[13] The Devil

[2650 words]

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"Well, what do you say, do you want to come under the Rocks Pirates as an apprentice?"

Damien narrowed his eyes at the smoking woman.

Shakuyaku and Kaido.

Both had deep connections to the huddle of power in the New World, though currently, they both were simply weapons of Rocks D. Xebec.

Such an invitation could be considered signing one's own death certificate, but to Damien, it was a calling.

'Rocks is due to fall in a few years,' the young pirate thought to himself. 'The flourish way to survive in this hellish era would be in the den of danger.'

Damien could feel that his small clash with Kaido had already shaped his Haki quite a bit, reflected in the notification that had come.

[Armament Haki mastery has reached the Intermediate stage.]

Such a boost in strength begged the question: just what height could he reach by being around such monsters?

A smile appeared on the young pirate's face as he resolutely answered: "Alright, I'll join."

"Hehe, I look forward to your growth, Damien-chan~" Shakky returned a smile.

She then walked to the docks, caring little of the mess they left behind.

"Let's go then, we need to leave before some nuisances arrive."

Kaido roared out a laugh, "WORORORO! We'll finish our fight later!"

'Pull up Kaido's stats,' Damien ordered. 

After a duel, it was enough to quantify the future Emperor's current power. 

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<

[Kaido]

[Age: 17 years old]

[Height: 19'] (5.79 m)

[Status: Healthy]

[Devil Fruit: None]

[Haki: Observation Haki (Intermediate Mastery), Armament Haki (Intermediate Mastery), Conqueror's Haki (Initial Mastery)]

[Strength: Middle Tier Yonko Commander]

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<

He was around Damien's strength level. But he had a feeling that in a drawn-out combat, it would come down to his Devil Fruit to decide the outcome.

Just their little scuffle now had left some much-desired outcomes to occur. 

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[Marineford]

[Fleet Admiral's Office]

"What did you say?" a heavy voice boomed within the walls of the office. 

A large man with thick muscles and scars sat in the seat of power, endless strength brimming from stature. 

He had a short-sleeve shirt and a gray-coloured marine coat draped over his shoulders. 

The marine had hair and beard arranged in an array of spikes, and some fuzz on both sides of his face. He also sported a stitched scar under his left eye.

[Image of Kong (in discord)]

.

"F-Fleet Admiral Kong, the news was confirmed and the sightings of Shakuyaku and Kaido of Rocks Pirates alongside Einar D. Damien at Severa Island!" the Rear Admiral broke the news.

The muscular marine simply squinted his tired eyes as he massaged his forehead.

He closed his eyes as a brief figure of a bloodied, grinning man flashed in his mind.

"Those damn D's, just one problem after another, looks like Rocks found another new apprentice who will cause me more headaches," Kong muttered.

The Fleet Admiral shook his head and ordered, "Update their bounties, even for that woman supervising them, I want them taken down before they can enter the New World!"

Kong clenched his fists, "We still have time to crush these budding threats!"

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[West Blue – Near Reverse Mountain]

"So that's it, the gargantuan continent, the Red Line!" Damien exclaimed as he saw the colossal crimson wall run across the entire ocean. 

No matter how far out you looked, the Red Line just kept on stretching beyond it; cutting beyond the line of clouds, seemingly touching heaven!

[Image (in Discord)]

.

"Damien-chan, I'll need you and Kaido-chan to hold up the ship, it will be a rickety ride," Shakky said while preparing the ship to climb the mountain.

The two pirates grabbed the sides of the ship as it slowly began to rise up the mountain; creaking uncontrollably.

Great amounts of water splashed onto the ship and the two, threatening to push them back down.

*Creak* *Swish*

Moments passed as the ship was fixed in speed as the ascent continued, leaving the West Blue behind.

Damien eyed the blue sea as they soon disappeared into the clouds.

…

It took a few minutes for the ship to climb to the top of the Reverse Mountain.

A short sigh escaped Damien's mouth as he glanced at the sea of clouds.

{Find us.}

A whisper suddenly echoed in Damien's ears, drawing his eyes into the white sea.

The words had come as soon as the ship reached the apex of the mountain, an area where the ascent from all Four Seas met.

'What was that?' Damien thought while examining his surroundings.

'It came from beyond the Red Line…'

Paradise Sea, the first part of the New World, lay in the direction the ship was headed while the end of the New World was behind them.

[A/N: The world is round so naturally the start of the Grand Line and the end of the Grand Line meet at Reverse Mountain.]

Damien was left pondering as the ship began to descend the mountain at great speeds, howling winds following suit.

*Vvoosh!*

He felt the cold and powerful streams of air as the rollercoaster ride came to an end.

