[2250 words]
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[Meanwhile, in the Grand Line]
The exchange between old and rising powerhouses was all but a backdrop to the ruin plaguing the world. Over the past few days, news of the mess at the Navy's three strongholds has been making waves—Morgans was up all night!
Impel Down.
Enies Lobby.
Marineford.
Each of these beacons of marine supremacy was either raided or left in destruction!
The World Economy News Paper broke the intelligence, starting with the escape of three known convicts, each belonging to the First Level of the World Threat Index.
Zenora Mors.Odinsdottir Herja.
Einar D. Damien.
As most were not well-acquainted with the first name on the list, Star Reporter Morgans made it his duty to let the man's feats be retold in all their glory—even unborn babies knew it!
…
[A Village in a Remote Island of Paradise Sea]
The Village Master, Jiji, held the daily news in his hands. The thick glasses over his nose were awfully pronounced, yet the man still had to squint to make out the words.
He stubbornly stood with a cane in hand, pausing in the middle of the street and giving no mind to others being forced to go around him.
"So that monster from Polemos Island is really back on the sea? I'm glad I'm old and soon to die," the man muttered with relief.
Though a nearby youngster heard his words. "Old Man Jiji, you know that pirate?"
Jiji huffed, knocking on the floor with his cane. "Listen here, you snot-nosed brat! The pirates that left a man as brave as I to fear the seas can be counted on one hand! This Mors is one of them!" ȒάƝＯΒÊṣ
The bold remarks garnered a few more eyes and ears, grabbing their attention.
Jiji scoffed, nodding at their attentiveness. "Listen up. This is regarding two monsters of the previous era, the time before the Overlords and the late Rocks!"
He sighed in nostalgia, recalling some thoughts. "I was a chipper young squirt like the rest of you when I heard of the Bloodspawn Mors entering the sea. That guy was really out to cut up the World Government!"
Jiji waved his cane, forcing his point to sink in. "I don't know why, but Mors really hated them, hated to the point where he was willing to control the Celestial Dragons at Sabaody to kill themselves in brutal ways in front of a live feed!"
"They were his marionettes… and then he then delivered their body in pieces to Mariejois, reaching the Five Elders!"
Jiji shook his head, shivering from Mors' boldness. "The Admiral dispatched couldn't keep up with a man who could control their armies, so their attempts to capture Mors failed for a decade!"
The words left the nearby villagers quite shaken.
.
"T-Then, how did they take him down?"
Jiji gave a haughty cough as he nodded, "It happened a little over twenty-five years ago when the Fleet Admiral Endou had to leave Marineford to take Mors down personally. The fight lasted eight days and eight nights."
"What a monster… it's good that Lord Endou saved the day!"
"Eight days!? I can't even sleep that long in succession!"
"Such a long battle; it's just a little under how long I last in bed!"
"More like how long it takes you to recover from one burst!"
*Bang!* Jiji smashed his cane, shutting the others up.
"Mors was taken down while another monster was making a mess. Though thankfully, that pirate had been dead for twenty years…"
Jiji waved the newspaper with his free hand. "But now, Mors is out. He wrestled with Fleet Admiral Kong for three days before leaving, earning him a huge reward to his name!"
He shoved the folded paper in their faces, showcasing a bounty poster.
-----< WANTED >-----
< ZENORA⋅MORS >
< 'Bloodspawn' >
< 𝔅 2,808,200,000 - >
< DEAD or ALIVE >
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[A Sky Island over Paradise]
A festive mood had suddenly turned upside down; hundreds of pirates remained quiet as their boss read the news.
They were within the hull of a giant ship, their cabin lit with candles. Yet even the brightness of the candles and windows wasn't enough to calm the tense atmosphere.
*Snap* A cigar was crushed into pieces as the golden-haired man huffed angrily.
"Damien… I'm not surprised he broke out of Impel Down. Still, he actually brought Herja out as well…" Shiki scoffed, bursting into a laugh, "Jihahahaha! No worries, I'll make sure to kill her this time around!"
"B-Boss!" a voice came from the side. The pirate gulped and expressed his thoughts, "O-Our fellow pirates were wondering when we can return from the skies…"
Shiki seemed annoyed.
