One Piece: Path to Power

[2926 words] (So thicc!)

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The news of Enigma's defeat was sent out around 6 days after the actual fight, as the World Government had the World News Agency under control, they had full authority to do so.

By doing this, not only did they tell the story the way they wanted to, but also used the extra days to capture as many of the pirates before other stronger ones came to recruit the 'freed' 40000 or so criminals.

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[1 Day After the News]

(Damien POV)

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"Right, that's it, Katakuri. Now breathe, not with your lungs, but with your mind." I said though I was pretty much making things up by now.

This kid's talent was really good in the Colour of Observation but it didn't mean he can just become a future seer like that.

First, he had to awaken the sixth sense.

And so he did.

It took nearly the entire week but he did. Just like that, one of the youngest Haki-users out there for sure. His desire to protect his family was something even I could admire. His heart was strong, if not for his unwavering loyalty towards his mother, I may have recruited him right away.

"Sensei, how do I improve once our training has ended?" He asked.

"How many times have I told you to call me by my name? I feel old being called 'Sensei', I'm not even 16 yet!" I complained.

"Well, just do the exercise I told you, once you can sense your surroundings to that point then you can start training for Advanced Observation. Your sister with the Mirror-Mirror fruit would be the perfect help for you so just ask her."

Katakuri thought over my words and nodded, "Thank you sensei, I hope to fight you someday."

"Rahahaha! Well, good luck 'cuz I'm not gonna stop growing in strength. Take care of your siblings and stay strong, kid." I slapped his shoulder and walked out of the training area, it was time to leave.

"We're almost here, Linlin," I yelled as I was too lazy to find her over this huge ship.

"Ma-Ma-Mam-MA! Maybe this time Xebec will give me a child..." She muttered the last part but seemed ready either way.

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"OYE! YOU OLD BAG! FIGHT ME AGAIN!" A youthful roar resounded the ship.

It was a bruised and beaten Kaido as he walked towards us without a care for his injuries.

"Haaa? You again, brat? You just don't know when to give up." She said with slight annoyance.

[A/N: She did call Kaido a 'brat' in the manga, so yeah.]

"WORORORO! I get stronger every fight. That Damien pulled ahead but I'll beat him up soon enough."

"RAHAHA! Kaido, we haven't duelled in a while now, maybe it's time I show you why I have a higher bounty." I mocked the ogre.

"Come at me!" Kaido roared as his haki shot up, making Big Mom's kids shudder.

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"Mama! T-There's a huge ship on the horizon!" A kid yelled as he held a telescope.

I looked over and saw it. The huge silhouette of the grand ship of the Rocks Crew.

Linlin's ship was quite damn big, but compared to the Titanic, well it was still far off.

"Ma-Ma-Mam-MA! That guy always loved putting his name on things." She commented as the foresail of the ship was visible.

[ R O C K S ]

It started with a flaming skull in substitute for the 'O'.

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[20 Minutes Later]

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We finally slowed it down so that the ships were parallel.

I spanned my Haki over and saw our pirates ready to fight, after all, they were still in the dark of Big Mom's status with Xebec.

I could care less about a reunion between 2 crazy people so I just jump over.

*THUD*

I slammed onto the Titanic as I inhaled the air of blood, sweat and tears. Heck, there was a rotting smell as well as I saw a corpse lying to the side.

.

The pirates originally were about to attack but calmed down as they recognized me.

Though I was kinda annoyed by this smell.

"You pricks! One of you, get rid of that rotting corpse." I said with a tch.

They heard the irritation and got right to it, two pushed the body into the sea while another two mopped his blood and other fluids.

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"XAHAHAHA! You did well, brat." Xebec's voice boomed over the ship as I saw the crazy man after a while. With my recent advancement in Observation, I could sense his strength a bit more clearly now.

'This guy is an absolute monster.' I gulped as I saw him, he was just standing there, menacingly.

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"Taichou, you look as energetic as always..." I commented as I saw his relaxed posture. "There's a crazy chick here to meet you, I guess you are already acquainted so I'll let you take over."

He nodded, "Linlin eh? Xahaha! I haven't seen her in a while now."

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"Ma-Ma-Mam-MA! Xebec, you have gotten closer to your goal to rule the world. But now I think we have some things to talk over." She said, not showing any fear in front of the predator that is the captain.

I just shook my head and walked away, I was wanting to lay on my bed since most of the beds on Big Mom's ship were edible and too fluffy for my taste.

Though I made sure to greet the other old friends as well.

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"Gurarara, you've gotten stronger, kid," Whitebeard said with a smile.

"Ufufufu, I didn't expect you to polish your haki off an Overlord, good job, you made your big sister proud." Shakky gave me a thumbs up and her usual wink.

"Rahaha, well you guys helped quite a lot in my training. I'll pay you back the favour in the future."

I was quite indebted to them. Shakky was like an older sister who spent hours upon hours in my training for Observation Haki. Whitebeard also spent quite a few days helping me with my fruit and understanding its power.

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[2 Days Later]

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BOOOOOOOM!

"What now?" I mumble as I wake up from my sleep to a rather large bang.

