Times Of Peace III

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Chapter 128: Times Of Peace III

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If there was a promise Yovan would never break, it was the promise of hell, of making sure his crew works hard.

The fabric of his being and his entire mentality is the sewing of hard work to a hellish degree, speaking to how much he values it.

The Strangers got to experience it thoroughly because these were times of peace... For the rest of the world.

The isolated Island looked very different than it did months ago, most notably, the cyclone around it... It became a cyclone of feathers, dark feathers.

It created quite the scenery of the darkness surrounding the Island, moving around like a hurricane of pure beauty.

The Island, on the other hand, looked clean, spotless with bubbles floating about, the faintest speck of dirt, they'd latch upon.

Seizon No Hono was resting right at the center. It was still the Strangers' resting place, and its surroundings looked especially nice.

The Strangers made sure not to mess around near the Ship, thus why the battle was currently taking place far away, right at the edge of the Island.

"You either need more speed or stealth. Your devil fruit powers work especially well with range," Yovan calmly said as he 'lightly' kicked away Viola.

"As for you, Laffitte, your songs are pretty much useless against those of great willpower, and you won't be able to blind my Observation Haki." Yovan vanished, appearing behind Laffitte.

"Not so easy," Kaku murmured as he appeared before Yovan in the blink of an eye, bringing down his swords upon Yovan, all while releasing slashes with his legs, Rankyaku.

The Veil of Haki coated feathers that spurted before him didn't discourage Kaku, especially as Kalifa showed herself on the other side along with Bege, surrounding Yovan from all sides.

So why did they hit nothing? Well, because instead of Yovan, there was a small crow, appearing in the perfect place to avoid all of their attacks, even the bullet shot by the still conscious Viola.

Yovan appeared again in their midst, his hands situated perfectly to allow Kaku and Kalifa to slap themselves with it, and they were ruthless hardened hands.

The only one able to evade the brunt of Yovan's ruthlessness was Bege who turned into a tiny fortress, "Ouch," Yovan murmured as he looked up at Reiju, receiving her kicks head-on.

"If you find a way to mix your poison with your kicks in a way that matters, then perhaps I would feel your kicks," Yovan shrugged as he caught her leg.

"Aghh! You told me that many times. How many times do I have to tell you that I already achieved that??!" Reiju shouted as she pushed herself up, bringing her other leg upon Yovan.

"In a way that matters were my point," Yovan responded, scattering into feathers to avoid not only her kick but also Viola's bullets, Bege's cannonballs, and Kalifa's hardened balls of anger.

"Hey!" Yovan said with a smile, appearing right before Laffitte.

"EHHH!! Why targetting onl..." He found a kick planted on his face, sending him flying away.

"Because your songs irk me," Yovan responded before scattering again, and soon, sounds of pain reverberated throughout the place.

This is pretty much a ritual to the Strangers at this point, having to find a way to hurt Yovan, but being the rat that he is, they rarely touch him.

Hell, even if they touch him, all they would hear were calm, "Ouch." Every fucking time.

They, on the other hand, felt his punches and slaps, leaving them all bruised up after every fight. He made sure to beat the shit out of them.

But across all of their battles for the past months, there was something consistent, how they end.

All the Strangers are either unconscious or on the brink of losing consciousness on the ground, minus Yovan and Kaku.

The end of the battle always declares the start of the fight as Yovan finally unsheathed his blade, "Enyo, good morning." Enyo lit up in a response to his gentle words.

Kaku squeezed his swords, ignoring the aching of pain he felt through his body because this was what he looked forward to every single day, a battle in the way of the sword.

The scenery changed instantly as the two found themselves right before each other, their blades clashing, Enyo against Kaku's two swords, all blades coated in Haki.

Clash after clash, leaving the ground beneath them sliced up merely due to the pressure of their clash, air slashes traveling all about.

One thing was for certain, Kaku was much faster than Yovan. The use of his Devil Fruit to perfection made such a feat a reality, such are the powers of the mechanical force of compression.

