The Mysterious Stranger On the Grandline

Laying the groundwork [ll]

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They began collecting gold, everything they found that wasn't nailed down was transported into the ship and locked in place for the eventual descent into the blue sea.

Their boss seemed to be even more active now that he had eaten a devil fruit of his own, blitzing around and training with his fruit like a kid in his favorite candy store.

Bonus points for transmuting the big gold objects into smaller pieces, that was helpful to be honest. He seemed to be restless about moving now that he had gotten what he required but the gold needed time. Time which sadly translated into more waiting for everything to safely be transported.

“So how does it feel to have the powers of a God captain?” One of the Men asked curiously, they all were aware of the threat he now represented but sometimes human curiosity was stronger than instinctive fear.

“I can see why so many logias get a god-complex as time passes, it's invigorating in an excessive way, eye-opening in an enlightening way and destructive in every way. If I was a lesser man I would have already begun speaking in third person and demanded People to worship my existence…” The captain seemed to fall into a trance, something not so new but more present now that he ate a devil fruit of such power as to command the heavens themselves to do his bidding.” I have had some enlightening thoughts these past nights, sleep becomes something I need less and less and as such my attention is focused more on the theoretical and experimental design of why devil fruit interacts with the very genetic code of a creature.”

The captain had a different vibe these days, in the past he exuded this feeling of primal danger but now? He seemed to have embraced the elemental danger of a disaster.

He had become the heavenly lord himself, a natural disaster which wasn't interested into the daily lives of mortals, it was a profound effect that seemed to affect even the crew. Julius seemed to understand what he was feeling and didn't seem surprised by his words.

“So what is our next course of action, boss.” asked the navigator, she seemed to share her Captain's desire to set sail.

“We will go to the Sabaody archipelago, recruit some people and begin building our own organization. I predict great events are about to happen and the power will shift in the favor of those who control the supply lines of the world. I can hear the World whisper more loudly now that my ability is boosting my senses. Something big is at play, death, rebirth, change. We must capitalize and make use of the unprepared underworld bosses.” The captain seemed to become more focused as he relayed his plans, with each second his voice became firmer, more domineering and filled with ambition that the crew had feared it had left him when he had gotten the power of a God.

All the crew had agreed on one thing unanimously, the reason why they had joined him was because the Boss was full of [Ambition] and unfathomable Charisma that seemed to attract even the most determined Independent Souls with his own willpower alone.

He was a beacon that shone with unseen power, He had all the qualities of a leader of armies.

Someone like him will definitely play a huge role in the future, this they knew deep into their marrow.

And their belief was rewarded these past two months, Power, wealth and fame he had it all in spades whenever he actually used his charismatic persona that swayed them to his side.

He almost represented that which would earn the title of The Pirate King–

A chill ran down the crew's spine. They had come to the same conclusion one night when they had discussed this without their captain and his first mate being present.

‘Can it be him?’ one had asked.

‘The resemblance is uncanny.’ another one had replied.

‘He doesn't want to be the King of the Pirates. He wants something else.’ The third man who had been personally recruited by their boss had stated.

‘The World then?’ One had joked to lighten the mood only to get stared by the rest.

‘That may be the case, his ambition is awe inspiring whenever he speaks of his great plans.’ the shipwright had said.

“Tomorrow we will fly down, the ship will get a once over before we set sail back into the blue sea.” With those words the crew split up and began taking care of the rest of stuff they had collected, some would check on the ship while the other would stand guard in case the locals found their camp.

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The next day the crew had finished with the last preparation and began the careful journey of setting sail without alarming the locals who nearly found them last night but a storm conjured by their boss had them scampering away like scared animals.

The scar on their psychology still fresh in their subconsciousness, Enel branded them for life with his tyrannical rule.

The ship made way towards the place where it would fall off the flying island and then with the help of the parachute it would glide down to the Blue sea.

That's the plan anyways, they had two more contingencies in place, Julius flying paper platforms and their boss using his logia powers to keep them from falling to their Doom.

Speaking of their Boss, he wasn't present on the ship, he zipped somewhere to do some last-minute “collecting” of something he called “dials”.

Judging by the smell of ozone he should be arriving right about…

“Okay, I got as many as I could without any of the winged people noticing, thank Nika for small blessings like light-spectrums!” He declared as his body reconstructed from nothing as if it was a mirage.