*Splash*

The broken-down ship finally landed into the Grand Line!

Damien walked across the main deck of the rickety ship as he took in the changed atmosphere.

The air felt… chaotic; much wilder and more out of control than the West Blue.

.

"How do you like the air of the Grand Line, Damien-chan?" a soft voice brought him back.

Damien returned a thin smile as he breathed in the air of Paradise.

Kaido also walked over, impatience etched on his face, "Oye, woman, how long till we go back to Hachinosu?"

Shakky shook her head at the young beast, "This is your first main mission, Kaido-chan. We can't return without the new ship so be ready for a lengthy wait."

The man-beast simply growled and then sat his giant body down, falling into a nap immediately.

.

Shakky ignored the snoring Kaido and began speaking to Damien.

"We'll go to the nearby island for resupply, I also need to contact the captain about you," She said as she took out an Eternal Pose from her pocket.

The pose had, "Uruguana", written on it, indicating the island it led to.

Damien nodded at her words. 

The journey there would take at least a day and it left some time to waste. 

Damien proceeded to ask her a question. 

"Shakky-san, why'd you come under Rocks?"

The woman glanced at the young man and gave a small sigh. 

"I'll tell you if you call me 'Shakky-nee' from now on," she said with a teasing smile. 

Damien scratched his head at the odd request and shrugged in agreement. 

*Puff*

She then exhaled a cloud of smoke. 

"I come from the Calm Belt, you know where I mean, right?"

Damien nodded as he gestured to the snake symbol on her belt, "Empress of Amazon Lily, the captain of the Kuja Pirates."

Shakky gave a small nod and continued, "Right. Well, you see our island is protected by the lack of wind in the Calm Belt, it keeps the pirates away."

She then hummed a little tune while taking in another puff of her cigar. 

"But there are fruits out there that can give ways to overcome the Calm Belt," Shakky explained. "As the Empress, I couldn't just wait for the day to come when we no longer could protect ourselves."

She continued, "One day I had to come to Sabaody to resupply but got caught up with that Garp, it was Rocks who saved me."

"But that man would never do anything without expecting something in return."

A sigh escaped her lips, "A dear lovestruck friend of mine wanted to take my place but I ended up turning her down."

"Since then, we made a deal while I worked under him, acting as his eyes and ears."

She then glanced at the young man before him, a hint of helplessness in her eyes. 

"The captain's name keeps both the Navy and other pirates away, but there's always a price for selling your soul to the devil…"

"..."

Damien took in the information and couldn't help but visualize the 'devil' she spoke of. 

She then walked up, reached up and patted Damien's shoulder. 

"When we get to the New World, trust no one."

Shakky left to go inside the main cabin, leaving a snoring Kaido and a pondering Damien behind.

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[A Day Later]

[Uruguana Island, Paradise]

*Munch*

*Burp*

Two young men sat at a giant table as an absurd amount of food was slowly inhaled away.

Though the youth differed greatly in height, they both had a mind-numbing appetite.

It was like a bottomless pit; the food kept on disappearing as the two munched on.

.

"Hey, hey, those two have a big reward on their heads," a man whispered from the side as he watched the display.

Another man quickly nodded as he read over some papers.

They were newly released bounties that had made their way to the world! 

-----< WANTED >-----

< EINAR⋅D⋅DAMIEN >

< 'Sin Incarnate' >

< 𝔅 150,000,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

-----< WANTED >-----

< KAIDO >

< 'Hundred-Beast' >

< 𝔅 220,000,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

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Damien was slightly annoyed by the vast difference in the numbers. 

The only reason the gap existed was due to Damien's disappearance from the world news while Kaido had been rampaging his way through the seas over the past two years.

"What the hell is up with that epithet? What sin did I commit?" he said with a confused look.

Kaido, who was gobbling a huge piece of meat, grinned, "WORORORO! Our Captain is called 'The Abyssal Sin', looks like the Navy sees you as his little toy!"

The revelation left Damien befuddled.

Though seeing Kaido's condescending look made him shoot back, "I guess they see me as a graver threat than you, just wait till I leave you in the dust."

*Crunch*

A huge chunk of the table was ripped off by the hulking pirate as he heard Damien's reply.

…

The people nearby chose against picking a fight as they just watched the two young monsters arguing amongst one another, while simultaneously devouring enough food to fuel a small village.

*Burp!*

Kaido let out a ground-shaking burp as he gurgled down a huge barrel of alcohol.

Damien just shook his head at the scolding to come, and it came fast.

A slender woman appeared from the side with a stern face, "You shouldn't be drinking at your age, Kaido-chan, it'll mess with your growth."

Even though her size was dwarfed by the hulking young pirate, she carried a certain air of hidden power.

