One Piece: Path to Power

Chapter 34 - [28] A Gruesome Sight

[2017 words]

*BoNuS ChaPtEr LoL* ??

https://discord.gg/A2KQAkyCvm

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"'Night Maiden' was it?" I asked Shakky.

She took another large breathe of smoke as she answered,

"Night Maiden, a bounty hunter of the Grand Line. Known for her superior assassination and infiltration work."

"Logia fruit wielder. Has a special ability to enter her own realm that is directly connected to the actual world."

She continued after another puff of smoke, "She has hunted pirates with bounties around 300 million before. But naturally lost to you as you can use Haki."

"She has never failed a hunt before but that is due to her ignorance. I suppose she is a lot younger than the first estimate of around 30."

I nodded at the words till the ones at the end, "30?! Please, she should be barely half that!"

You can't get much by judging her height but her voice and development of her body easily point to a girl in her mid-teens.

I then wondered out loud, "Special Logia that can enter a different realm, this fruit is very powerful indeed."

'It's like the Yami-Yami no Mi in a way as you can store things in the 'Dark Realm' and shoot it back out as Blackbeard did with the entire town when he fought Ace.'

'Though the Darkness fruit does not have a useful storage rather one that destroys the things sucked in.'

'This fruit is a bit different. It has Intangibility and can access a reality in the same plane like this one!'

Shakky nodded at my words and said in a neutral tone, "Indeed. *PUFF*, it should be the Night-Night Fruit. Its price is quite high on the Black Market."

'Display her stats, Sibyl.' I asked in my head.

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

['Night Maiden']

[Age: 15]

[Height: 7'1]

[Devil Fruit: Night Night Fruit [L]

[Fruit Rating: 6.5 Stars]

[Haki: N/a]

[Strength: Yonko Crew Pirate*]

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

'Hmm, age-wise indeed she is a bit older than me. Her fruit though is really powerful, the same rating as mine!'

'Strength wise she is lacking greatly shows the difference between a Haki user and someone who isn't one.' I deduced from our fight.

'Her fruit mastery seemed quite low as well. She barely even used the true prowess of a Logia which is its' fluidity.'

"Expand on her fruit please," I said in my head.

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

[Night Night Fruit (Yoru Yoru no Mi)]

[Logia Type - Special Elemental Type]

[Fruit Rating: ???????]

[Allows the user to become night itself. Can produce and control the element of the night.]

[Allows the user to enter the 'Night Realm' which is in the same plane as the actual reality.]

[When in this realm, all others outside will NOT see NOR sense the user.]

[The user in the Night Realm can NOT attack others unless they EXIT from the realm.]

[Inanimate things can be placed into the Night Realm but will not be treated as infinite storage but rather a second plane of reality.]

[User becomes a Night Human]

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

'So the Night Realm thing can be used for easy infiltration as you just can't sense the person in it! This way she can only be sensed going in and out of the separate fruit realm!'

'It's like the Door Door fruit used by Blueno but far better.'

'If she can get this to the Awakened stage then I wonder how op this fruit would be!'

-----

Outside my mind, Shakky was currently checking on the girl.

"Hmm. you broke her spine little Damien...", She sighed.

"Whoops...", I rubbed my nose, slightly embarrassed.

*Gun Being Unholstered*

Shakky took out her pistol as a green glow emanated from the barrel.

Bang!

A jade coloured bullet shot out and went straight into the girl's forehead.

Instead of a crimson shower spraying out, rather an odd thing occurred.

The bullet, upon contact, dissolved like sugar in water.

The bullet was absorbed into the girl's skin as a green flow went through her veins.

'Wow.'

I commented as I saw what happened next.

The girl was barely breathing, her back was definitely snapped and crippled.

*Crack*

I could hear bones breaking, or rather being put into place as her posture naturally fixed itself and her back straightened.

The blood flowing out of her mask stopped as I could easily hear her heartbeat and breathing stabilize.

Shakky nodded and holstered her gun.

.

I tilted my head in confusion and asked, "So what are we to do with her?"

.

"Well we can't just leave a defenseless little girl out in these empty woods now, can we? Pick her up, we'll take her to Grove 44." She instructed.

*SIGH*

"Fine."

I turned her frontwards and put my hands behind her neck and waist and picked her up like a princess.

...

'Hmph, princess carry...?'

'NOPE.'

.

I then flung her over my left shoulder and rested my palm on her back to keep her from falling.

'Much better.'

Shakky looked at me with an amusing smile, "Well, let's get going, Damien-chan."

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[An Hour Later]

I and Shakky had finally arrived at Grove 44.

We had varying gazes from the many people along the way.

Some citizens were staring with fear.

Some with anger.

Some with curiosity.

Some with... lust?

As for the marines, naturally, I noticed the many eyes from the dark alleys and whatnot.

But they did not try to get in the way, but rather just reported it.

.

We now stand in front of a very large pub, supposedly for the 'risky' customers, though with the best booze.

The outside was a dark red and black theme.

The name read,

[ THE BLOODY HELL ]

in a blood-red font.

*Door Opening Sound*

The 2 of us plus the baggage walked in and saw the inside.

It was very big.

Height-wise, it was at least 30 feet.

Even Kaido would get in without any problem.

The insides had many tables, some small, some large, and some huge.

On the left end with the low-lighting area sat our little party.

Whitebeard, Xebec, Kaido, all drinking away.

*Gurrug*

Kaido kept drinking while the other 2 stopped and nodded to us.

*Thud*

I threw the girl to the side seat and sat down with Shakky.

"Who's this, kid?" Whitebeard asked.

I looked at the unconscious girl,

"Hmm, bounty hunter, 'Night Maiden'. She wanted the berries on our heads..."