“So how does having all of your body become nothing and then once more return to flesh?” The cook asked, he was smoking the last cigarettes on the ship as of this moment which none of the crew were happy about.

“nothing changes.” The Boss shrugged his wide shoulders nonchalantly.

The ship used this brief lapse of attention by the crew to arrive at the last bit of the white sea then proceed to fall down.

Marius stood in place as he normally does while his crew were hugging the rails and mast, their life depended on said action until the parachute finished unfurling itself, it may take a minute or two but they had survive for that long.

“Hmm, I feel no difference even at this speed, Logias truly are convenient when it comes to warping the rules of gravity.” Marius muttered as he stood in place with one hand under his chin in contemplation.

“THAT'S SOME BULLSHIT BOSS, WHY DOESN'T MY FRUIT HAVE SUCH ABILITY?!”Julius roared at the top of his lungs while holding for dear life on a rope he had hastily tied on his arm.

“Try to do the trick of half summoning a paper under your feet and then rub your feet on the deck until you feel it pull your body. Paper can be attracted if enough friction is generated.” He replied without a care in the world while standing horizontally on a ship falling at who-knows-what speed.

“FUCK I CAN BARELY STAY LIKE THIS AND YOU ASK OF ME TO DO THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE SKILL MY FRUIT IS CAPABLE OFF?!” Julius cursed, he couldn't focus to that point while being thrown around like a flag in the wind.

“Yes, activating your power under pressure should be a priority for any devil fruit user. Imagine if you were being hunted down by an emperor's crew or a navy vice admiral or honest to god admiral, that would be quite the useful ability to turn yourself into a bunch of papers and scatter to the wind? Use such events to train your control Julius, you may never know what the new world may throw at you.” Marius advised, he had a feeling one of said events will come to pass, call it a premonition if you like.

“I DON'T LIKE YOUR LOGICAL ADVICE AT THIS MOMENT! IT'S SENDING ALL SORTS OF ALARM SIGNALS IN MY SPINE DAMN IT–” Retorted Julius frustratedly, the parachute finally unfurled itself which caused all of the crew to crash into the deck painfully.

“MY ASS.”

“OUCH MY HEAD.”

“YOUR HEAD?! MY SHOULDER DISLOCATED!”

“FUCK YOUR SHOULDER, I HURT BOTH OF MY PINKY TOES! YOWUCH!”

All sorts of painful noises came from the crew.

“Here let me help. CRACK!” Marius grabbed the guy who had dislocated the shoulder and cracked it back in place.

“OUUCH DAMN IT!”

“Bunch of babies, aren't you supposed to be grandline veterans at your age?” Marius questioned, he already knew their physiology would heal them by the time they landed but he didn't like how they complained from some light physical trauma.

The crew held their tongue, they knew better than to retort back when he criticized them, they already paid for it once in the beast island they trained no need to suffer from their tongues twice when they knew what awaits them.

“...Bunch of pussies.”He mumbled to himself, he could read their emotions by observing their auras.

Anyways, we are on the way down towards the blue sea, his crew has grown more tougher and closer in this small detour of theirs and he can say for certain that they are ready to survive some danger now.

He himself has jumped leaps and bounds he never thought possible, flight and intangibility, island destroying ability and a possible way to empower his body now that he has confirmed his full immunity to lightning attacks. He can boost his own bioelectricity to do stuff like charging his nervous system to force himself to react faster than any human could hope to match.

Bonus points for controlling the weather, enel couldn't do it but he could, he tested it himself by charging up the clouds.

Weather control: confirmed.

Physical immunity to most conventional weapons: check.

Cheating sleep cycle without consequences: check

Cool ability: check

Cons: weakness to Luffy, haki, seastone.

All in all, His new ability was something without limits for someone who knows the limits and possibility which becoming an lighting elemental gave.

‘I have in theory two more months before everything goes to hell, should I go for an island or ally myself with an emperor?’ He pondered, if he didn't knew how the story would pane out he would've gone straight to Whitebeard himself and offered him something which he couldn't refuse but that is impossible now, ace should’ve fallen into Blackbeard's hands and the information blackout should be in full effect…unless.

He turned his head where he could still feel that presence that belonged to the protagonist, should he inform him of his brother's imminent execution and throw the plot into jeopardy?

