[46] Surging Currents

[2370 words]

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[Directorial Lounge]

Four men sat around a large, square table, one on each side.

Each seemed to be around fifty to sixty years of age.

Chad Bizárré, Newman Bradley, Vase Ah Liné, Markus Goji—The Four Directors of the World News Agency.

"It seems an update to the World Threat Index is necessary," Bizárré began. 

Goji added a few details of his own: "The Level One Threats are those that demand the absolute and undivided attention of the World Government and all of its assets."

"As of now, two of these threats have been eliminated, being Thaddeus Enigma and Esso Borealis," Bradley summarized. 

Liné then concluded the main event: "The Valkyrie Pirates, Prideful Pirates, Roger Pirates and Rocks Pirates are the current top threats, with their respective captains each taking a spot at Level One."

"But the latter two have the likes of Silvers Rayleigh, Whitebeard, Shiki, and Charlotte Linlin who have also moved up in threat to this level. Bringing the total of Level One Threat Index to 10!"

Yet there was more to the equation as Goji chimed in further, "Other threats of Level Two are not far behind."

*Thwack*

He then slammed a bundle of news onto the desk. The bold headline read out: "The North Blue Massacre—the Sin Incarnate Strikes Again!"

Bizárré sighed, "We've been given the task of erasing the names of the Rocks Pirates but lately they've begun to break every taboo in the book!"

"Celestial Dragons, Heavenly Tribute, World Government; they've messed with them far too much! It's not easy to manipulate such fresh news, let alone with CP-10 breathing down our necks!"

Bradley heaved a similar sigh. 

"Let's begin by smudging older events while minimizing the new ones. They can only be forgotten slowly."

Though at the drop of that sentence, came the creak of the door. 

The Directors simultaneously shifted their gaze to the intruder, Goji unable to help himself to an outcry: "Who the hell do you think you are, what's your Reporter ID!?"

The others also seemed to want to vent their frustrations on the person, though their questions came to an abrupt halt. 

"!!!"

Heavy breathing began to huff out from the four as they saw the face of the intruder. 

The young man walked over and rolled a chair to the head of the table, pushing two of the Directors to the side. 

Thud!

The towering eleven-foot-tall pirate seated himself as if he owned the place. 

"Well, haven't you ever heard of the saying, 'Speak of the devil and he shall appear?'" A smirk stretched across the intruder's face as he said, "Well, I'm here now."

Four audible gulps went off at the same time. 

The Directors couldn't help but sink into their seats. They wanted to flee, but their survival instincts said otherwise. 

"Gentleman, don't worry, this won't hurt a bit."

Damien gave them a smirk and then everything went black; all four fell unconscious under the overwhelming Haki that befell them. 

*Gurrug* White froth bubbled out of their mouths in the wake of Damien's will. 

He then stood up and walked behind Markus Goji, placing Goji's hand on his shoulder. 

"I don't doubt you had some form of obligation to spread the truth over the world in your younger years. The World Government has numbed your conscience with greed. Let's fix that…"

His words were followed by the skin of his right hand turning gray with a white branching pattern on it. 

.

"Purify."

.

The white light began to pulsate as if removing something from Goji. 

The light soon turned wicked black as if cleansing something. The corruption slowly trickled out from the Director's body until the light once again went back to white. 

"Next."

…

Damien applied the same technique to each of the Directors and left the briefing room. 

"It may take a little while for the full effects to take place, but too sudden a change will alarm everyone."

A smile left on his face as the final piece for Operation Nexus was set in place. 

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[Six Days Later]

While Damien was en route elsewhere, something interesting was taking place at the Rocks Pirates stronghold. 

"Ufufufu, he is making the Marines run around in circles," Shakky commented. 

She had a newspaper in hand.

The Navy had recently been going in circles trying to find Damien. Yet whenever they found a trace of his location and sailed there, he was long gone!

"Massacring a pirate island in North Blue? And being crazy enough to use the Calm Belt as his personal seaway?" Shakky questioned with some surprise. 

"Gurarara! Sounds like something that crazy kid would do," the towering Newgate said. 

However, their thoughts were disrupted by another big-name pirate's arrival. 

"Jihahaha, Newgate, any news on Captain Rocks?"

