[Flower Capital, Kaienreki Calendar 1516, Feburary]
*Munch* *Munch* *Nom* *Nom*
Ignoring the noises Yamato made as she stuffed herself with delicacies prepared by the royal chef, Lupin's gaze was fixed on the azure-coloured fruit in his hands. It was similarly shaped to a pinecone, though bigger and its 'scales' had small swirls-shaped marks on them.
It was clearly a devil fruit, but most importantly it was the Uo Uo no Mi Model Seiryu – Kaidou's devil fruit.
Lupin had searched on the whole island of Onigashima with his Observation Haki after he had killed all the pirates on the island. It had been a shot in the dark, as the fruit could have easily reincarnated into a similar looking fruit in the nearby ocean, but he had luckily found it.
He had made the effort, because this fruit was simply too powerful and rare, being one of the few mythical Zoan Fruits known to the world.
Lupin didn't need the devil fruit and he seriously doubted that he would survive eating it, so he had been thinking for the last few days what he should do with it.
Yamato had sadly already eaten the Inu Inu no Mi Model Okuchi no Makami, a mythical Zoan devil fruit of equal rarity. Otherwise he would have given her the fruit, as she was the ideal recipient for it.
Being inherently strong herself, she would have been able to maximise the strength the fruit would have granted her.
Sighing to himself, he knew the answer would come to him eventually.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps could be heard approaching the door to his quarters in the palace, so he put away the fruit.
Lupin's Observation Haki had already told him who and that they where coming, so after hearing a soft knock on his door, he directly called out: "Enter."
The door was pushed open with great care, as if to make the visitors intrusion as gentle as possible.
Four people appeared in the room with Hyori at the front and her three closest confidants behind, which were Denjiro, Kawamatsu and Yasuie.
Hyori didn't hestitae as she sank to her knees and kowtowed towards Lupin, while Kawamatsu and Yasuie seemed appalled by her behaviour.
"Hyori-sama!" "Ojou-sama!"
Only Denjiro didn't react like them, as the memory of Lupin's prowress was still fresh in his mind and a short moment later he also kneeled down, while Hyori called out to Lupin.
"I beg of you, Lupin-sama. Please, protect Wano one more time!"
A short silence spread in the room, before Kawamatsu and Yasuie followed their Lady's and Denjiro's example.
"Marine Warships are approaching, aren't they?", Lupin asked neutrally.
"Yes, Lupin-sama. Wano has just regained its freedom and while we will fight until the last man, years of oppression have weakened our people too much, I fear we can't withstand such an assault."
"What if they just came to make sure that this country doesn't fall under pirate rule once again? Maybe they will also station troops here and help you protect the country, if you agree to join the World Government? Wouldn't that solve all your worries, Hyori?", Lupin asked calmly.
"Wano has always been independent, as our ancestors had decreed it to be. We cannot allow the World Government to place us I chains of their own.", Hyori replied firmly.
"Hmm … Do you think I am different? That I will not ask of something in return from you?"
"I- … I will repay you for your help personally, Lupin-sama! I will do anything you ask of me, but it will be my own debt to repay, not Wano's! I beg of you!"
"Hyori-sama, you can't!"
"Please, reconsider Ojou-sama!"
"Ojou-sama, you must not!"
"Teach-", Yamato cried out at the same time as Hyori's retainers did.
"Quiet."
This simple word of Lupin silenced them all immediately. As if a mountain weighed down on them, they were forced to shut their mouth and not interrupt.
"One year. You will have one year to find the Road Poneglyph that Kaidou found in Wano. And you will give me a Vivre Card that will help me locate Zunesha. These are non-negotiable terms, and if you don't keep your end of the deal, only ashes will remain of Wano when I am done with it."
Saying his piece, Lupin grabbed Yamato by the back of her neck and vanished from the room with a quick Kamisoru.
…
Yamato couldn't even react properly, before her teacher had grabbed her and moved at incredible speed through the air. Booming soundwaves were left behind, as her teacher landed with her on the shore of Onigashima only a few moments later and dropped her on the sandy ground.
"Keep your eyes open, Yamato.", her teacher said, before he vanished once again.