‘No, he must first taste defeat to be able to cope with what comes next. Haki blooms under stress, conqueror's haki needs the user to undergo a great shock to his spirit for those who haven't awakened it in some state.’ He really hated to admit but even with all his future knowledge he couldn't do anything at all except prepare himself and those he trusted to weather the storm better then the rest.

“Navigator, bring me the map of the first half of the grandline, we must decide the location of our future base of operation.” He called the woman who had offered her services, she was quite adept at navigation and trading from what he had gathered.

His crew still needed a few more members but they could manage at this point with thirty present members in the ship. He needed a bigger ship but that could wait until they arrived into the shores of water seven where he could then contract the construction company that ruled that place.

“Here it is, boss. The map is slightly outdated on the trading routes but it will still do the job of what we require.” The navigator came back, in her hands a large paper map was offered to him who touched it slightly and used his ability to copy it.

His mind didn't seem to mind the frankly brain-melting information that rushed through his nerves and into the gray matter itself like a data package shared into an internet database.

“Julius, can you make one large square paper the size of that door?” He asked, pointing at the Captain's quarters which had a 3.80 meters tall door, big enough for him to pass through with bending 90° forward, which he had remade personally.

Julius didn't reply, he spread his arms and seemed to focus slightly, from his hands paper grew like a living thing which seemed to grow larger and larger until the required size was achieved.

The paper flew towards him and stood in place, the perfect control of Julius allowing him to control even such large sized objects without any sign of strain.

He grabbed the corner of the paper and allowed his power to flow into its surface without burning it, he controlled the vibration caused by his micro-scale electric field and allowed the image in his brain to be imprinted upon its surface, islands scaled up began appearing one after another, the sea routes and other miscellaneous phenomenons were carved with fine precision achieved by small bursts of electrical discharges that didn't seem to penetrate to deep into the paper.

His crew definitely was impressed by his fine control, the fruit ability on itself was very destructive but such micro scale was quite easy if you knew some basic knowledge on how electricity works.

“Now, let us chose–”

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[One month later]

They had arrived on Sabaody archipelago and set up a base there by rooting out a slaver gang.

Everything was done with great precision, they set anchor on grove 27 which was now theirs and no one could do anything about it when there is an ever present threat of being struck down by the heavens.

The freed slaves were very thankful and wished to repay the favor, which they kindly accepted and integrated those skilful enough into their “organization” because they weren't world-wide known for the threat they represented thanks to keeping a low profile and targeting any spying snail with their own counter-den den mushi which the boss has been making use lately to spy on anyone conversing via said tele-comunication.

Pirates, petty criminals and even Normal people were welcomed into their group which ballooned into a intimidating one hundred strong By the time they had fully conquered their grove.

Their boss had been busy, each time he left to do something he would be followed by large quantities of resources which were directed into their flagship, an intimidating juggernaut built to resist the harshest condition, it may not be made from adam wood, No to buy such precious resource would have brought a lot of attention to them.

The ship was made from Ironwood, do not think this wood shares any similarities with it's counterpart in Marius' old world because you would be sorely mistaken.

This wood was one of the most hardest woods out there, it was as hard as steel and slightly heavier compared to most wood, to be expected since it could resist even cannonballs to a degree.

Iron, steel, seastone and even exotic resources bought from fishmen such as bubble-corals found their way into the ship’s depths for who knows what their captain was planning.

Their boss had been tight-lipped about it, something about knowing that information would put them in danger.

“It is time for the weekly inner-crew meeting, all headliners are ordered to gather, the Boss has something to share.” Declared Julius through the den den-megaphone installed around the base.

As they entered the former slavery den now rebuild to fit their purposes they felt the chilling presence of their Leader, his very being now exuding such a pressure that it acted as a living alarm whenever he was around, be he in the sky, in the building or even completely invisible to the eye, the presence of the God would enforce itself on the surrounding area.

Nobody dared to cross them when they invaded this grove, He was the reason why, the most destructive Logia to ever exist was too much of danger to even the marines, who lowered their heads and acted as if nothing had happened.

“Welcome everyone.” Greeted their boss calmly, his eyes full of intense focus which had the secondary effect of imprinting the importance of their gathering on their minds.

