One Piece: Path to Power

[2000 words]

[People found the word 'Utter Ruination' weird (idk why) so I changed it to 'Utter Decimation'.] ​​

*[If you read this as soon as it is published then you may need to refresh for the images to load, as I have to post them one by one. And there are quite a few in this chap.]

[https://discord.gg/A2KQAkyCvm]

^I post tags for every chapter upload + all the pics I have added so far!

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"What is it, kid?" Whitebeard asks in mild curiosity.

Kaido also seems interested in the news as he plopped onto the ground.

"Hehe, looks like they couldn't wait any longer! We're on the front page. They even put a price on our heads, Rahaha!" I laughed out.

"Oh? What does it read?" The tall 'beardless' man asked.

I started summarizing the words:

"Notorious group of pirates attacks Water-7. Marine Vice Admiral Garp and Marine Admiral Basara deployed to repel them."

I then went to the next paragraph.

"The navy successfully pushed the criminals away, all the while saving Water-7 from imminent destruction!"

"WORORORO! Funny." Kaido roared as he heard the false inflation.

I continued, "Notorious individuals that have been tracked from the West Blue have recently grown in strength, forcing the Navy to list them with large bounties."

"The unofficial group led by the pirate Rocks D. Xebec is responsible for many destroyed islands, thousands of lives of marines lost, and just as many civilians."

Whitebeard squinted his eyes and snorted, "Cheh, marines and their crap. They bend the truth as much as they can."

I chuckled, "Maa maa, Newgate-Ossan if news got out that the marines had their asses handed to them, the navy would be the laughingstock over the seas!"

Kaido laughed as another voice came out from below.

"XAHAHA, that Kong must be pissing his pants to actually put a price on my head." Xebec arrived.

He walked up and sat down, we formed a wide circle, each of us grinning.

"As for the bounties..." I smiled and placed the papers down in front of them.

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A picture of a man with wild, dark red dreadlocks extending from all directions, all the while grinning like a devil as his tongue fell loose out of his mouth.

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

< ROCK⋅D⋅XEBEC >

< 'The Great Sin' >

< ? 2,620,700,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

[Poster Image]

-------

Another poster with a man with long blond hair running down his back with a black bandana tied upon his head. He had a rather long face with a rather prominent chin.

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

< EDWARD NEWGATE >

< 'The Earth-Shaker' >

< ? 1,370,500,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

[Poster Image]

-------

The following page had a young, beautiful woman winking her right eye, a cigarette in her hand.

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

< SHAKUYAKU >

< 'Black Death Shakky' >

< ? 680,550,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

[Poster Image]

-------

Another poster was shown with a muscular youth with a short black beard and 2 large horns coming out of his head. He had his arms crossed with a frown. A red scale-like tattoo on his left chest went down to his arm.

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

< KAIDO >

< 'Kaido of The Beasts' >

< ? 461,110,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

[Poster Image]

-------

And on the last poster on the list was another youth with a rather handsome appearance. Crimson eyes shined as he gazed into the camera, with his back and red hair gently floating in the wind.

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

< EINAR⋅D⋅DAMIEN >

< 'Sin Incarnate' >

< ? 487,600,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

[Poster Image]

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"XAHAHAHA! 'The Great Sin' eh? I like it!" Xebec roared out.

"Gurarara, these numbers are too low for you, Xebec," Whitebeard commented.

Shakky who somehow appeared beside me smiled,

"Well, they do dictate the numbers based on what the public knows. If they put any more, the people might not believe it." She said.

I nodded, "As of now the public only knows of the 'Water-7 Incident' and the 'Freedom Isles Snooze Incident'. Based on that they gave out these numbers."

[A/N: Freedom Isles Snooze Incident was when Xebec knocked every citizen on that island out back in chapter 11]

I then furrowed my eyebrows, "But what is this 'Sin Incarnate' thing? When did I become such a villain?"

Whitebeard replied, "Gurarara kid, your red eyes and red hair with your red fruit makes you look quite scary when you float in the sky."

