One Piece: Path to Power

[2074 words]

They say if you upload short chapters of barely 500 words every day then you can increase viewership by a lot... ​​

Flashback talks are italicized and enclosed with .... //.

.

Should I make an AUX chapter with Damien's moveset?

Have been adding a lot of new moves recently.

https://discord.gg/A2KQAkyCvm

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[Domain of the Gods, Mariejois]

[A/N: Image]

.

A reasonably tall youth was walking around, wearing casual yet fitted black clothes with a marine coat draped over his shoulders.

He was around 7'3 in height, had short, spiky black hair and a serious expression.

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The youth was currently spanning his Observation Haki all over the area nearby.

In doing so, a scrunched-up expression emerged on his face.

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He grits his teeth in anger as he envisioned the atmosphere many meters below the surface.

He sees a large open area held up by solid pillars with hundreds of slaves doing various works.

Some were forced to push the 'auto-walk' which was anything but automatic.

A moment of rest meant a sharp pain on one's back as the guards would whip them mercilessly.

Food breaks were awarded for 10 minutes, they were given literal slop and dirty water to function for 16 hours a day and sleep the rest.

The bathroom was just a hole in the ground at the corner of the cave, with no privacy whatsoever.

The men pushed the flat escalator while the few women were there to 'relieve' the guards when they so desire.

---

The youth was shaking in anger as he continued to hear the voices, the screams, the cries of desperation as they were abused and exploited, endlessly.

The young marine could only clench his fists in anger as he continued his duty, though his emotions were causing dark clouds to form above the area.

.

He was called here to escort a World Noble to an island in the North Blue, against his desires of course.

The marine then recalled the words of the Fleet Admiral a while back.

"Boy! I am sending you to Mariejois. Your orders are to escort a young Noble to Mellow Island." Kong commander.

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"Gensui-dono, bu- "

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His words fell on deaf ears as the large man only turned stricter.

.

"You have your order, Rear Admiral Dragon."

//

Dragon could only sigh in regret as he was forced to come here.

He had of course heard of these terrible conditions the slaves were subjected to but never seen it with his own eyes.

His father, Vice Admiral Garp, had warned him against thinking too much, and that it would only hurt him further by doing so.

And so he did. For 16 years he never stepped foot on the Holy Land and even the Fleet Admiral understood his plight due to the words of his father.

But recently Dragon had started to perform poorly, his mind seemed to be somewhere else ever since the 'Water-7 Incident' that occurred 7 months ago.

Kong had noticed it, yet let him continue for a while but after the recent chaos, he no longer could turn a blind eye.

He needed to straighten out the boy and chose to send him to the place he detested the most.

Garp tried to speak up on his behalf but Dragon simply shook his head and did as he was told.

-----

While waiting at the 'Celestial Dragon Gate' for the Noble, certain words were echoing in his mind, the words of a pirate, at that.

"? ?????? ????? ?? ???? ?? ????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ??? ????????? ?? ???!"

"???? ????, ???? ??? ??????? ????????? ?????????."

"??? ??? ????? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ???? ????? ???? '???????' ??????? ?? ???? ?????!!"

...

"??? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ???????."

"????? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?? ???????????? ??????? ?? ??? ??????!"

//

Dragon was lost.

Lost in purpose.

He always thought that justice would prevail.

His father was a living legend.

His father's colleagues were monsters themselves.

.

So where... where is the justice?

The justice for the weak. The justice for the oppressed. The justice for the persecuted.

.

These concepts were chewing away his mind, and over the past 7 months, he had thought about it greatly.

He even found an interesting child a while back

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-----[2 Months Ago]-------------------------

Dragon was completing a mission in the West Blue, walking to the nearby marine base.

.

He then heard the sound of a child in the alley.

Walking over, he nudged the weeping kid.

The child had a purple afro and a rather large face and a disproportionate body.

"Hey kid, why are you crying? Are you hurt?" He asked.

.

The kid looked up with his large eyes and said,

"I used a little too much energy... my anemia...I'm...I'm..."

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Dragon furrowed his brows in worry, "You need help to get up?"

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"I'm fiiiine!"

The boy jumped up and posed with his arms pointing up to the sky.

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Dragon was not amused.

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"You look, malnourished kid. Where are your parents?" he asked.

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"Dead. Vi live alone. The other kids never play with me. They think vi am creepy with vmy big head and weird body...*Sniff*, I told them that people should be whatever they want but they laughed." The boy cried.

.

"Hmm, I see. My name is Dragon, why don't you tell me more about yourself?" He asked.

This sentence alone triggered a smile on the boy's face as they started a friendship.

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Dragon found the boy quite interesting. He was strong in faith in his beliefs yet the world laughed at him.

Sometimes being different was a curse on its own.

.

Since then he and the boy named Ivankov began a friendship. Dragon would visit him from time to time.

He found Ivankov's actions amusing, his contradictory phrases and the odd poses, both brought a smile to his face.

He sympathized with the boy's struggle but couldn't do much to change the opinions of the public, so tried to cheer him up himself.

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While lost in thoughts of anger and comfort, Dragon senses movement.

.

*CREAK*

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The ginormous doors slowly open as the embedded jewels shine in the morning sun.

[A/N: The Celestial Dragon Gate Image]

.

5 or so Cipher Pol agents walk out alongside their escort.

It was a young boy that was seated upon a large man.

The man, or so the slave, was on all four limbs as he crawled forwards at a steady pace while the younger Noble sat comfortably on top.

In the hands of the Noble were 3 chains that pulled 3 young girls forwards.

The 3 had no expression as if they were broken dolls. They had the beauty of future stars yet the voided faces showed nothing but desire to die.

*Rattle*

The chains rattled as the slave walked forth and stopped before Dragon.