As one they stopped and bowed their heads reverently, each one of them was a commander to their own group but they knew who their master was and didn't dare disrespect the man who had created an entire organization from the ground up in one mere month.

There wasn't even a need to fear him, he had the presence of A Supreme King which made them respect him as one would a Apex predator in the Wilderness.

“It has been One Month since we set foot in this archipelago and we have seen a remarkable growth in every direction we have expanded, resource protection, ship-repairing, bubble-building etc…But our greatest triumph was destroying a slaver-den. The sheer treasure found in the safe was enough for us to become part of the local underworld who has spread to every corner of the blues.”

The Boss brought out a dossier filled with information and opened to the pre-chosen page that had a familiar face which had caused many of the headliners from this archipelago to suffer under his machinations.

Donquixote Doflamingo’s frozen bounty filled with sticky notes and pages of information.

“Warlord of the sea Donquixote Doflamingo, in the underworld known as The Joker, the puppetmaster and the confirmed owner of String string fruit, a versatile paramecia paired with a Well-rounded haki user which is a nightmare to someone who is not aware of this fact.”He read the description on the small note sticking under the bounty before shifting the page once more to another infamous face they all knew for other reasons.

“Straw Hat Monkey D Luffy, active supernova and a Super rookie who recently got a bounty increase for invading and destroying Enies Lobby and getting back one of his crew members, the world-wide infamously known Demon child Nico Robin, last survivor of Ohara genocide by the world government's lap dog sakazuki.”His voice grew cold at the last bit of description, they all knew the Boss hated people who harmed Kids for their own agenda.

“And lastly-”He stopped mid-sentence as he heard someone's voice that shouldn't have arrived this soon, his observation haki range boosted by his devil fruit’s power beyond what anyone could hope to achieve via normal means.

“Straw hat Luffy.” An ominous voice spoke.

“NO, NONONO!!” He tried to deny it yet there was an undeniable fact right in front of his eyes.

He had to act right now! In three days everything will go to shit if he doesn't at least mitigate the damage done to the Whitebeard pirates and the Protagonist.

“God Damn it!”he cursed loudly, the rest of his headliners seemingly spooked at his sudden change of emotions.”Everyone I will have to cut it short here, something has come up and I must go deal with it, Julius will complete the rest in my stead.”

With those words spoken he didn't wait for anyone to speak and turned into a streak of thin lighting that traveled through the metal pipe and straight out of the building, his mastery of his devil fruit has risen to the level that he can confidently say that he could survive the monsters of this world if he came across them.

He traced the frequency that his haki had alarmed him and made way at lightning speeds towards the place which only took a few seconds before he arrived between a three-way battle between two different generations of pirates, a admiral who strangely enough had quite the “weak voice” when he focused his voice of all things on him and the buccaneer Warlord who was in the process of–

With a swipe of his hand the swordsman of the straw hat pirates was sent flying towards the island where Mihawk stayed.

“Well I can see why you are feared by some people “Tyrant” Bartholomew Kuma, the paw paw fruit is quite literally a buster call on itself in your hands if you so wished.” He stated from above, gaining everyone's attention in the process.

The px_1 locked on him with that radar-camera thingy that made his skin crawl when he traced the process of the screening it does through its database.

“You know sometimes I wonder why the smartest man in the world would create such disgusting things as soulless robotic monsters. Does he know that they will be used for suppressing the freedom of the civilians? Eh~ what do you say kizaru?” He smiled as the shot fired by the light user passed through his right eye and left behind a hole in his head that promptly sealed up in a small burst of lighting.”you really are inhuman to go straight for such gruesome attack yellow-monkey, where is your trademark laziness Borassalino?”

His continued sarcastic remarks earned him another beam, this time it was bigger which tore his body in two which shocked the watchers when he promptly regenerated his lost body with a burst of power thar stitched everything back together.

“Tch a logia user…how annoying, here I come to catch a monkey and his crew and I cross paths with the Dark King and Now you.” Kizaru tsked unamused, he seemed more pissed for some reason which was never brought up in the manga or the anime.

“You know, this would be a nice moment for you guys to run away while he is focused on me and the Dark King there, by the way, spoilers He is still here.” He spoke the shocked pirates as Kuma seemed to not like how the situation was progressing and took matters in his own hands and disappeared.