"You idiot, right now the Navy is in full swing since Rocks' fall. This isn't the time to surface!"
He tossed the bundle of News away; its flapping released the bounty poster of a gorgeous woman.
-----< WANTED >-----
< ODINSDOTTIR⋅HERJA >
< 'Fallen Angel' >
< 𝔅 2,519,500,000 - >
< DEAD or ALIVE >
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[Sphinx Island, New World]
A towering man leaned across a thick log, holding up a bundle of news. A wide grin arrived with a booming laugh. "Gurararara! He really did it."
The man, Edward Newgate, grabbed a barrel of saké and guzzled it down. "Mors, Herja, two relics of the past," Whitebeard muttered. "Looks like he wants to spread out the Government's attention."
Bam!
The empty barrel slammed to the ground.
"Don't you have any thoughts about him?" a man questioned.
Newgate's words were meant for the quiet figure sitting across from him. The man had white hair, a red cape, and a pink coat. His regal presence emanated a refined aura.
"Pahaha! That young pirate is truly a wild card."
The mysterious pirate was quite well-known; he was Patrick Redfield, a notorious pirate.
Redfield placed his teacup down, humming over the news. "The Sin Incarnate's Latest Masterpiece," he read the sub-title. "Leaving Enies Lobby in such a shape, he really has reached quite the level."
Newgate glared at the Red Count's curious eyes, "You sound awfully interested in his adventures."
Redfield shrugged, his lips forming an inquisitive smile. "It's been a while since such a striking young man made such waves. I can't help but be intrigued by his endeavours."
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[Grove 13, Sabaody Archipelago]
It was a respectable bar named "Shakky's Rip-Off Bar."
A few corpses were thrown outside, creating quite the welcoming ceremony.
The bartender sat at her usual spot, smoking a cigar as she read the news. A man sat at the corner seat nearby, entirely invested in the news as well.
"He broke out so quickly. Just what is that he's after?" the man, Silvers Rayleigh, muttered.
"Who cares? I'm just glad that he's no longer in that hellhole," came Shakky's voice.
Rayleigh's smile twitched, "Shakky, with that young man's strength, there aren't many places that can be detrimental to him."
The woman didn't argue back, not because she agreed but because she didn't really care about the counterargument.
"He destroyed Enies Lobby, and G-1's reconstruction was brought to square one by Herja. And Marineford? Ufufufu, draining the Government's pocket with all of this."
The Dark King shook his head with a wry smile, "Two weeks of imprisonment, and he returns with such a bang. No wonder they'd drop such a high bounty for him!"
The man's bespectacled gaze fell onto a piece of paper, over a billion above his own:
-----< WANTED >-----
< EINAR·D·DAMIEN >
< 'The Undying' >
< 𝔅 3,787,600,000 - >
< DEAD or ALIVE >
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[The Ruins of God Valley]
A single ship remained afloat over the turbulent seas.
Einar D. Ares laughed to himself as he read the latest news, a hint of pride visible in his tired eyes.
Kraft, however, was a little uneasy about the weather conditions. "Mister Ares. Look at the sky…"
Ares hummed, glancing above.
He saw cracks and tears forming in the heavens, leaking sunlight into the dull waters of what was once God Valley. The tides began to grow more and more destructive, picking up speed and volume.
Kraft massaged his temples, "All of a sudden, I have this pounding headache…"
"Huh," Ares narrowed his eyes in thought.
*Crackle* Black lightning began to rain from above, sending dull tremors and bangs through the skies.
Hundreds of birds fell from above, their bodies crashing into the sea. Ares looked down below at the ocean's depths with a smidge of worry. "Such anger. Just what the hell is happening down there?"
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[In the Depths]
Rocks' spiritual form loomed, his dark eyes gleaming with cruel delight as he regarded Damien from head to toe, savouring every ounce of seething ambition and churning Conqueror's Haki emanating from the younger pirate. His shadowy figure, half-flickering and half-solid, seemed almost alive as he fed off Damien's fury, his gaze sharpening like a predator's.
With a twisted smile, Rocks chuckled, "Seeing you now, I couldn't be more pleased that I sent that little Mafia family to burn Renaissance to the ground!"
