Chapter 7

As always, posting without a beta and without any great spell checking. If you notice any grammar/sentencing errors, please point it out.

Honestly, the fight ends a bit abruptly, it was shaping up to be way larger than I wanted it, so I kinda just forced it to finish. Might come back to change it later.

*Celestial Dragon Expeditionary Fleet, Calm Bet, 8 years before canon*

Running along the growing root bridge, I approached the fleet that seemingly was now stopping to meet me, the strange paddle wheels besides each vessel stopped turning, the boats consequently stopping with the zero sea wind or current environment.

The root bridge grew at rate I only used once or twice, exactly when testing how fast I could create large constructs.

I passed out trying to make the several thousand handed buddha of my memories in a single go, luckily, the stream of Sea Kings coming to feed on the first victim of my roots allowed for a constant stream of nutrients.

It helped speed along the growth of the bridge, growing forward through the sea and downward through Sea King corpses. The blood of the murder attracking other Sea Kings, in an ever increasing banquet for the roots. Ever increasing as in five, these things were gigantic, I could build a root to the sky with three.

I was almost there, I could even see them now, two tall, broad shouldered men with the shoulder coats I vaguely recognized as a sign of high rank in the marines... Oda was pretty vague about rank distinction, so it could mean anything from Ensign to Admiral really.

Thankfully, they didn't seem like any of the Admirals I remembered. Really didn't want to test my "even Akainu wouldn't shoot a random person at sea" theory.

Besides them there was a fat man in a bubble head suit dangling at the ship ship's railing. A fat man, in a bubble headed space suit, surrounded by two high ranking marines...

I stopped dead at the still growing root extended at sea, and started growing its thickness as well besides extending, in case I had to fight at sea. It was soon thicker than three of the marines warships lined up.

I was about to go into a whole inner debate about if I did or not risk going over -I really wanted a conversation that wasn't a gorilla shrieking at me for fruit-, but the marines made my decision null.

The bubble headed Celestial Dragon said something to the marines besides them, then the dark haired of the two marines blurred into what I vaguely recognized as Soru, stopping and blurring again three times in a quick sequence, stopping the fourth time right besides me, blade already raised falling towards my throat.

Well, going by the Celestial Dragon and the blade to the throat, there goes any chance for an enlightened conversation.

Though I could barely follow him during his Soru, he moved just a bit faster than Bob outside of it, plenty reactable to me.

Ducking under the blade, I threw a punch to the lower stomach of the attacker, forcing him to bend into himself, vines growing from my fist encircling and growing into the marine. Jumping to the side and twisting to avoid the incoming slash of the second, blond haired marine.

Landing awkwardly but facing my new opponent, I -with the omnipresent vision on my own root- I saw as behind me black haired suddenly stood dead still, felt through the vines digging into him as his flesh turned hard like iron. Then, with a single quick movement, somehow pulled all the vines that by then covered his entire body.

Those vines were enough to stop Bob dead on his tracks. Yeah, these guys definitely aren't Ensigns. With the Celestial Dragon there they are probably Vice or Rear Admirals.

So, I was surrounded by two either Vice or Rear Admirals, with a five warship fleet surrounding me and probably at least one CP-something agent to guard the World Noble.

I had started fighting Bob because I was bored on the island. My powers solved every possible basic need or want, I didn't need to fight anything, but I was bored, and was surprised by how fun it was to punch other and get punched in the face in return.

Bob was a great opponent, I had a year of difficult, heart pumping battles with him, and half a year of fun battles. But in every single one of them, I used just my fists and, at the start, my armor.

The threerilla is just beginning to learn Armament, and any one of my roots could kill him in a second. So I never really had a fight where I was at risk, where my life was on the line, where I had to give my all.

The smile I couldn't take off my face made me question my sanity a bit.

"Oi!" I yell out to the two marines surrounding me. "Who you guys!?"

The dark haired one behind me just frowns, six extra arms appearing at his sides, each grasping a blade, indicating both that he ate a Devil Fruit and that he didn't intend to talk.

The blond one also frowns, but more sadly.

"We're Vice-Admirals Comil and Onigumo." He said, nodding in the direction of the dark haired to indicate who is who "I apologize for this, but we're going to take you down."