No, not disappeared but pushed himself with those powers of his that move faster than any man could hope to match and blasted all the straw hats in twenty seconds of slow agonizing pops of displaced air until he arrived at Luffy who looked at Kuma with a pissed off expression on his face.

“What have you done–!?!”

“If you went on a journey, where would You like to go, straw hat Luffy?”Stated Bartholomew Kuma softly before he moved agonizingly slow to displace the captain of straw hat pirates.

But before he finishes with the move he interrupts him by slowing down his mechanical-neural system to say something to the monkey.

“Monkey D. Luffy, we shall meet again very soon.” He Decreed with a knowing smile on his face full of promise.

Then he allowed Kuma to move faster once more, reality popped from the sheer inertial momentum that the struggling Cyborg had been trying to brute force with sheer willpower.

As if that had been the last bit of humanity that had been driving him on to this moment, Bartholomew Kuma, last known Buccaneer visible to the world died with his duty done, he swore he could hear something sigh at the moment he released his control from the cyborg Man before everything went quiet as a graveyard…the silence was ominous.

“What have they done to you Bartholomew Kuma? Mind and body, to take these from a living creature is the Highest Sin one can commit! Deranged monsters!” He was not acting at this very moment, his aura was very present when he shouted those words at the Admiral.” Where is your fucking Justice you fuckers?! This…this Is nothing short of subjugation of Humanity!”

His disgust grew at a terrifying rate, he glared at the calm slave of a demon that had his soul in its grasp. Kizaru…I will brutalize you, you fucking scum.

“Bartholomew Kuma has committed a Crime and his punishment was his life-” Kizaru replied carefree before he responded to the incoming propaganda.

“The only crime he may have ever committed was being a Naive fool, to sell your soul to a demon that is the highest folly don't you think so kizaru-kun as a fellow slave to the will of a Bunch of inbreeded psychopaths?” He growled spitefully at the fellow logia, He who should have claimed the title of a God was nothing more than a slave…how ironic for one who was connected to the Sun.

“You know I don't like your tone. Your almighty attitude towards the rulers of the World is quite dangerous since you are also a potential danger to the world by being a Logia user…that makes you my enemy and that is also a criminal offense.” The calm mask of the Light logia cracked and a hint of hatred came through the glowing irises.

“Hooo, Hooow scaaryyy, miisteer Admiiraal iiiis tryiiing intiimiiidaaatee ME?!” He replied mockingly by mimicking how he spoke usually.

The admiral's mask cracked completely and something else replaced his previous expression, Rage for the first time was present for all the world to see on Kizaru’s face. Quite ominous for anyone who was not Logia with a decent haki but himself? Hoooh boy, it is time to give the Yellow monkey a taste of his very own medicine.

“Young One you have a way with your voice, I wonder…do you also have what it takes to survive what comes after?” Rayleigh finally added his two cents, He hadn't sensed the other logia until he had spoken, his very presence seemed to cause a radio silence…in soul level?

Rayleigh swore as the light man summoned his light sword once more and jumped at light speed towards the lighting Human who also unsheathed a long Gold bar and brandished it at the same speeds the admiral had displayed, a clear match for anyone who could observe the fast paced battle.

Light clashed against gold and found its match as the gold bar shifted and contorted into a long trident that allowed its user far more distance from the enraged logia.

“Huh, well this is something else alright. It seems he may not need my help-” Rayleigh murmured softly before he Sensed Haki being used and prepared to jump and interrupt the admiral until traced the place where it had come…the Kid was a Conqueror.

A burst of pure will and ambition struck the Admiral with the power of giant's punch and flung him backwards into the ground with a loud crash that sent small tremors in the surrounding area.

“Know your place Kizaru-kun, if you can't push against a brief burst of Conqueror's from someone who is inexperienced in it's advanced use then I wonder how you will survive an Emperor of the sea with a full fleet of veteran New world Pirates and his commanders…oh right, you don't question your master's commands because you are well trained Doggy.” The Kid once more mocked the admiral.

He was surprised at what he had revealed because not even he knew about Newgate coming…oh, oh no.

“You…how do you know such information?!” The admiral Demanded as he got up from his sprawled position and into a ready posture for battle.

“Your secretive channels aren't as secure as you think you piece of rotten shit, I have heard everything you scumbags have been talking over the transponder snail. By the way, white transponder snails are overrated when you have a fruit power like mine.” Marius replied arrogantly, he looked down from his position and smirked, he has found out that psychological warfare is an effective way to wear down your enemy by exploiting their insecurities.