I span my Haki and sense a battle occurring in the above fighting arena.

'I guess even Blood Ore can't wholly absorb shockwaves from these guys.' I sigh as I freshen up and go check it out.

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"GURARARA! Xebec, that sword is truly messed up!" A loud voice blasted my ears.

I saw 2 men in the air.

One had wild-red hair with a feral grin while the other had glorious blond hair dancing in the wind.

"XAHAHAHA! Good, good! AGAIN!" Xebec laughed as he cracked his shoulders.

I look around and see barely anyone.

I span my Observation and see our ships alongside Linlin's ship a kilometre away.

I could feel a sliver of emotion from them, they all had fear and astonishment radiating off them, well most of them.

I guess the fodders finally saw a glimpse of the power of top fighters, even if they haven't actually reached their peak.

Understanding what was going on, I look over and see a group of people chilling near the front end of the ship.

Kaido was drinking while crying about not being able to join the fight.

Shiki was just smirking as he polished his swords.

Big Mom was eating cake while Katakuri, Perespero and Oven sat beside her, breathing heavily as they felt the shockwaves from the clash above.

Shakky had a swimsuit on as she casually laid on a chair, suntanning.

Indra was squinting at the fight as he was trying to understand the power in the swings of the 2 monsters.

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"Xebec is testing his sword?" I ask as I plop onto the table next to Kaido.

"Jihahaha, I want to fight that crazy guy but Newgate drew the straw, tch," Shiki complained.

I then look over and concentrate, this was a duel between monsters and a great clash to witness.

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[The Platform of Duels]

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Xebec had his 'Mokushiroku' drawn as it sat comfortably in his left hand. It was a black blade so just being drawn was causing the air to slice.

There was also a red glow as the surrounding air was steaming and boiling away, credit to the molten aspect, I suppose.

Whitebeard was holding a large naginata in both hands, the blade was black as it shined.

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Xebec grinned as he and Whitebeard rushed forth.

Right before their clash, I saw another type of energy, a red bubble flowed out of their arms and into the blade as it coated it in a fluid-like aspect.

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I squinted my eyes as I saw it and knew what it was right away.

'This the Advanced application of Armament Haki... The stage of Emission!' I exclaimed.

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The 2 blades collided.

BOOOOOOOOM!

BAAAAAM!

A huge shockwave blew out in all but one direction as it caused the large waves of water to generate beside the Titanic.

The energy released was so absurdly powerful as the sky was obliterated as the non-Blood Ore parts were broken and reduced to dust.

.

The shockwave reached us as I felt the incredible blow of air and energy, it was mind-numbing.

As for the others, Indra was gritting his teeth as he tried to stay in place yet started to lose his balance.

Kaido was just laughing as he was trying his holding his ground.

Linlin used a thundercloud Homie to protect her 3 children who were still here, not feeling too much of the impact.

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"Tch, why do they have to infuse Haoshuku to everything!" Shakky yelled in irritation, it seems her drink and umbrella were blown into the sea from their fight.

I guess even though her strength was no longer above me, she was still used to such fights as she has been with Xebec and Whitebeard the longest.

---

That aside, the clash...

The blades were still about 15 cm apart as the Armament Haki was the part clashing, yet slivers of Conqueror's were mixed in as well causing black lightning to spark all over.

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'This is what I need to reach the lowest of the Yonko levels...' I muttered in my head.

The only thing missing from my strength was Ryou in my attacks.

Big Mom has crazy endurance. She is a 'steel balloon' who can tank a lot of damage even without Haki. I would need Emission to even fight with her, and that excluded her fruit powers.

As for Infusing Conqueror's Haki, that will most likely come into play later on.

---

Booom!

The attacks lost their strength as they finally touched, the energy releases finally calmed down.

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"Gurarara, Xebec, your sword mastery is still too low to fully release your powers," Whitebeard commented as he twirled his glaive for the next hit.

"Xahaha!" He laughed in response as he too backed up a few meters.

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Xebec's sword now has another energy around it, a very deadly one, no pun intended.

His death powers were boiling out of the blade as the nearby air withered away and caused the void to fill in.

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Whitebeard saw the danger as he aptly responded.

*FWOO*

A white bubble formed around his naginata as the air was broken apart around it.

He used his tremor fruit on his glaive.

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'This will be loud.' I gulp as I see them rush forth with no sense of care for their surroundings.

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The withering black sword obliterated the atmosphere as it spun forth and met the glaive with the power of a natural disaster behind it.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

BAAAAAAAM!

A grand explosion resounded as the shockwaves with enough power to destroy an island were sent out in all directions but one.

The clash was quite spectacular to see.

I saw 2 bubbles of sorts form around the 2 monsters.

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A black one around Xebec, my {Ancient Voice} could not perceive any sound from it as even the sound waves were destroyed.

The other was a serene white with a green tint that seemed to shatter away all forms of matter.

The clash of these 2 powers was absurd!

BOOOOOOOOM!

Another explosion sent out a respective shockwave, this time the waves generated was over 100 meters high!