Turning around, Yamato could see a few samurai standing alongside the shore, throwing worried looks at the sea beyond the great waterfall.
Wani Kuni may be hard to enter due to its unique geography, but the intruders were surely well-prepared, if they dared to come here. As she faced that direction herself, Yamato understood their worry, as dozens of warships were approaching the country, all of them displaying the Marine logo.
Thousands of Marine soldiers were approaching Wano, spear-headed by high-ranking officers.
Thanks to her great eyesight, Yamato could see her teacher stand on the turbulent sea, as if it was flat ground.
He alone blocked the path of a whole armada, completely fearless.
Looking at his straight back, the girl couldn't help but think back to the conversation she had with him on the shore of this island a few weeks back.
–
"Teach me! Please, teach me!", Yamato cried out in desperation.
"Why? What do you need strength for?", the powerful stranger and killer of her father asked her calmly.
"To defeat you! To avenge my father!", she answered without hestitation, even knowing that this might be her last moment alive.
Even as a child she had been fearless when confronting her own father, as she had learnt early on that fear was useless. It did nothing but weigh her down.
She also knew that her request was ridiculous, but after years of imprisonment while dreaming of freedom and saving Wano Kuni from her father's tyranny, the moment were she had finally been freed she had lost all of that.
Her father had died, Wano had been freed and she had felt nothing but emptiness inside her heart.
To be able to continue, to have something to live for, Yamato's despair had thus turned into a thirst for vengence. Though she knew that she could never match someone that had defeated her father without so much as a scratch.
The only choice she had was to learn form the stranger how to defeat him.
Yamato didn't expect to be accepted, but death couldn't scare her at this point.
"I will teach you."
So when she heard these words, she was lost for a moment, not knowing how to react.
–
After that conersation, he had really treated her like his student and took care of her like no one had ever done before, so Yamato felt very conflicted on the inside.
Her musings were interrupted though, as she could feel the already familiar pressure descending on her surroundings.
The rowdy sea currents died down, the bright midday sun was suddenly shadowed by a dark atmosphere and the strong breeze around her vanished.
It was as if nature itself was afraid of her teacher, submitting to his presence in hopes of being spared from his wrath.
…
Lupin looked at the flagship of the fleet, where he could sense the familiar presence of Garp and Aokiji.
Three other Vice Admirals were accompanying them, though Lupin doubted that this would do them any good.
The ships had slowly come to halt after he appeared in their path and Lupin could see Garp and Aokiji approach him using Geppo, before the lazy Admiral froze the water and created a platform to land for the both of them some distance away from Lupin.
"Garp. Kuzan.", Lupin greeted courtly.
"We meet again.", Kuzan replied, while Garp stood to the side without saying anything, which seemed uncharacteristic for a man like him.
"Why have you come here?"
"We have gotten information that you took down Kaidou and freed Wano from his tyranny. We are here to prevent you from doing the same he did to this country."
"You don't believe these words yourself do you, Kuzan?", Lupin asked lightly, before he continued, "Leave. All of you. Or I won't show any mercy. Wano is now my territory. If you want it, you will have to kill me first."
"Brat, do you think you are invinceable?!! Don't try to threaten me! You are barely old enough to to have hair on your chin!", Garp declared in a dark voice, his anger clear in the way his Conquerer's Haki pulsed around him and clashed with Lupin's own.
Garp truly was a monster, but sadly for him he was only at the level of Kaidou himself. And while he probably could have defeated the late Emperor thanks to his mastery over Haki, Lupin's own Haki mastery was many times greater than his.
In his fight against Kaidou, Lupin hadn't needed to make use of the full extent of his power, as Kaidou's strongest point was his defense and endurance which he could pierce through easily enough with his Haki.
Hearing the Hero of the Marines' words, a savage aura exploded from Lupin's body, forming a giant abyss-black apparation of a wolf head behind him.
"You want to fight? Well, I hope you are ready for what comes next.", Lupin's voice drifted out, as massive arcs of dark-blue lightning erupted from his form.
*CRACK* *RUMBLE*
The lightning climbed dozens of meters into the sky and formed what looked to be the arm of a puppet.
Suddenly the palm descended towards the two Marines with incredible speed, though Garp had seen it coming and was already punching out with a Haki-infused blow to block and disperse the attack.