And here was his proof, the admiral's will and by extension his haki that relies in the stable emotional state of its user was already wavering, his Conqueror's burst sent him reeling back as if he had suffered a critical blow.

‘egghead Arc you are my savior, to think you would come in handy so soon.’ He thanked one of his favorite arcs mentally.

“I see…I take back what I said previously, you are no longer a potential danger to the world, you are now a known enemy on the same scale as the Emperor's and the revolutionaries.” Kizaru tried to collect himself but he saw through the poker face, he was in doubt still…well let's throw another wrench to Sengoku’s careful plan.

“Ah well, if you are saying those words then there is no point in saying anything more to you…as a known enemy tell me right-hand of the Pirate King what would You do if you knew that your Deceased Captain's Only son is about to be executed for the Sins of his Father's legacy?” He saw Kizaru's eyes widen and Rayleigh's facial expression turn into that face he had seen when he saved Boa Hancock from Blackbeard's hands.

For a moment he saw a blurry vision of the future but his observation haki hasn't yet bloomed beyond its second stage-danger sensing and limited future predictions against an enemy…this was something new and that must be related to the powerful old man who is an experienced haki user who shifted his gaze towards the frozen admiral who felt the murderous intent of the Dark King a felt a twinge of fear.

“Now that would be a reason for me to go out of retirement…do tell me Kizaru-kun is what the young Lad is telling me true~?” He could swear he saw another person overlap with Rayleigh's face for a moment, long mustaches and a pirate Captain's hat was the only thing he saw before a burst of controlled Conqueror's haki came from the Old man and crashed on the prone body of the Admiral…he couldn't help himself and followed the Old man's direction by doing the same thing.

“Goo on Kizaru-kun~ tell him the truth.” He blasted his haki in a single line and focused his will into a singular weapon poised like the Damocles blade over the head of the admiral who was holding his own against two conquerors.

“Monsters…”Cursed Kizaru as he took a step back and tried to gather his wits at the onslaught of Pure will, smashing against his own in a battle for dominance.

‘This is a bad outcome, I will get an earful if I return in one piece back into the base by Sengoku.’ He thought, he tried to think of a way to extract himself from this unwinnable situation.

His observation haki told him that sky path was death trap, the lighting monster would scorch him with a blast of lighting that would pass through his Haki defense and cook him from inside out, each step seemed to be filled with such danger, even land was not safe which left him one course of action…diplomacy.

He sighed, wariness seemed to weight his mind down along with the still active phenomena of conquerors enforcing their Will on him that was waiting for his own defense to falter for just one moment to maul him into pieces with sword and spear that seemed to have been planned exactly for his skill set…how insightful, Fuck.

“Portgas D Ace shall be executed to bring an end to the Era of piracy-”He was to late, his haki had weakened enough to not be able to predict the Old Geezer fly forward at speeds that he shouldn't be able to move and Hit him with a conqueror’s haki infused pommel full of imbuement and internal destruction and just as soon as the non-lethal part of the sword touched him a powerful thrust of pure conqueror's burst crashed on him-

He tasted blood and he felt the unmistakable sensation of organs rupturing as he was flung-

The two people who were responsible for putting an admiral out of commission stood there side by side as they gazed at the body of the Admiral sent flying like a comet towards a certain place that both of them knew was located.

“So what is the name of the mysterious stranger who decided that mocking one of the three ultimate weapons of the World government was a good way to introduce himself to the World?” Rayleigh said softly, his tone having returned back to its usual lackadaisical self that would put even the most paranoid grandline survivor at ease…except he wasn't a grandline survivor, he was someone who could read emotions without an effort.

“My name is Fyrefray D. Marius, someone whose goal is to bring down the Fat bastards sitting on the land of the lunarians and overthrow this shitty world government. Nice to meet you, Silvers Rayleigh, it's a pleasure.” He introduced himself, it seems Crocus hasn't snitched on him yet or hasn't had luck trying to contact the recluse dark king.

Rayleigh's eyes widened slightly before he composed himself again, a gleam of uncharacteristic curiosity in his eyes when looked at him from head to toe.