"Apologizing doesn't really help if you're still going to do it, you know?" I snorted back.

Vice-Admirals... Haaah, my smile could rip my face in half, my heart hasn't pumped like these since the third month of my fights with Bob. That was two years ago. Battles were the only exciting thing I did that I can remember, testing my powers was nice and a good time waster, but it didn't get my blood pumping like this.

I knew I should probably be afraid, or at least cautious, but through the bridge connected all the way to my far in the horizon Island, I could access feel and access the energy of an entire ecosystem.

Maybe it was the rush of having the power of an entire island behind me, maybe it was arrogance borne of being able to kill everything I had met so far with my plants, but I could only feel excitement.

"Well, nice to meet ya! Try not to die."

With that, my foot sank into the root beneath me, through it, I connected myself with all of the floral and fungal back at the isle, as the two Vice-Admirals rushed in.

Connected to the vast well of energy made from the massive photosynthesis of all the interconnected floral life of the entire island -along with a minor energy project here or there-, it was much easier to create plant life.

If this was an anime, this would be the part I screamed out "Nativity of a World of Trees!" Or something equally dramatic.

Full sized trees burst to life around the root over the ocean. The two Vice-Admirals, almost reaching me, with Comil being halfway through raising his sword for the strike, were washed away by the sea of trees that suddenly covered the actual sea.

I regretted not bringing the basket v.2 coat in my rush towards the first form of civilization I saw, I had enough plants compacted in there to just unfurl as much vegetation without having to actually create anything. In my excitment I hadn't expected a fight though.

The rushing, growing forest quickly covered the distance to the fleet, snaring the various ships. I could vaguely sense the various marines and Celestial Dragon guards fighting the predatory roots and branches.

Most didn't have much luck, the trees slowly overtaking the decks, not touching the insides of the ships yet. It's a Celestial Dragon, I'm sure there are slaves in there and I would rather not kill them by accident.

There was one marine keeping his ship -one of the dragon's escorts- mostly tree free, and two mask wearing guards -that I suspected were CP-0 agents- destroying any vegetation approaching the still dangling fat dragon. The World Noble just looked around as if it was all a interesting show.

With my senses connected to the growing and still multiplying trees I could see as Onigumo's eight arms relentlessly cut away the growing vegetation, slowly gaining back the ground he lost during the original burst of trees. Comil lost one of his swords during it, being unable to fight back in time the man locked himself in position for what I imagine was Tekkai.

At my command, a seed burst from one of the many vines and branches attempting to impale the blond Vice-Admiral, exploding into a cloud of gas a second after coming into contact with the air, the cloud covering the upper body and head of the marine.

The most powerful of my many attempts of copying or surpassing the deathtoads poison... no success there so far, but it was still pretty deadly.

I couldn't stop to see the effects of the poison, as I felt as Onigumo cut through the last large tree in his path to reach me, bulldozing his way through the smaller branches of the still growing forest of mangroves, ignoring the many small cuts.

I sank into the root bridge just as six arms cut the air where I previously was, moving through the root, I felt as the hard wood stopped two shots from the pistol wielding hands firing at my position. That's some good Observation.

Swimming through the root, I emerged from the trunk of one of the many growing trees trying to impale Comil, with the marine still holding to both his Tekkai and his breath to avoid impalement and breathing poison, respectively.

He probably had some poison training, as most of the cloud would still enter through his pores, enough for a normal man to at least pass out, likely die.

Emerging with a Haki covered spike of greybark wood in place my fist, I punched forward to puncture the chest of the Vice-Admiral.

It surprised me when he left his Tekkai position, twisting to face me in a second, the surrounding branches piercing the now softer muscle but still not reaching far, his musculature still in a half Tekkai hardness.

The trunk I was still half infused into pulled me back, allowing me to barely dodge backwards and avoid the haki infused swing of his remaining katana, cutting close enough to touch and cut through my armor, not touching flesh by millimeters.

There was no time for any counter attack, Onigumo flashed besides me in a static of Soru, the six katana holding arms moving to cut the tree I was currently in. Barely managing to throw myself downwards, avoiding the slice.