The fleet that was a kilometre away had already begun to retreat further as they saw the impending doom, yet they were too slow.

At this rate, all our ships would be reduced to nothing but scraps.

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"Boys," Shakky said as she saw the waves rush out.

"On it..." I said as I shaved to the left side of the ship.

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I disappeared from my comfortable seat and flashed to the railing on the side within a second.

I was about 200 meters away from the tsunami.

*Fooo*

I sent out a decent amount of crushing energy to obliterate the force behind the wave of water, it was a simple attack but had the power to destroy marine warships.

*Splash*

As expected, the huge wave was blasted to pieces as cubes of blue rained down all over.

Kaido went to the right side alongside Andor.

He sent out a large airburst of energy from his club as it slammed onto the tidal wave while Silver Axe sliced the other half.

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'Sigh, these guys never care for what happens around them.' I shake my head with a wry smile.

If not for our intervention, those waves would have wiped out at least 80% of the fleet.

"XAHAHAHAHA!"

"GURARARARA!"

The two laughed, it seemed that it was a draw.

Not really though.

Xebec had only started to use his sword and it seems like trying to add 'death' to a weapon was a lot harder than it seemed. Due to that, his total strength output was something Whitebeard could deal with, though with difficulty.

Shakky was grumbling about her lost dishes and the others were either drinking or laughing it off.

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Xebec, Whitebeard, Big Mom, Shiki.

Excluding the others, just these 4 are enough to go against Marineford right now. And once the younger ones grow, the ROCKS pirates only grow to an absurd height.

Surely the Gorosei have noticed as well.

.

As for Big Mom, when did she join?

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[1 and a half Days Ago]

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"Everyone listen up. From now on, Charlotte Linlin will join us in our advance! Her children and subordinates will come under my flag!"

"Get along now, XAHAHAHA!"

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[Back to the Present]

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Well, that was my humble captain's speech a day and a half ago.

The pirates below who heard it were dumbfounded.

They were prepared to fight a war but the 'Evil Spirit' is now a part of them?

They were jovial. A thicc and sexy new Division Commander? Who wouldn't like seeing her walk around in her skimpy clothes.

After all, much of Rocks fleet was a bunch of crazy and messed-up grown men with very few women.

.

Yet the smarter ones were afraid, they heard of Linlin's food crazes and now had to look out for another walking calamity.

They even made a list of instants to stay as far away from at all times!

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List of Avoidance:

1) Xebec

2) Pissed-off Shiki and Whitebeard

3) A hungry Big Mom

4) Shakky when cooking

5) A drunk Kaido

6) Me when my eyes glowed red

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I understood everything from 1 to 5.

But number six...

What the hell were they on about?

When did I become such a frightening creature?

I am a man of peace and culture!

I even interrogated a fodder regarding this list.

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(Things enclosed with ... / are flashback conversations.)

"Oye, what this about my glowing eyes?" I ask him as I grab him by the throat and lift him 3 feet of the ground.

The man gulped as he saw me, he was already shaking in fear.

"D-D-Damien-sama..! I-I..." He stuttered as I grew annoyed.

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"Spit it out before I wring you like a towel!" I told him to hasten his explanation.

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Though it seemed to make him shiver even more.

*DRIP* *DRIP* *DRIP*

I looked down and saw some yellow liquid drip down the side of his pants.

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"How uncivilized," I said in disgust as I threw him into the sea off the railing of the ship.

"AHHHH!"

*Splash*

I looked around and saw a few pirates running away.

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"RUN AWAY, DAMIEN-SAMA'S EYES ARE GLOWING AGAIN!" One cried as they dispersed like a bunch of headless chickens.

I 'tched' as I saw them.

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"My eyes don't glow!" I yelled back, too lazy to hunt another down.

///

Shakky later told me that in my wanted posters and my first 'introduction' when I popped that pirate like a grape, it seemed as if my eyes were shining red or something.

I resent that.

I have always been a man of peace at heart, crushing a few people into dust here and there, but a nice guy overall.

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So yeah, a new addition to the ROCKS Fleet!

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1st Division Commander - Edward Newgate

2nd Division Commander - Shiki

3rd Division Commander - Charlotte Linlin

4th Division Commander - Shakuyaku

5th Division Commander - Einar D. Damien

6th Division Commander - Kaido

7th Division Commander - Silver Axe

8th Division Commander - [VACANT]

9th Division Commander - [VACANT]

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The addition of the Big Mom pirates brought in more members as well.

Excluding her children and soul-powered soldiers, she also had a thousand or so subordinates with her.

D-3 now became the second-largest division with around 1100 pirates.

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Aside from all that, I had finally decided on something.

I got up and walked over to Xebec who drinking away.

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"Hey, captain..."

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[The following is excluded from word count]

Author's Corner:

Bit more depth into the 'love' between the Rocks Crew and their commanders, alongside the addition of the Evil Spirit.

And of course, I didn't want people to forget that Xebec got a sword as well...

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Random Trivia:

Reincarnate into One Piece as a Celestial Dragon or as a Strawhat? (Memories intact)

Thanks for Reading!