“Hmm…Fully realized haki, a powerful Devil fruit and a D on top of that…fate has a sick sense of humor when it comes to prophecies foretold in ages past.” The right hand of the King of the pirates murmured to himself, a hand massaging his beard as looked at the young lad with curiosity.”This era is full of surprises, what a time to be alive to see it all unfold like pieces in a chess board.”

He acted aloof at those words because he knew what the Man was implying, chaos and destruction followed by freedom and liberation from shackles so old they had rusted and were about to break.

One more nudge then.

“So, what's the verdict, old man? Will you help the rival of your old captain to save the son who bears his blood?” He asked with some trepidation as he looked where the admiral had disappeared in a twinkle of light, Marie Geoise.

“For a man who just came to blows with an admiral and survived to tell the tale , you are acting quite strangely where you should be less scared of an old man like me lad.” Rayleigh smiled good-naturedly, the kid was too on guard for some reason as if he expected him to strike him down.

“Kizaru is a pawn, he bears no threat to me as long as only he is my opponent…you on the other hand are experienced enough to know the shortcomings of devil fruits and especially the limits of a Conqueror. I bear no ill intent when I say this but I don't trust old Men who have grown old in a world that sees Young boys die in dozens.” Marius replied warily, eying the sword that would be used as a threat towards Blackbeard if everything plays the same and Ace dies this time as well.

“You overestimate me far too much, age does a number on everyone, even I am not immune to it lad.”

Keep telling that to yourself, old geezer. Haki is bullshit and so are you.

“Now pleasantries aside…tell me-”

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[–Flashback End. Prologue to war of the Gods begins–]

{Arc: The Great Massacre At Marineford part [I]}

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At the main base of the marines a hundred thousand men and women have gathered for the greatest showdown against an Emperor of the Sea, the greatest event ever since the god valley incident that saw the former pirate King and The hero of marines team up to take down a common enemy- Rocks D xebec.

The weapon platforms were active and awaiting orders, the bay was secured by giants and Navy captains and Commanders who stood in high alert for they have heard the rumors, the main armada of the Whitebeard has disappeared and haven't been seen for a few days now which was not a comforting information to know for your line soldiers who were even more spooked by the appearance of a injured admiral who was lauded as one of three ultimate weapons of the world government which was quite the morale damper when you saw the numbers if injuries Kizaru had sustained before the Emperor had even arrived.

“Hey did you see? Admiral Kizaru has been relegated to backline support, his entire left side had sustained enough damage to nearly remove him from active combat duty and I heard the only reason why he has even come is because the fleet Admiral ordered him to cover our rear lines for any possible-” Before the marine could finish his words, mist suddenly appeared on the horizon like a shroud.

Then one of their watchtowers screamed something and they saw them.

A whole fleet of Pirates appearing one after another from the mist like ghost ships. Each one of them bore an infamous group of pirate veterans from the New world who had sworn their loyalty to the strongest Man in the World who had commanded them to assist him with…

–The Marines Doom.

“A WHOLE FLEET OF PIRATES WHO HAVE SWORN THEIR LOYALTY TO WHITEBEARD SUDDENLY APPEARED!” Roared one marine at the top of his lungs which was able to be transmitted to the very execution platform itself.

As they drew closer marines awaited their leader's call to fire at incoming force but before anyone could say anything the sea suddenly began shifting and contorting like a living being as bubbles caused waves to crash into the front walls of the bay.

“T-there is something in the sea-” One brave marine found his voice but was to late, three large shadows flew out of the sea and caused miniature tsunamis to crash into the bay which pushed the gathered marines back as they were forced to backtrack from the sudden appearance of three giant ships that were coated in a jelly-like substance that popped as soon as the ships underbelly touched the sea once more which reverberated like bombs to the gathered men and women present.

“It's the moby dick! Look there, the 14 commanders are all present as well!”

“How did we let them get so close to the bay uninterrupted?! Someone go check on the gunnery crew atop the walls!”

“They are all dead, someone had killed them before we even knew!”

Chaos befell the marines as their well-thought strategy was cracked before it could be used by an unknown party who stood far away from the one hundred thousand marines and oversaw the entire army with a critical eye before his mind was made up.

He flexed his ability and concentrated, the previous sunny day was replaced by gathering dark clouds that appeared so suddenly that even the admirals were alarmed at the sudden shift of weather.