It was the Golden Lion Shiki!

Whitebeard eyed the infamous pirate and gave a casual response: "Captain Rocks went to Death Valley. He probably won't return for a while."

He then interested himself in a barrel of fine wine, gulping it down.

Shiki, on the other side of the room, beamed a smirk filled with schemes and plots.

"..." Whitebeard chugged a liter of the alcohol and couldn't help but ask, "What are you scheming now, Golden Lion?"

The words evoked a booming laugh from the man in question. 

"Say, Newgate, why don't you come with Linlin and me, we're going to clean up the waters."

The words were of no use to the giant man. 

"Don't annoy me, Golden Lion. I want no part in your little plots."

The response wasn't out of the ordinary, Shiki also seemed as if he expected it. "Jihahaha, your loss then!"

Shakky puffed out a cloud of smoke, and asked, "Are you going to finish your assignment too?"

Shiki hummed with an excited smile. 

"Captain Rocks wants other Level One threats removed… our target is the Valkyrie Pirates!"

He then jumped into a golden stream and disappeared. 

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[The Next Day]

[Mortem Island, Grand Line]

A young boy with simple clothes and scruffy black hair was currently doing some push-ups, though with a giant boulder resting on his small back. 

"561…"

"562…"

"563…"

"964…"

"Rawwr!" at the latest rep came an island-shaking roar. 

A giant Sea King who, comically enough, was resting at the edge of the cliff the boy was at. The beast roared out as if he recognized the disingenuous attitude. The resounding growl left the boy with an annoyed look, as he audibly clicked his tongue to show his displeasure. 

"Fine, fine, 654…"

"Rawwr!"

"…"

The young lad continued his training with drive, all the while enjoying the cliff-side breeze.

The island was unlike others, it sported a wide array of conditions: snow in the north which was home to giant snow-capped mountains, thunderstorms in the northeast, a desert in the west, and a barren wasteland with snowy hills in the east.

The cliff was the main safe area that both had a decent climate and overlooked the calm seas beyond, earning the favour of the lone human inhabitant.

[Mortem Island Image (in Discord)]

[A/N: Considering the cliff to be near the south end of the image.]

…

Around an hour later, the boy finally threw the boulder to the side. 

*Rumble* The cliff shook and trembled as if in its last life, and the creaking spread throughout and into the deeper parts of the inhabited island. 

"There, a thousand reps of a one-ton rock," he grumbled. "Now I can nap…"

However, his thoughts changed at the sight of a distant boat. "What's that?" he muttered, narrowing his tired eyes to the distance.

The vessel approached closer and it was more visible. 

"S-Sea Kings pulling a boat?"

At this point, the guardian Sea King also became aware. 

He rushed out and displayed his giant body out of the sea as if to announce his territory to ward away the coming trouble. However, the coming party did not waver, rather responding with a casual voice, "Calm down now."

"…"

"That voice!?"

Even the Sea King let out a curious roar which translated to the same words spoken by the boy. 

.

Meanwhile, Damien docked at the edge of the island, storing his Sea Skimmer.

A quick look and a leap later, he landed a hundred meters away, at the top of the cliff. His figure was hidden by the glare from the sun directly behind him.

The boy who had just finished his workout could not help but marvel at the sight like a fan as he heard the calm voice once more: "Yo, Kuzan. You look lively."

The boy was the rough little rugrat Damien found at Sabaody Archipelago around a year ago. He had grown up quite a bit.

Kuzan looked quite excited, outside of his usual lazy demeanour.

Damien walked ahead while completely ruining the sloth-like boy's messy hair with a strong head ruffle.

"Hey, hey, stop that!"

Damien chuckled at his antics.

He walked on ahead and glanced at the Sea King, {You did well, I guess your kids can live happily ever after knowing I won't dine on their father.}

The beast gave an audible gulp as he bowed his head.

{You're free to go.}

The Sea King nodded, gave a final look at Kuzan, and dipped to the deep blue below with a voluminous splash.

.

Damien then began walking through the island, Kuzan tagging behind.

Going further into Mortem Island beyond the cliff was a mix of heaven and hell. 

A wide crescent-shaped forest existed first, filled with flora and fauna, home to thousands of different plants and trees. Beyond the haven was a place flooded with endless beasts and monsters.