The air in the mindscape cracked under the surge of Haki erupting from Damien, and dark fissures webbed through the surroundings. Yet Rocks only continued to watch with a sick thrill, undeterred by Damien's anger.
As his fury intensified, fragments of Rocks' past taunts began to click into place in Damien's mind, a bitter realization dawning:
First, when Rocks butted heads with Sol: "Hehe, I visited your scarred home of Moraino. I hope it forged more strength than just this!"
Then, when he attacked Basara's hometown: "Xahaha! I've visited quite a few places that gave birth to powerful men…"
It all aligned now—Rocks had been taunting him all along, leaving cryptic hints of his twisted influence over Damien's past.
Seeing the dawning understanding in Damien's eyes, Rocks sneered, "Yes, I've been watching you all this time, boy. My whole life has been plagued with the screams of the world… the hateful shrieks can make a man go mad, Xahahaha!"
"I felt the world was against me, tearing every ounce of sanity and driving me to death. So I found death and made it my greatest strength!"
The Abyssal Sin licked his lips at the thought of butting heads with fate. "One day, the God of War suddenly besieged Marineford, bringing them a fright that left them shivering for decades."
"I heard of his tales and vied for that very power," Rocks mused, clenching his scarred hands into fists. "To sit atop that seat, to become the King of the World, the same world that sought to break me down for decades!"
Yet his feral expression warped as he shook his head. "But I had this thought in the back of my mind, no matter how strong I grew, a whisper carried a single fate unto me, a fate where I would fall and be forgotten."
"And in my search to strike back, I found a strange anomaly… an orphan on a small island in the West Blue. A spawn of the erased War God."
Rocks paused, his tone thickening with sinister pride. "I waited, waited for something resembling Ares, whose power brought fear to the World Government." Disappointed, he clicked his tongue. "Seven years went by, and nothing happened."
"So I had a few insects from the Mafia to raze your hometown. Your mother's death? An insignificant casualty but necessary," he said coldly. "It was the only way to give you the strength to one day rise to this moment."
Damien's rage flared, his voice seething. "You think you made me? That every part of my power is some twisted product of your design?"
"Xahahaha!" Rocks threw his head back, the harsh laughter echoing in the shadowed realm. "Oh, yes. Revel in it, boy—revel in the hatred I carved into your very soul." His bony hand gestured to the endless darkness surrounding them, a cruel smirk twisting his features. "And do you really think I would let the sea rob me of my victory? No, I went beyond even the limits of death itself!"
Rocks gestured around, the emptiness becoming a cage of cold, unyielding darkness. "This place… you've entered my Awakening, boy. While you were on your little vacation, I anchored my soul to a place where death has no hold, a realm of endless suffering—Death Valley. My corpse's Haki pulled you here, a place even the depths of the sea cannot reach."
Damien glared, the oppressive weight of the Death Valley pressing down on him. Rocks' voice, thick with mockery, filled the space. "My soul survives here, out of the reach of the sea, ready to influence from beyond the grave."
The revelation hit like a wave crashing against rock, grounding Rocks' power in his twisted existence beyond death.
The Abyssal Sin's sneer widened, his bony finger jabbing toward Damien. "Whether you like it or not, all of your strength, your ambition—everything—was born from my shadow. And in it, you will forever remain!"
With his arms spread wide, Rocks looked as though he were welcoming a new era, his final curse casting a long, sinister shadow. "So go on, defy the fate I couldn't escape. Tear down the Government, destroy all they hold dear, bring tyranny to the seas in my name!"
He glanced at Damien, whose silent, furious stance seemed to bend the very world around him, his churning Haki darkening and twisting with a violent edge as if touched by a corrupting shadow.
"Einar D. Damien. You are the incarnation of my sins, and my will is yours to inherit… You will avenge me!"
To Be Continued…
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Author's Corner.
In Chapter 42, Rocks goes to Death Valley while Damien goes on his "vacation." Death Valley is one of the Trinity of Valleys: Death, God, and Extinction valleys. It was here that he anchored his soul in the case of his death, allowing him to maintain his not-alive-not-dead state. His "Secret Weapon" has also been unveiled.
Inherited Will is a recurring theme in One Piece. What do you think will become of Damien now that the truth is in front of him?
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