Then they heard someone walk, each loud step was accompanied by a metallic click that reverberated on the silent Marineford which was in complete chaos at this point which had all the present officers exerting themselves to gain their subordinates attention without any sign of success.

“Gurararara! How many decades has it been Sengoku? My beloved son better be safe and sound…” Whitebeard declared with a dangerous gleam in his golden eyes.”You just hang in there a little longer…Ace!!!”

“OLD MAN!?”

Everything proceeded the same as in the manga, the exclamations, shouting and tearful promises was something that made him feel…nostalgic, to think he would get front row seats at this monumental event that would reshape the order of this world.

As the fight begun he awaited one more person to arrive and observed the battlefield with a critical eye to make sure the canon betrayals do not hamper the Old man's health as that had been a factor to his fast deteriorating health which allowed the Red hound to capitalize on the weakness and commit a critical strike that shaved half of his head from existence and nearly ended the old Man life right there…no he won't allow that Bastard to play the puppeteer this time and just in the right moment, it seems like the main star of the show is just about to land as well which was his signal to enter the field and throw away his shroud and shatter the morale further in a flash!

His body became lighting and blasted up in a eye-catching spectacle that gained the attention of all onlookers who saw a beam of lightning go upwards instead of downwards and strike the dark clouds which ignited them into proper lighting charged State.

“He is here…” Kizaru had been able to get a brief look before he uttered those words which had his two fellow admirals turn to look at him with questioning looks.”The Man who countered my ability has come to join this war as he had said.”

Just as the Prisoners made landfall on the battlefield the smell of ozone could be tasted by everyone present as the clouds hummed ominously, from their charged masses a figure glowing with pure lighting descended like a God wreathed in pure power that caused the very air to heat up at his mere presence.

Whitebeard himself had seen this new player join the war and tried to guess the identity of the Man who made even the three admiral Brats look like humans with his very presence.

“EL-THOR!” The lighting God decreed from his place close to the dark clouds, sending a beam of lighting blast to strike a giant and instantly killing the unprepared Vice Admiral in One strike which sent the burnt body to crash down and kill dozens of marines.

“Gurararara! It seems the heavens are on our side as well, Men!” Whitebeard declared with a deep rumbling laughter that sent chills down the Marines spine while invigorrating the pirates who used this one moment to break through the first defense with help of the icebreaker ship who crashed through the iceberg and broke through the reinforced wall.

The Super rookie used this moment to shout his declaration, his words reverberating all over the plaza like a thunderous roar of an enraged Beast.

“ACCCCEEEEEE!!! I HAVE COME TO SAVE YOU!!!”He roared loudly, his presence causing a certain old emperor to gaze briefly at the gathered men and..okamas who had come and were backing up the rookie.

Only to see a certain sand brat try his luck once more which was interrupted by one famous rookie he had been waiting to meet when he arrived in the new world.

“Crocodile…” He murmured with an edge to his voice that made the brat freeze and re-evaluate his actions.

“Crocs. The old man has come to save Ace, back off!” The brat glared intimidatingly at the sand logia which muttered something and turned back into sand and disappeared away.

Then “That” conversation happened between two Men who had come to save an important person to them, One an emperor and the other a rookie with charisma strong enough to gather a whole army to his back and call in such a short notice, both of them agreed with each other…Ace shall not executed today.

“Greetings.”

Their meeting was interrupted by the unknown variable that had destroyed any semblance of coherence that the marines had.

The destructive Lighting Logia which had already slayed a vice admiral giant with one single attack.

“I hope I am not interrupting something important but I wish to add my two cents into whatever plan you have crafted Emperor Whitebeard.” The charged Lighting Logia shape was not human at this point, everything has expanded, muscles and size had ballooned to nearly match whitebeard himself.

At an intimidating six meters tall he struck an intimidating figure with his body being made from lighting itself, his gaze was locked with that of the emperor who was appraising him.

“Gurararara! How outrageous, to think there would exist a power that surpasses even the three admirals in this world that the world government hasn't tried to get its greedy hands on it already. What is your name, boy.”

“My name is Marius, Fyrefray D. Marius, it is a pleasure to meet you Edward Newgate and Monkey D Luffy, it seems like fate has conspired for us all to share a battlefield.”He deactivated his empowered elemental state and showed his true self to the two most influential people in the entire world.