*Rustle*

The two pushed past a tree which had leaves the size of a small ship, all the while continuing a chat.

"Say, Big Bro, do you have any idea how many people are talking about you?" he asked.

Kuzan didn't wait for an answer: "The news that came said that they were ready to dispatch a Buster Call just to take you down, but couldn't find you. Hehe, that's pretty cool!"

Damien smirked at the boy and did not give much of an answer, opting to continue moving.

"..."

Kuzan felt something afoot, "A ra ra~ The beasts got a little shy since you came here, why didn't I get this lucky?"

He then glanced at Damien from the corner of his eye and thought, 'They aren't shy… they're afraid of him. These guys have been harassing me for a whole year and become so docile now, how's that fair!?' 

Damien felt the boy was lost in thought and gave him a quick whack upside the head.

*Bonk!* The young child crouched down, holding his ringing head with difficulty, "Ugh, what was that for!?"

"Just seeing how much you've grown; looks like your head has gotten a little tougher."

Damien's casual response made him more annoyed. While the child was sulking, the pirate pulled up a set of statistics in his mind.

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

[Kuzan]

[Age: 7 years, 8 months, 28 days]

[Height: 7' 6"] (2.29 m)

[Status: Healthy enough]

[Devil Fruit: None]

[Strength: Paradise Pirate (level 3)]

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

A few moments later, they reached a nice spot.

"What the heck, I've been on this trashy island for a year and I didn't know such a nice spot existed? I spent so many hours sleeping in a place with shifting climates when such a spot was right here!"

Damien could not help but laugh. 

Perhaps Kuzan thought Damien had visited this island before, naturally, that was not true.

Rather, it was the very nature present that purposefully cleared the way to guide Damien to the most hospitable place on the island.

Thud!

Damien's towering frame sat on the broken log, enjoying the breeze.

The area he was in currently was unlike the chaotic parts of Mortem Island: nice trees that provided a nice shade and a cover against any unpleasant winds. A nice and clear view of the island, free of dangers.

Kuzan grumbled out some of his frustrations while sitting opposite his pirate friend.

.

His frown turned upside down as he recalled something: "You know, Big Bro. A year ago you said, and I quote, 'If you meet your expectations, I'd give you a priceless prize that even the Celestial Dragons would be envious of,' end quote."

Damien stared at the boy's cheeky expression.

"It seems I need to increase your education times a little, you're quoting skills are lacking," Damien said. "However, I did promise a suitable reward."

The first part of the statement completely turned the world upside down for Kuzan, but he found solace in the latter few words.

The excited and enthusiastic appearance was obvious, matching Kuzan's age.

"Oh? You seem to have convinced yourself that you've met my expectations?" Damien asked with a tone mixed with playfulness and curiosity.

Kuzan shot up from his seat and waved his hands frantically.

"Of course! I've been under great stress for so long! I nearly died four thousand, six hundred and twenty-two times! I counted!"

Though he did not stop there, his voice reached sky-high in decibels, "I've been reading those books you sent through those weirdly cute birds, I've trained seven hours a day, and slept a measly, inconsiderate and underwhelming eight hours a day!"

The incessant exclamations made by the boy were overpowering. Damien had to plug in one year to mitigate the yelling voice.

It was as if Kuzan took out a year's worth of frustration in a few sentences.

'It really isn't as bad as he makes it sound,' Damien thought to himself, convincing anyone reading this chapter.

.

"Okay, okay. I get the idea," he said while raising his hands in surrender, "you do deserve a reward."

Damien then put his hand into his coat pocket, dramatically slowing down.

His actions earned Kuzan's undivided attention as his eyes followed every small move with a budding sense of excitement.

"..."

The suspenseful pause ended after what seemed to be an eternity as the notorious pirate pulled out a fantastical item.

Kuzan's eyes widened as he pointed out his finger, "A Devil Fruit!?"

Damien gave him a small grin, holding the treasured fruit in front of the curious young lad. "It's something I found lying around… The Logia-Type: Ice-Ice Fruit."

To Be Continued…

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Author's Corner.

Do you think Damien is being too hasty in trusting Kuzan with such a powerful ability?

Images are available on Discord alongside other niche details: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q