Though the marine's face was shaking in anger as he saw the display before them.

On one hand, Dragon recalled his father's word to look the other way.

On the other, he heard the words of the young pirate he fought half a year ago.

.

His heart urged him one thing, his duty, another.

.

"Saint Roswald-sama is to be escorted to Mellow Island. We will accompany you, Rear Admiral Dragon."

Due to the recent chaos by the Rocks Pirates in killing 3 Nobles, the CP-Agency had stepped up their security.

Whether it was with Vivre cards or stricter security, it was all covered.

.

Dragon could only relent, though his mind was getting cloudier and cloudier.

A storm was swirling at his heart, ready to wreak havoc all over.

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"Very well." Dragon said as he moved to the ship.

.

In his heart, he had finally learned the truth of this world.

'Justice will always prevail? Of course, it will. Because only the strong can dictate the meaning of justice while the weak have no choice but to surrender.'

---

The path Kong chose for Dragon was to force him to adopt the proper demeanour of his rank, to break him with the truth of the world.

Yet it was starting to yield opposite results.

.

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[At a Well-Developed Island, Paradise Sea]

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A young girl wearing a purple cloak and a purple hood could be seen dancing in the shadows of a well-developed island.

She was currently going around, checking the conditions of the land.

She seemed to be scouting the entire island from the darkness.

Her fruit power was indeed perfect for her job.

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"I have finally arrived back home." She said with a soft sigh.

.

"Everything is so... different." She said with some reluctance and nostalgia.

The people were living in decent condition, but not exactly living happily.

.

"To think those smiles and laughs I heard while growing up could become so void and silent."

"That man... I will make him regret what he did. That family... the navy... they all are responsible."

Aurora was angry.

Her people had their happiness stolen. She could not fix that. She lost her 'princess' attitude a long time ago. The only thing left was desperation to avenge her fallen loved ones.

Hunting down pirates to pay another to aid in her revenge. That was her goal.

Yet along the way she met someone who changed her from within.

He woke her up from her foolishness.

She actually trusted an Underworld Emperor in her desperation.

Was this not a sign of resigning to her wish?

A final leap of faith, which she subconsciously knew would end in her doom, her heart had already given up at that point.

She fooled herself. She survived something she should not have. And then she started to walk an empty path.

.

Then her prey-turned-guide, a pirate, woke her up.

She recalled his words. Ones that allowed her to widen her horizons.

"?????? ??? ?????? ?? ? ??????? ?? ???????, ??? ??? ??????."

//

She could only shake in remorse when she heard Damien's words.

Unaware of the fact that he just shamelessly copied another man's words.

.

Aurora thought she survived for a simple reason, to avenge her family.

.

Yet the red-eye youth changed her perspective on everything.

The 6 months she spent with him was her happiest and most fulfilling.

She did something she thought she had lost over the years of grief.

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She smiled.

She laughed at his odd jokes.

She was happy.

.

He told her that there was nothing wrong with avenging her family. But to devote your entire existence to such a desire will only pain oneself while bringing a smile to the culprit.

And worst of all, it would only further sadden her deceased family, if they were still alive.

With that engraved in her heart, she trained endlessly.

She grew in more ways the one. She understood far more.

.

Aurora was a bit sad as she had not seen her only real companion in a long time.

Though she wore a smile under her mask.

All due to the wanted poster she found a few days ago.

.

She will kill the traitorous minister alongside the family of the new royal family.

Her path was still of revenge, yes.

But after meeting that boy, she no longer wished for her path to end there as well.

She decided to live for one more thing.

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[6 Months Later]

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Half a year has passed since the 'Sin Incarnate' had gone into a routine of training.

The pirates who had seen his workout could only gape in shock, the intensity, the rigorousness, the harshness of the workouts was through the roof.

They knew for sure that their bodies, minds and souls would have lost their light had they attempted such a dreadful routine.

-----

[Marineford]

While Damien was wrapping up his training and preparing to leave for his new mission, a storm was currently blowing around the main Marine base of operations.

.

Thousands of marines were running around as countless cannons and weapons were loaded on huge battleships.

They were under a new order to expand their naval fleet to combat the growing chaos that ensued in the New World.

Though another problem had emerged, much to the Gorosei's displeasure.

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[Fleet Admiral's Office]

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Currently, there were 5 marines seated.

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The Fleet Admiral sat at his desk.

The seating on the left was taken by 3 people.

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Admiral Basara and Admiral Sengoku sat with a serious expression.

There was also the third Admiral who was sitting across from them with a cup of tea.

They were talking about how to move forwards with the orders of the 5 Elders.

Garp was also there, but he was in his own world, munching on his endless supply of rice crackers.

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Though at that time, the doors blew open as a Vice Admiral ran in with a very solemn expression.

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"G-Gensui-dono!" He saluted.

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"What is it?" Kong asked.

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"U-Um..."

"We just received a report from G-5 in the New World..."

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His words drew the attention of the 5 monsters seated in the office.

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The Vice Admiral gulped as he finished his report. Though his voice only grew heavier upon every word.

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"We have confirmed that the 'Evil Sprit' Charlotte Linlin has set up a meeting with the Overlord Thaddeus Enigma in 5 days' time!"

.

.

.

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"NANI!"?

.

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[The following is excluded from word count]

Author's Corner:

Big Mom's original epithet was 'Evil Spirit' btw.

As for why she's meeting Enigma? There is a reason.

Recall that Big Mom hired Ceasar for a reason and she also has her dream, that will come up soon.

Thanks for reading!

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Random Trivia:

Would you rather have a job that pays $90 an hour but lets you work from home or a job that pays $150 an hour but requires you to be physically present?

Thanks for Reading!