He was faster than Yovan even though the latter was using Hasshoken as a propeller. However, Yovan wasn't using either his awakening or scattering.

He set limits to himself, seeking a battle of pure swordsmanship, the only reason Kaku isn't unconscious at the moment.

Kaku's amazement never ceased, not when he sees the abominable that's Yovan's swordsmanship with a blade that can fly about and arms that can twist beyond what's normal to block attacks from behind.

He got to see and hear Yovan's bones crack and twist and his waist fully bent down, not only deflecting his attacks but also releasing ones of his own.

What Kaku found the most troublesome, however, is when Yovan uses his own force against him, redirecting the brunt of Kaku's two swords back to him. It was almost magical.

[The Way Of The Blade: 1869/∞]

However, just like always, it's Kaku that ends up on the ground, almost entirely exhausted, mostly because he's already beaten up from the all-out battle against Yovan.

"Aghh, I hate peace," Yovan murmured as he fell on his butt, not out of tiredness, but out of boredom.

He hates to say it, well, he loves to say it, but he misses pain, especially since Kalifa makes sure to suck away his pain every day with her powers.

"Oh? You two, Enyo? Yahahaha, we're very alike." Yovan laughed aloud. Enyo didn't share his enjoyment of pain but of blood, being bathed in blood.

"I guess I delayed it for long enough," Yovan jumped to his feet again, releasing a deep breath.

"Just what are you thinking again??" Said Kalifa who looked clean and very energetic. She's honestly his biggest headache, always watching over him to make sure he doesn't go too far.

She was made more troublesome by her ability to wash away her exhaustion along with the exhaustion of others. Hell, she can even clean the entire Island with a wave of her hand.

"Amm, you see, I just want to make a new friend," Yovan answered after a bit of contemplation.

"And what kind of friend are we talking about?" Kalifa further questioned.

"A drunkard? Nothing special." Yovan shrugged, taking a step back.

"He's lying," Viola pointed out with a victorious smirk, "He's looking for blood."

"She's mistaken. I'm looking to share blood red wine, not real blood," Yovan corrected her.

"Oh, too bad," Laffitte murmured, feeling his exhaustion and pain slipping away from him, sucked by a bubble floating right by him.

Kalifa turned her head to Viola, awaiting confirmation, but she only got a shake of a head as well as a facepalm from Bege, leading her to eye Yovan again... There was no Yovan there anymore.

He disappeared, leaving behind a bunch of feathers, and the Strangers could only facepalm.

"Umm, I think I know the friend he's talking about," Viola said with a strange expression. Just before he disappeared, she saw something, something that gave it away, "Kaido?"

"Huh?"

"..."

"..."

"???"

"Some of a bitch! Take me with yoouuuu!!!" Laffitte's reaction was... Envy.

Kaidou of the Beasts, renowned as the world's "Strongest Creature", is the Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates and one of the Four Emperors that rule over the New World.

That was Yovan's goal. New World is extremely vast, so despite his ridiculous speed, it still took him more than a day to reach his destination, Wano Country.

It's a country in the New World that is not affiliated with the World Government, occupied by the Beasts Pirates as their territory.

His destination was specifically an Island not far from Wano, a region of the country called Onigashima, the place where the beast pirates' base was built.

It's a mountainous island that seems to be very difficult to access outside the front gate, which connects directly to the sea, allowing ships to sail in.

The waters surrounding the island seemed lined with whirlpools along with thunderstorms, making reaching the Island relatively difficult.

Yovan, however, simply flew directly above the Island in his crow form, only taking his hybrid form once he landed, confusion apparent on his face right away, "Hey?"

"Hey?"

"Where is Kaido? Why is the Island vacant?" Yovan casually asked someone standing right before him.

"Mm, they went out looking for the Pantheon and someone by the title of the Stranger."

"Huh? Well, fuck."