I rolled forwards as I fell, the everpresent surrounding vision around my plants allowed me to still follow my opponents movements, interrupting my roll to throw myself to the side to avoid a haki covered fist from Comil.

The second I fell back and my feet connected to the root, a trunk the thickness of one of the warships exploded into existence under Comil, stopping the Vice-Admiral from continuing his attack, sending him flying and -luckily- hurting him with the impact of the push.

I myself couldn't follow through with a attack on the now airborne marine, Onigumo once more covered for the opening, flashing into existence at my left, leaving behind the branches that were attacking him to show up with a six sword stab.

A branch grew beneath me, carrying me upwards, the stabbing swords sinking into the trunk of the growing branch, vines as strong as I could make growing around the sunken swords and the marine's hands.

I surfed it as it looped from growing upwards to turn around and descending to stab at the stuck Onigumo, focusing to cover the pointed tip of the surfboard/branch with Armament.

Being forced to dodge to the side at the last second, the whole branch twisting to avoid the missile that was a Geppo bound Comil, the man missing the branch but continuing downwards, shaking and almost breaking the bridge root in a half with his landing.

By then Onigumo had freed himself, cutting moving in a jump to stand besides his fellow Vice-Admiral.

Falling from the branch I had been surfing on, letting it go on to grow itself into one more tree for the new forest, I landed before the marines. There was a moment of quiet tension as the three of us stared off.

"Ha, hahaha, hahahahahaha! Hahahhahha!" Before I fell to ground in hysterical laughter.

It was probably the oddness of it that stopped the Vice-Admirals from attacking me while down. But I could sink into the root/ground if it came to it.

"...ha, ha... ha" Coming down from my laughing fit I slowly got up.

"Sorry, sorry." I said with a smile "fighting like this is just surprisingly fun."

Any attempt of testing my powers against the local fauna end up in instant victory. Hell, an attack of the same magnitude as this still growing forest would've killed all of Bob's large gorilla troop in a second.

Fighting had been the only really heart pumping thing I had to do at the island, and I've become rather fond of it, but all of my fights hadn't really been fights.

This was the first actual fight that I really couldn't solve in half a second, that my life was in actual danger. And in my four years of memories, I had never felt this alive.

My opponents weren't in a talking mood though. Instead of a good banter I was forced to play limbo, my upper body falling backwards to avoid the sword that would've bisected me in two.

A rush of vines from the ground root stopped the other five sword wielding arms of Onigumo from following, but couldn't stop the two shots, that clashed uselessly against my armor, the bullets falling to the ground with a quiet thud.

Taking advantage of the one second hesitation caused by the unexpected uselessness of his guns, I threw a Haki infused punch towards the Vice-Admiral's head, he managed to turn it to the side, barely dodging the punch.

Wasn't able to totally dodge the spike that sprouted for the side of my forearm though, twisting his body despite the roots still holding onto his arms and dodging most of it, but still leaving a large gash crossing over his face, barely missing his eyes.

Onigumo jumped back while trying to remove the blood from his eyes with one of his hands, before I could exploit his temporary blindness, I was forced to block a coming poke? Probably a Shingan, from Comil.

Grabbing the wrist of the stabbing hand with my left, three hands growing around my writs to solidify my hold, I projected several small, but sharp thorns throughout my now four hands, piercing through Comil's flesh before he could reinforce it through Haki or Tekkai.

He quickly covered his hands with Haki and removed them jumping back, the action leaving long gashes of open flesh where the thorns, already impeded into his wrist, ripped through even the haki invested skin.

He stumbled back, almost falling after landing. The long gashes along his right wrist and forearm would be worrying by themselves, but the main point of the thorns was the toxins embedded into its tips, made for a mixture pain and paralyzing.

I did try the venom on myself during my poison training against the frogs. Even after I stopped feeling much of the pain from it, either through developing my pain or my poison resistance, I could never move properly, no matter how many times I tried it.

And though I'm lazy, I'm also stubborn, I was paralyzed seizuring more than I would like to admit... I was bored and Bob is a terrible conversationalist, okay?

The Vice-Admiral showed his grit by managing to stay up, but I could see from his twitching hand and legs that the toxin was in and having an effect. Still impressive, I had only managed to somewhat move through the pain and stiff muscles after my 10th dose.