Kaido harrumphed at the scolding, "Something that tastes good can't be bad for you, stop pestering me, woman!"

Shakky squinted her eyes in return, "Don't test my patience, young man."

The giant teenager just growled as he threw the saké to the side, exploding into an aromatic spectacle.

Damien couldn't help but laugh out loud as he saw the future Emperor being reprimanded like a child.

Even the spectators were baffled but chose not to display their amusement and stifled their laugh from the fear of the 6-foot-tall woman.

A man gulped as he waved another bounty poster around, ensuring no one nearby was dumb enough to make problems:

-----< WANTED >-----

< SHAKUYAKU >

< 'Black Death' >

< 𝔅 670,000,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

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[A Few Hours Later]

Shakky had finished some shopping and resupplying, alongside repairing the ship enough to sail for another few months.

Kaido was napping away as Damien made his way to the small room inside the cabin.

It was the same room Shakky was in. The female pirate had called him for something of grave importance.

He took a deep breath, knowing what was waiting for him once he entered.

*Creak*

The wooden door opened as the red-eyed youth walked in.

He saw the small room that was lightly lit, a normal bed and furniture in place.

Damien glanced at the short-haired woman sitting by the table, a transponder snail set in front of her.

The snail emulated the face of the person on the other side of the call.

Wild hair set in spiky dreads, feral expression plastered to the scarred face, a wide grin etched on.

.

Shakky nodded at Damien in silence and turned her attention back to the snail.

"He's here now, Captain."

She then gestured for Damien to take the snail's receiver and moved out of the way.

Damien saw the snail break out in a wider grin as it broke out a deep and hoarse voice: "Einar D.," It said. "A familiar name…"

Damien took a deep breath and replied in an unshaken voice: "Rocks D. Xebec."

"..."

The snail's scarred and savage appearance warped into deep intrigue.

"Xahahaha!" he laughed in a low tone. "You're the interesting kid that left West Blue in shambles a few years ago."

The voice continued, "Shakuyaku told me that you want to come under my flag as an apprentice, good, very good, I always welcome you ambitious brats."

His voice then grew frighteningly low, "Just remember this, kid, you can betray me whenever you want but just be prepared for the hell that will follow…"

A solemn expression appeared on the young pirate's face as he heard the menacing voice.

Damien wasn't surprised at the man's words, if anything, he admired Xebec's power to make so many powerful forces subservient to him.

He vied for that power too.

.

The snail then addressed the woman standing by the side.

"Shakuyaku, you've brought some heat on yourself by picking up that kid, you head to Sabaody while the new kid will go to Yozora Island to get the ore."

Rocks went on to say, "I'll send someone to bring you to the New World from there in a month."

The snail didn't wait for a reply and simply hung up with a: "Katcha~"

Shakky put away the snail and then glanced at Damien, "You heard the boss. I'll give you the Eternal Pose to Yozora Island and a ship, your mission is to retrieve the 'Eternal Ore' that is kept there."

She then warned Damien, "That place is also called the 'Island of Darkness', according to the captain he read a Poneglyph that said the people at Yozura Island await for someone to come and retrieve that very ore."

Damien noted down the fact that Xebec was able to decipher Poneglyphs somehow and then proceeded to ask, "What exactly is the ore for?"

The woman shrugged, "Captain said it can absorb and spread out forces it's subjected to in some magical way, let's just say that Adam's Oak is not enough for a ship to carry the monsters under the Rocks' Flag."

.

The two then walk out to the main deck of the ship.

"Take these and buy a small ship, you have a month to rendezvous with us at Sabaody, I'll wait for you there."

Damien grabbed the items the woman gave him: some money to buy a ship, an Eternal Pose to Yozora Island, a Vivre Card with Shakky's name on it, and some food.

She then pulled out a small red pouch and raised her pistol.

*Bang!* *Bang!*

The bullets hit the outside of the pouch and seemed to enchant it with some purple void-like energy.

"This pouch will store the ore, better than you carrying it back overseas, no?" 

Damien nodded, though he could make do without the pouch with his Inventory, he naturally didn't want to expose it.

He graciously took all the items and walked to the edge of the ship.

"See you in a month then, Shakky-nee."

He hopped off using Moonwalk and made his way to the shipyard of Uruguana.

Shakky gave out a small laugh, "What an odd kid~"

To Be Continued…

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Author's Corner.

So Shakky took a certain other woman's place on the Rocks Pirates. I hope you like my interpretation of Xebec from what little that was given.

In the original version of this fic, I gave him the epithet of "The Great Sin". Now changed to "The Abyssal Sin".

Quite ironic that the chapter detailing the 'Devil' of the story is the 13th installment of the fanfic.

Images: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q