Shakky nodded, "Her fruit is quite useful. Logia type with a very powerful sub-ability."

.

Xebec's eyebrow went up slightly,

"Oh? Special Logia eh? The only special logia I have heard is the Darkness Fruit, Night Fruit, Sun Fruit, Moon Fruit, Rumble Fruit, and the Swamp Fruit."

.

I squinted my eyes at his words, 'Darkness obviously, night yeah, sun and moon.. no clue. Rumble fruit has the special ability to increase your Observation Haki to span literally an island. Swamp fruit has a storage ability.'

Whitebeard cut in, "*Gurrug*, you're saying we should bring this kid along?"

Shakky just shrugged as Xebec then asked.

"Shakuyaku, did'ya get the log poses?"

She nodded, "We're set to leave at any moment, and we should too. Little Damien here might have messed up a few Nobles..."

All 3 of them looked at me.

...

"GURARARA!"

"WORORORO!"

"XAHAHAHA! I wasn't wrong about you!"

I was speechless at their reaction.

'Shouldn't they ask what I did with them or something?'

"Well, they are an eyesore anyway. But an Admiral is probably going to come here soon once they find them. We should leave." I told them.

Whitebeard nodded.

Xebec yawned and then smiled like a beast in heat,

.

"Xaha? This presence, it's that Sengoku guy. His golden ass is always annoying to fight."

.

"Ah, I want to fight an Admiral...", Kaido complained as he fetched his club.

They were about to leave till I asked, "Hey.. what are we gonna do about this girl?"

'Should I just leave her here... no, even as a pirate I can't leave a defenseless girl in this kind of bar.'

Shakky looked over and shrugged. The others had already left.

'Ah for fuck sakes!'

I then popped her over my shoulders as we walked out.

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(Todd the Marine - POV)

I am reporting to my boss as I see the group of monsters.

"R-Ren-Chujo! The Rocks Pirates, they have made it back to their ship!"

A voice then came back immediately.

"Do they have the Nobles with them?" The Vice Admiral asked in a hurry.

I looked at the 5 people, the youngest of the group, Damien, he was carrying something on his shoulders...

.

"U-UM! Chujo-dono... the pirate Damien seems to be carrying someone on his shoulders!"

"I can't make out who it is, the person is entirely covered in a purple cloak!"

.

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(Vice Admiral Ren - POV)

"Purple cloak?! NANI!?"

"AHH, fine, just keep watch on them, tell me when they sail out!" I told my subordinate as I jammed my snail to the desk.

I then picked it back up and dialed another number.

...

"This is Admiral Sengoku." The powerful voice stated formally.

I gulped.

"Anoo... Sengoku-Taisho, it's about the Rocks Crew."

"From what we can tell is that the younger member, Damien, seems to be carrying a body on his shoulders, it's covered in a purple cloak."

I continue, "We can't tell who it is. And whether or not they are still alive..."

There was silence for a bit till the voice picked back up.

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On the other side of the line was a tall and muscular man with a marine coat draped on his shoulders.

Sengoku squinted his eyes as he thought about what to do.

"This is troublesome."

"They have probably taken one Celestial Dragon as a hostage..."

He shook his head.

"To provoke Xebec would be foolish. The Gorosei are already quite angry due to the past incident with the 2 Noble deaths a year back."

He sighed in frustration.

'We cannot risk it!'

He then responded to the Vice Admiral.

"Ren-Chujo. You are to remain there. Have your forces continue the search for the other 2 Nobles. As for the one they have taken hostage. I will have to ask the Gensui for orders." Sengoku said.

"ROGER!"

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Saboady Archipelago.

It is usually nice and pleasant here.

However, a huge ship has currently started to sail, all the while a huge commotion is going off around the other parts of the island.

10 standard ships, 6 marine warships are docked all around the corners of the island.

All ready to move out any second.

...

Yet the order to sortie never came.

Instead, the Island's own marine base was running all around the outer areas, looking for 2 World Nobles.

---

(Murphy the Marine - POV)

"This is Captain Murphy. We are now moving into the Human Auction House to continue the search. Reports have stated that 'Damien of the Sin' exited out from here."

After the report, I gestured to my squad of 50 to move in.

.

Boom!

The door bashed open as we charged in, our rifles pointing straight out.

...

*BARF*

20 or so if my men vomit as I too feel my stomach churn as we gaze at the horror before us.

The floors,

The walls,

The entire hall... it was painted in red!

The 100 or so audience were littered around, their heads were no longer there!

The ground was cracked all over, rivers of red flowed down as another terrifying sight stood before us.

It was a nightmare!

...

"Chujo-dono..." I mutter out as I drop my rifle to the ground.

.

"What is it?" The Vice Admiral asked.

.

"I-I think you can call off the search for the Nobles..."

...

Before me were 3 bodies.

They had white suits on.

Though covered in red.

Their helmets were long popped.

The bodies though...

Their arms in angles I thought were not possible to attain.

Their legs were bent and wrung out like a wire.

Their chest was littered with thousands of small cuts, not enough to kill, but enough to cause terrible pain and endless bleeding.

Their faces...

Black, blue, red, green, yellow.

Many colours present.

A smell of iron.

A smell of urine.

And a smell of death.

That is was we saw in this nightmare of a hall.

It was truly... a gruesome sight!

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[The following is excluded from word count]

Author's Corner:

Well, they are en route to Fishman island now...

Nothing crazy happened in the chapter, though I think it is quite plausible for them to assume a Noble as a hostage.

After all, they are worth quite a lot.

PS: You can now assume that every Dragon outside of Mariejois will ALWAYS be tracked with a vivre card henceforth.

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Random Trivia:

Would you rather Have free Wi-Fi wherever you go or have free coffee where/whenever you want?

Thanks for Reading!