Jumping at the seizuring marine, I landed a quick sequences of punches, each leaving vines on the spots of the hits, the vines growing and encircling the marine, before I could finish my combo, I instinctively jumped up to avoid a six sword slash from the back.

It was at the air I realized my mistake. I fought close to the ground for a many reasons, it was easier to grow plants from the ground or existing plants (which are normally on the ground or are the ground in this case), I got energy from the being connected to plants (who are, again, normally at the ground) and, most importantly, I don't know Geppo, I can't move in the air.

With a desperate order to grow a tree directly beneath Onigumo, he was forced to use five of his eight arms to cut away the growing vegetation. The other three were unfortunately available to stab at me with.

For a second I thought about whether it was worth the risk of creating a methane full plant grenade analogue to literally blow me away or maybe trying that plant wing idea I thought it too stupid to be worth it before. Sadly, I didn't think to think that I didn't have time to think.

I was barely able to put up a haki and quickly made graybark armor covered forearm to redirect the blade that would've stabbed me between the eyes. Focused on that, I could do nothing as the other two haki infused blades pierced through my chest and kidney.

There was a flash of white of pain, followed by an instinctual desire to kill the source of said pain.

The root beneath me responded to that desire with the surge of two thick wooden walls rising as if jaws from the ground to swallow Onigumo, the Vice-Admiral was able to react putting up a guard with his eight swords, ripping the blades stuck into me in the process, by slicing his way out.

I was barely able to push enough wood and Haki into the left side of my chest to force Onigumo to rip his way through the right, avoiding my heart. Still hurt like a bitch, and I'm pretty sure he took half of my kidney.

Falling to the ground like a sack of potatoes once no longer impaled, vines and wood covered me when I touched the ground root, closing my wounds and filling nutrients, vitamins and all the good stuff into me.

With his eight swords free and covered in Haki, he shredded the wooden jaws. It didn't matter, the real attack was the white cloud released from within the destroyed wood.

Though I was too distracted with saving my heart and trying not to pass out as the root fueled in everything I needed to heal into me, my powers had reacted to my wish by using the most lethal of my experiments so far.

I was barely able to feel the gush of wind as the Vice-Admiral swung his swords with enough force to wash away the cloud of fungal spores. His yell of pain a second later proved it was too late though.

Through almost closing eyes I was able to see the flesh slowly disappear from his right shoulder and left hip, a white wave growing from it, devouring the Vice-Admiral. His attempts of patting away the tide only made his hands be eaten faster.

It was the mostly deadly of my experiments so far, the flesh eating fungus. It grew exponentially, being capable of clearing a large Sea King in under 10 minutes. I hadn't used so far because I hoped to capture most people alive... And I was having way more fun than I expected in that fight.

I watched, unable to turn away, but worryingly impassive, as my opponent was dissolved alive in front of me, his screams ringing through the otherwise silent forest.

As his picked clean white bones fell to ground I was finally able to look away from that train wreck. Closing my eyes for a second from the sudden tiredness that came after my impalement, I opened them quickly as the screaming half melted face of Onigumo flashed in my eyelids. Well... that sucks.

Closing my eyes once again, I forced away the images of melting half spider men, and focused on the plants around me. I could properly panic over killing someone after all of this was dealt with.

Thankfully, as my mind was busy seeing through my plants, it was easier to ignore the screams that still echoed at the back of my head.

Comil, the other Vice-Admiral, was still encased in the now cocoon of steel strong vines. With a quick though some of the vines grew roots that pierced into him and started sucking away nutrients, nothing that would kill him, but I didn't want him to be strong and healthy if he somehow got out.

The Celestial Dragon was still at the railing, no longer dangling, probably because we were no longer in sight of the ship, the canopy of the forest I created to fight the Vice-Admirals covering the battleground. Still protected by the mask wearing man and woman.

The marine that managed to protect his ship from the first wave of trees, red hair with a thick darker red mustache, had moved to the deck of a second warship escort, helping free the ensnared marines and the ship.

Through the roots and vines growing into and connecting with the wood of the ship, slowly turning the ships into living constructs, I was able to sense inside of it. One of the escort ships cargo hold held some 30 so people in a space way to enclosed and small to be marines, probably slaves.