"I'm assuming they are taking you to be Xebec's apprentice as well... Ufufu." Shakky chuckled.

"Tch."

Another voice cried out in anger, "What is this shit! Why is my price the lowest?!"

Kaido was frowning as he glared at his poster.

I couldn't help but laugh considering his current face was the exact same as the one on the poster,

"RAHAHAHA! Kaido, I am worth more than you." I rubbed it in.

"TCH! Fight me, Damien!" He roared out as his battle-lust was released.

"XAHAHAHA! Don't worry so much. It's only because you are not a fruit user. But once we get to where we are sailing, these numbers are bound to go up..." Xebec said as he disappeared from the training platform.

I raised my eyebrow and asked, "Wait, where are we headed? I probably slept through that meeting."

Shakky didn't look away from the newspaper as she answered,

.

"Sabaody Archipelago."

.

My eyes widened, "How does the Old Bastard treat the Dragons?" I asked with excitement.

Whitebeard looked at me.

"GURARARA! Last time he ripped one of their intestines out and used it as a noose to hang another."

He then shook his head, "This was before the Navy started tracking our route... so they thought it was some foolish pirate and sent Basara, thinking that it was an overkill."

He then smirked.

"But Basara had to run away with 2 scars on his face from Xebec! GURARARA!"

Shakky chimed in, "And they had to hide the event of course. 2 Nobles killed and an Admiral repelled? Like they would publicize that."

'Hmm, I hope to find the News HQ soon, that way I can bring out these buried stories... MWAHAHAHA!' I came up with my diabolical scheme.

----- 10 Days Later --------------------------

It's been a while since we left Water-7, ten days since I dueled Kaido.

Over the days I did fight Whitebeard once... I lost in 2 minutes. The man can see my every move with his haki, all he needs to do is slam the air with his fist and hit me where I am about to move to.

'My haki needs a lot of training.'

Coming to that conclusion I did start separate training for it.

I asked Shakky to swing a metal bat while I was blindfolded to improve my sense.

'Yeah... ouch.'

After getting a few dodges, she would slightly increase the pace and bash me twice as hard.

Due to that:

[Your Observation Haki has increased to (Mid-Intermediate Mastery)]

.

Of course, I fought Kaido many times as well, polishing my hardening.

[Your Armament Haki has increased to (Mid-Intermediate Mastery)]

.

My field of Observation went from 20 meters in diameter to around 25 meters. But the real boon was the finer detail I sensed. Before it was simple intent, now I could envision far more.

As for Armament, it just became denser, coating-wise. The damage increased a bit as well.

Fruit wise, naturally it was going well, I feel like I am at the peak of the low-intermediate, every breakthrough in sublevel greatly boosts my power.

So with all these, it is nice to see this notification.

[Your strength level has reached Mid-Tier Yonko Commander. Congratulations! Please claim pending completed quests.]

"Right, I do have a few of those waiting, bring them up, Sibyl," I recalled.

[About time...]

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

[Quest Log]

[Reach Mid Tier Yonko Commander - Rewards: 8200 SP (COMPLETED)]

[Reach (Intermediate Mastery) over your Devil Fruit - Rewards: 5000 SP, Fruit Locator Gadget (COMPETED)]

-----

[NEW {WORLD-LEVEL} QUEST UNLOCKED]

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

"Nice points! As for the gadget, it's what I need for my Cloning-type fruit, sweet. Claim the rewards Sibyl, I'll look at the quest in a second." I told her.

[2 Quests Complete - Rewards: 13200 SP, Fruit Locator Gadget]

.

A small circular plate appeared in my hand.

-----

[Fruit Locator Gadget]

[Will point in the direction of a chosen devil fruit. Will only locate uneaten devil fruits.]

[Can merge with {Map}]

-----

I frown a bit as I look at the description, 'I guess I can only hope it's uneaten..'

"Merge it, by the way," I said in my head.

[Gadget Merged to {MAP}]

Sibyl's voice sounded in my head.

