pangea Castle, Dragon the Revolutionary and lastly... the one that sits on the empty throne of Pangea Castle".

'So many?!'

"... the one that sits on the empty throne?"

Hancock and Primrose were getting their horizons broadened with every single word that Mihawk spilt, even Veyron didn't know there were so many powerhouses in the world aside from the four Yonko.

"Every single one of them is as strong as you and I, some of them even stronger than us. You should have noticed..."

"The world government has the majority of the powerhouses under them" Veyron clenched his fist, everything made sense now... how they could stay in power for hundreds of years.

"Not only that, the direct opposition to the world government are the four emperors of the sea. But those spots are being disputed as we speak... Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, Whitebeard, Shanks... they're the biggest contestants for those spots".

"Whitebeard is already a Yonko and I read the exploits of the other three in the newspapers. Aside from them, the only other candidate was the Golden Lion, Shiki who is currently imprisoned in Impel Down" Primrose added her bit.

"Kaido is taking control of the Country of Wano in the New World, he could already be called one of the Emperors of the Sea. Charlotte Linlin has taken control of the Totto Land Archipelago as well... they're both extremely powerful pirates with massive crews".

"And Shanks?".

"Shanks has yet to decide what side he's on... he is a celestial dragon, son of the commander of the Knights of God, Figarland Garling".

...

"I don't appreciate my secrets being given away like that for less than peanuts you know, Mihawk?".

!!!!

As fast as lightning Mihawk unsheathed her sword.

*CLAAANG!*

Two swords clashed in the middle of the shop, frightening the Skypeans and placing Veyron and his girls in utter alert.

'Where did this guy come from!?'.