There was also steel cages holding some 5 people at the Celestial Dragon ship itself, plus who knows how many walking around but with bomb collars.

Good, good. Not the slavery of course, but the distraction, the objective was something I needed right now.

Trying and failing to force the screams further back in my head, I slowly got up.

"Huuuuurgh" Just like I had never felt as alive as moments before, I had never felt so shitty as right now.

The bleeding had stopped, the wounds were visibly closing and I could feel the roots pumping me up with anastelgic narcotics, nutrients and vitamins. Despite that, everything still hurt.

Barely able to sit up, I gave up on properly getting up when the stab of pain made see black. I think I passed out for a second.

I knelt with my hands on the ground, knees and hands sinking into the root beneath me. If can't force this frustration away, might as well use for something useful.

Able to properly focus now that I wasn't being attacked by two soldiers of the highest ranking of the world's military, a second burst of trees rose from the ground, faster and larger than before.

The marine ships, barely fighting off the attacking roots and branches before, weren't able to cope as the branches suddenly grew in speed, size and strength with me focusing.

The wine red mustache guy was barely able to keep the ship he was on afloat. His original, abandoned, ship being swallowed be the trees, the marines inside having to fight snaring branches and vines from every direction.

With some luck I would be able to end the rest of the fight here from my newly made forest, without any more casualties or injuries.

*Inside the Celestial Dragon's ship, The Scylla*

Kisame swore for whatever countless time it was in his brain, his mouth being muffled by a steel gag, the rest of his body held immobile by steel chains encircling him against a Adam Wood table.

Only a Celestial Dragon would be vain and rich enough to make slave holding pens with Adam Wood.

The Great White Shark Fishman tried once again to wiggle some freedom out of these chains. The effort being, once again, useless.

Kisame had been trying since his capture, how ever many days it had been. He was hungry enough that it couldn't have been just one, and they came to throw water at him enough times that he suspected something between fifteen to twenty days.

It didn't matter. He would endure, he would survive even if just long enough to sink his teeth into the neck of the damn worm calling itself a dragon that thought could own him. He would almost definitely be killed the second he did it, but he would die with a smile.

Preparing for the wiggle attempt number 1000th, he was taken from his routine as the ship shook violently, briskly tipping to the right.

The table he was chained to, while heavy enough he couldn't move without leverage and at his position, was still sent flying. It hit the bars with enough strength that something in the table broke, its right side loosening and bending in a way that gave Kisame's arms way too much room to be safe.

He didn't know or care right now if the force of the impact was stronger than he thought or if someone sold the Dragon fake Adam Wood for it to break easily like this.

With enough space for a proper stance, the fishman was able to use his legs in a semi Fishman-Karate move to break the remaining steel chain links, freeing his body from the bent table. Unable to brute force his hands out of the solid thick steel shackles.

Taking some time to test his muscles and adapt to his new mobility, he just needed to think on how to either escape or kill at least one marine before being taking down now.

"Fish!"

Instinctively looking up at the derogatory name so often used against his species, he expected to see the Celestial Dragon guard responsible for the cells coming angrily at him.

Not to briefly see said guard coming flying at his cell as if thrown, hitting the cell bars head first.

He didn't allow the strangeness to stop him, he jumped the guard before he could get away from the cell bars, the two hands held together by the steel manacle barely able to reach the sides of the head of the guard.

The first pull hit the head of the guard against the sea stone cells with enough force to dazzle, the second with enough strength to open flesh and leave him unconscious, the third hit opened the back of the guard's head in a splurge of gore.

The blood and brain mater staining his hands didn't give Kisame a pause as he pulled the corpse closer to the cells to reach for the keychains.

If anyone wonders why he didn't use the clone, it was because he's still training in fighting with it. Not something you try out in your first serious fight.

And the flesh eating fungi, a bit overpowered, yes. But it can be stopped and it won't work against logias or Yonko level fighters (apparently Big Mom is sword proof, so I'm going with Yonko/Garp level people just having strong enough bodies to not be eaten).

SPOILER

For anyone worried about the Celestial Dragon surviving with the MC wanting to take everyone alive. Chill, plans don't always work out.

The "Fish!" thing was another inmate/slave, having her POV later.