"Check for cloning type devil fruits, Sibyl."

[One second.]

[...]

A weird tune came on as she continued to search.

'Did she just put me on hold?'

Then her voice came back, 2 minutes later.

[You're in luck, I found one that suits your need. Here's the description: ]

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

**[Split Split Fruit (Bunretsu Bunretsu no Mi)]

[Paramecia Fruit | Release Type]

[Fruit Rating: ?????]

[Creates a clone with 80% overall strength of the user, can create clones based on total strength]

**[Due to mimicking the fruit, the max clones created will be quite small]

[Clones created can be used to gain experience in skills]

[Can send your conscience to a clone, but your main body will enter stasis]

[User becomes a Splitting Human]

.

[A/N: I said this once before, it wont be like Naruto who pops thousands of clones to fight... it's more or less for convenience as a secondary persona and training.]

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

I nod at the stats and then become shocked, "So this is like Shadow-clone Jutsu, the most broken technique in Naruto!"

However a voice interjects,

[If you choose to use the clone to train, I'm afraid only 1 clone would work. Naruto's clones run on his enormous chakra, whereas your clone will run on your strength at the time of cloning. So I would only expect 3-5 clones at your strength.]

[Furthermore, since you intend to [Mimic] this fruit, the overall effect will probably lower it to 2 or 3 clones max.]

I go over her words and frown, "You are quite the party pooper, Sibyl."

[?‍♀️]

I'm not sure how but I just saw an emoji appear in my head after my words.

*SIGH*

"Explain the conscience thing please," I asked her.

[Essentially put, a clone will have its own will. Though it will follow your orders, you will only get its history after you dispel it. However, you can send your main conscience to any clone, but this would leave your main body in stasis.] She explained in a plain voice.

"I see... Is there a way to remedy this? I cannot, in any circumstance, actually send my conscience like that... it's too risky." I frown as I try to think of a way to fix the problem.

[Yes, I suggest you visit the store and buy the skill (Parallel Thinking).] She offered.

[It will allow you to think from multiple perspectives, which you can send to your clone(s). Allowing you to be in 2 or more places at the same time. Both physically and mentally.]

"Oh! Nice."

I then ask in a curious tone, "Is the fruit nearby?"

[If only it were that simple... It's in the West Blue somewhere.]

"Tch, well I can't go there right now, I'll have to do that later. Even if someone eats it, I can have a few birds keep track of them."

-----

"Show me the new quest then."

[Here it is: ]

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

[The Quest "Liberation" has been unlocked.]

[Liberation - You have deemed the 'Gods' of this world as tyrants of the sea!]

[Fulfil your words and liberate the pitiful slaves locked up in Mariejois.]

[Your goal is to banish slavery entirely and overthrow the Celestial Dragons System.]

[Rewards: ???]

[Time Limit: None]

[Penalty: None]

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

'Right, it's the one I muted when I scolded Dragon. Makes sense. It's something I will definitely try to accomplish. Though it is quite a way's away.'

'Naturally, to reach the pinnacle of this world I will have to defeat 'that' person who rules from 'that' throne... The World Nobles are in the way, and their practices are disgusting. I will cleanse Mariejois with their blood!'

I declare as I nod, going over the quest, it aligning with everything I wish to do is truly a boon.

"Speaking of quests... my main quest is to gather 6 others. So far I have 2 people I will surely try to recruit. I wonder how it'll go..."

I then jump out of bed as a voice comes from the deck.

.

"COME UP BRAT! WE MADE IT TO SABAODY!"

.

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[The following is excluded from word count]

Author's Corner:

Well damn, off to Sabaody and then the New World.

Timeline-wise, after maybe a small arc beyond Sabaody, will be a change in setting.

Then it will root to a special event, probably going to last a while with many OP people coming together.

After that will be Hachinosu and then God Valley.

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Random Trivia:

Would you rather be transported permanently 50 years into the future or 50 years into the past?

Thanks for Reading!