"Base commander I want that mans file sent to me immediately but before that tell me what you know."
"Sir, after I first met him two weeks ago I found him suspicious so I immediately started investigating him. He was an orphan left at a church in Newport village, he stayed there for four years with the Sister watching over the church but disappeared when she got sick and died. He was only four. The current Father of the church said when he arrived he found a note the boy had left asking him to tell the only other person he had really talked to that he was going to train in the large forest behind the church and he'd be gone for a long time."
"True to his word no one heard from him for fifteen years when he showed up covered in animal furs, far larger, and with a huge pet wolf. He spent just long enough in town to say a few words to the doctor then immediately got on a ship as a bodyguard claiming he was going to be a bounty hunter. The ship ran into the Rocky Raiders and he killed them all with ease. Right after that is when we first met, he acted like I was insignificant and my marine rank didn't matter at all so we dont exactly get along."
"He claimed the ship and told us he didn't want anything in it and we were welcome to search the ship where we recovered a decent amount of recently stolen gold. After having the shipwrights remove all the cannons he said were unnecessary and refit it to his liking, he found some random people he apparently only got to sail him around and set sail for the meeting point of the pirates three hours before we left. He should have arrived about an hour before us and when we got there all the pirates were dead. The bodies of the pirates with bounties were waiting for us but the others weren't there and there was no evidence of a fight or blood anywhere on the island. The doctor did an autopsy and he has no idea how they died either, other than their eyes which were basically reduced to ash, their bodies were perfectly fine."
"After I came ashore he immediately suggested a trade to get ahold of you then once I agreed he came back here and has been waiting and gathering supplies. This is all I know."
"What do you think of him?"
Captain grumpy was actually quiet for once. "He seems rather relaxed normally but judging by how he deals with pirates hes rather brutal when irritated. I once met Admiral Akainu right before he was promoted. The presence he had was rather terrifying but.... This guy seemed stronger, he doesnt seem as hostile but he seems almost ethereal or fathomless. I know I'm not qualified to judge on this issue but that's just what my instincts tell me."
*Sigh* "Thank you for your report you've done well and that will reflect on your next review, keep up the good work." *click*
Captain grumpy just sat there grateful he didn't get demoted.
In his office at Marineford Sengoku put down the transponder snail and pondered on what the base commander had told him. 'That guy may not be ready for the grandline yet but hes close, and he described Akainus presence fairly well to. Even if hes not as strong as the Admirals he should be rather special to reach the level of power needed to be virtually impossible to beat in the blues in just fifteen years. Maybe after this I can convince him to join the Marines.'
While pondering this issue he reached out to grab his rice crackers only to find someone else snatched them before he could. "Ha! Garp you bastard give me back my snacks!"
"Bwuahahahahaha sounds like something interesting is happening in the blues right Sengoku?"
"... I dont know yet."
"Hahahaha the times are changing Sengoku, if this brat is as strong as you think and he truly is hunting pirates he could be an ally against their increasing number. When he comes to the grandline I'll meet him and see if hes any good."
The crew all decided to stay on till the grandline so they could make enough money that they wouldn't have to work for a few years. This meant he could leave right away and didn't have to find more people to take along. Since he had time to kill he decided to ponder what hes learned about using his devil fruit powers.
One could argue that the Ghost rider as a devil fruit was to OP but if you think about it, it's not that bad. The Penence stare is really powerful yes but it doesnt do anything to people that aren't covered in sin so a lot of people will be completely immune to it. The physical boost it gives is really good but it's not better than what one would get from a dragon devil fruit, and the hellfire can burn anything but it's not something I can just spew out city erasing amounts of like a dragon or the flame flame fruit could. The best thing about these powers overall is the way it let's you imbue weapons and transports with hellfire, and the way your still the same size and shape when transformed.
That might not seem like a big deal but when your really skilled with your original body and change it to say a Phoenix or Dragon your whole fighting style changes because your whole body does. The ghost rider devil fruit is damn near perfect for someone who is really good hand to hand with haki because I noticed that haki flows easier through the skeleton. It also doesn't take as much to use armament on the bones when transformed I'm not sure if it's because the total area being covered is less since theres no skin and muscle or if it's just because of some quirk of the transformation. I could still use the rokushiki and my own fighting style when transformed to.
I'm curious to see how It would change when awakened, but I can feel theres a few more abilities I can unlock. I'm assuming I need to unlock all the abilities it has before it can awaken. Maybe I'll turn into the angel rider?
Days past and we eventually arrived at the west blue to begin the hunt for evil all over again.