Chapter 240
—
Amon had almost forgotten Vivi. He only realised that after flying half the road. Fortunately for him, Vivi wasn't as dumb as she used to be. When he returned to check on her 20 seconds later, Vivi was already underwater, returning to Alabasta.
To make sure she doesn't somehow die underwater because of the sudden Haki loss, one of Amon's clones was now accompanying her.
On the other hand, by the time the Maries in Marineford surrounded and captured the remnants of Whitebeard Pirates, Amon and the Sins were back in Skypiea.
"Good job, everyone."
Amon smiled at the Sins who were lying or sitting on the floor of God's Shrine. Some smiled at the compliment and some just took it with a grain of salt. They could have done better.
"The one who was truly magnificent there was you, my Kami," Yona said, sitting up from her back. "I, on the contrary... "
She bit her lips with a sigh. "I am sorry you had to save me from a weakling like Doflamingo."
Amon waved his hands. "You are not a physical fighter anyway, don't let that bother you. Remember, you have other jobs to do with all the new bodies we got. That's the time for you to shine."
Yona nodded with a smile. She was hoping to be reprimanded for failing her God, but then again, the God she served was a merciful being.
Then surprising not just her but everyone else, Amon slumped down on the floor too. He usually would have just made a chair of his own and sat there. But maybe he was just trying to show recognition for their hard work...? They couldn't tell.
But Amon was indeed showing his appreciation. They honestly did bad… most of them, at least. But he got great benefit from here, acting as if he is satisfied with them for once wouldn't do bad.
"Wyper, your result is the best, by the way. Taking down an Admiral is no small feat."
At Amon's words, Wyper didn't show any signs of happiness, and just turned his head the other way. The other sins laughed and giggled at this, even Urouge.
Raki, on the other hand, jerked her head from the ground. "Hey, what about me?! I killed the Pirate King's right hand!"
"With Yamato's help. Yeah, very great indeed." Amon shrugged.
"Tch." Raki clicked her tongue and let her head fall down.
The Sins laughed again, which caused Raki to smile too. She knew he didn't mean it… Right?
"Anyway," Amon stood up. "This calls for a celebration, you agree? I am sure the others are dying to throw a feast for weeks." He then looked down at his hand watch, which surprised the others as it had survived the fight. "Hm… I still have some important work to do, so I will get back to it. But you guys enjoy your time."
Amon was about to leave, but a voice called.
"U-um…" Hancock interrupted. "Can't you take a break too?"
Amon stared at her face, before smiling softly.
"No. Not yet."
He was mentally tired, true, but a God would rather finish his work first.
—★—
A week has passed since then.
The world was in chaos. More than it was in the canon timeline. Amon knew there was no way for new pirates to jump at the sea without the infamous line, "One Piece is real!", but he had other ways.
He needed the chaos to grow, after all.
There was a reason why Robin had gone to Big News Morgan. It wasn't just to announce a single piece of news, but multiple ones, instead.
[Sky Emperor Amon is The Strongest Man Alive — how much of that is true?!]
[Sky Emperor Amon learns about the One Piece from Scopper Gaban!]
["One Piece is real." The Sky Emperor says!]
[New Pirates are rising from all over the world!]
[Sky Emperor is recruiting bounty hunters in his Wingless Valkyrie, and Pirates in his Einherjar Grand Fleet!]
[What does Sky Emperor wish to accomplish by recruiting two opposing factions?!]
It was chaos, truly. All of Amon's allies who were sceptical about Amon's strength, such as the Happo Navy, were busy wiping their sweat. Fortunately, they didn't cross the line until now.
The general public was already calling him the new Pirate King. If Amon wanted, he could have forced Morgan to announce that too. But he didn't want that. He liked to win and conquer, true, but he also liked the process as much as he did the end result.
Getting the title like that just wouldn't soothe his heart. What is the meaning of Power if you still have to cheat?
But he did have a new title. "The Man Closest to One Piece!"
With his new bounty of 5,464,000,000 berries, he was now more wanted than the dead Whitebeard and even Monkey D. Dragon, who had the bounty of 5.36 billion berries.
Currently, amongst the people alive, Amon had the highest bounty.
He was also the new "Most Wanted Man". Truly, Amon was at the peak of the world.
He was very happy with how things were moving ahead. But, the AI, Seraph's words caused him to frown.
[Hm, from the clips… I would say top 10? No… it should be a bit lower.] The AI went silent, multiple equations starting to happen on its screen. [Oh. Surprising. You should be considered the top 5 strongest beings to ever live in this world's history.]
Amon expected to be at the Top 3, behind Imu and Joyboy. But there were another 2 people in front of him, people who were dead. Dead people don't tell tales, true, but it was concerning how he still wasn't the strongest being to ever live after 22 years of struggle.
The good news is, he was about to get another power boost.
"Forget that. Tell me if our previous theories about Multiple Devil Fruits match Teach's body or not."
[It does.] A soft, whimper left the AI. [I am surprised it does…]
Then again, after thousands of theories and hundreds of experiments, if Amon still couldn't guess Blackbeard's secret, he should walk down his throne and give the crown to Raki, the musclehead.
—★—
Zephyr, aka Z, recently left the Marines. Something that would have happened a bit later, if not for Amon's existence. That's the reason why he didn't join the War of the Best.
In the short time after leaving the Marines, he was planning to kill Doflamingo, the man who was responsible for his old fleet's death. The same man who took Z's right arm.
But fate was never at his side, was it? The man who he disdained the most, the man who didn't let him sleep at night, was killed by another greater evil, Amon.
Zephyr would have felt grateful to the murderer of Doffy since he wasn't brave enough to bear the death of a Celestial Dragon, even if former, in his shoulders. But he couldn't feel so, because Amon was a Pirate, and a greater evil than even Doflamingo. He has killed many of his old-marine comrades, and even two of his students, Sakazuki and Kizaru.
Of course, the only emotion he felt towards Amon was Rage and Disgust.
All of Zephyr's rage shifted from the dead Doffy, and directed it towards Amon, The Man Closest to the One Piece.
But he knew his limits. He was an old man. Even in his prime, he doubted if he could even stand against Amon. Now, he was a mere husk of his previous self.
He needed a new plan. And as if heaven was on his side all of a sudden, an opportunity showed up.
"Kuku, to think a day will come when the Roger Pirates will come knocking at my door."
Zephyr walked through the door and looked at the round table where a dozen of men sat. Observation Haki told him about multiple more presences outside this room.
The remnants of Roger Pirates who gathered around after the cruel death of their Captain's Son and Right-hand-man. Buggy was the one who helped them gather. The Clown was truly enraged after seeing Rayleigh die, and Gaban kidnapped. He didn't care about Ace at all. So, using his name as a member of the Roger Pirates, he gathered criminals under him and ordered them to find the other members.
Normally, that would have been impossible, since Amon has already tried and failed before. But this time the remnants were trying to contact each other themselves. So, with a bit of effort, they were able to gather together in a few days.
Zephyr looked at the table. Each of these old men could shake the world in their prime. But now, they were weaker than even him.
"You know, I would have never helped you guys, the greatest evils to ever live. But as they say, use a thorn to remove another."
The men on the table shook, their bodies trembling from either rage or just their age. Zephyr couldn't tell.
With a scoff, Z talked. "Ain, come here."
At his words, from behind him, a dark blue-haired girl walked forward, her face stern.
The old men stared at her as Z ordered, "Now, do what you are best at, Ain. Use your Return-Return fruit to send them back to their Primes. Good as new."
With a nod, Ain walked forward.
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