Aokiji meanwhile tried to freeze the whole sea around them, to give them a better foothold and even spread his ice towards Lupin, but his actions were interrupted, as out of nowhere a second lightning palm crashed into him.
*BOOM* *CRASH*
Aokiji had hardly enough time to defend himself with his Haki and form an ice-shield. Even then, he was flung backwards and into one of the waiting Warships.
*BOOOOM* CRASH*
A moment later Garp follwed his example involuntarily, as he was likewise blasted back from the force of the blow.
Disbelief coloured Garp's face as he looked at the two dark-blue lightning limbs behind Lupin.
"Haki … They are completely made out of Haki … *cough* *cough* … How can someone like that exis- *cough* *cough* ", he voiced out in incredulity, as coughs shook his form.
He had thought the lightnings to be some kind of devil fruit power, but the moment he clashed with it, he knew that he had been wrong.
He hadn't managed to block the attack wholly, even after forcing it back with his own Haki-infused blow and some of the lightning had snaked into his body. Damaging his organs, before he managed to force it out.
Aokiji shared Garp's shock, as he also felt the dense Haki in the lightning palm, when he had clashed with it.
Suddenly the lightning limbs grew even larger, doubling their initial length and reaching around two-hundred meters each, while Lupin kicked off the sea surface and appeared in front of the fleet.
Without another word, his Haki constructs attacked and unleashed a dark-blue coloured lightning-hell on the Marines.
…
[Kaienreki Calendar 1516, End of Feburary]
[Somwhere on the Grand Line]
"NEW EMPEROR OF THE SEA – APPEARANCE OF THE LONE EMPEROR. Lupin D. Black clashed with the Beast Pirates in Onigashima … single-handledly wiped out the whole crew's upper echelon, including Emperor Kaidou of the Beasts … several days later, clashing with a whole fleet of Marine Warships alone … 'Hero of the Marines' Monkey D. Garp and Admiral Aokiji, easily defeated alongside three other Vice Admirals and roughly ten-thousand Marine Soldiers … 'The Monster' Lupin D. Black then claimed Wano Kuni as his territory, becoming an Emperor of the Seas in the process and received the highest bounty ever assinged with 6.220.000.000 Berry … as he has no crew, he received the fitting title 'The Lone Emperor'."
Having finished the article and looking at the bounty poster, Ina saw the lightning-covered figure of the man she missed day and night. His black wings and long dark hair gave him a kind of demonic charm, as stood he there on the ocean between the ruins of dozens of warships.
"The country of Wano Kuni, so that's where you are … ", she whispered to herself, as she set a new goal for her ardous journey.
...
[Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral's Office]
Looking at the article and bounty poster, Sengoku couldn't help but sigh.
Raising his head, he looked at Garp and Aokiji, both bandaged and still recovering, as they sat in armchairs before his desk. The missing left arm of his old friend and comrade looked especially glaring to his eyes.
"This is a disaster … ", Sengoku said quietly to no one in particular.
Garp, on the other hand, didn't seem to care much about his lost limb, as he managed to stuff his mouth with his favourite crackers just fine and didn't even bother answering Sengoku.
"He let us leave.", Kuzan voiced out, causing a surprised look to cross the Fleet Admiral's face.
"Black could have killed us both and even all our subordinates, but he chose to let us leave. We didn't manage to retreat by sacrificing our forces, Fleet Admiral. He simply stopped attacking us, after he crippled Vice Admiral Garp. 'Consider this your payment for coming here, now leave.', that's what he said, before vanishing.", the ice-wielding Admiral roughly recounted the happenings.
Silence spread in the small office, as even Garp paused for a few long moments, in his eyes an absent look, as if he relived the battle in his mind.
…
[East Blue, Conomi Islands, Cocoyashi Village]
" 'The Lone Emperor' … What is it you are really after, Black Wolf?", Bellemere asked herself, after reading the newspaper.
She really could not understand how the boy/wolf/man, that had saved her and her family twice could be the same one that slaughter the whole crew of an Emperor and destroyed a whole fleet of warships by himself.
A troubled look crossed her face, as she looked out into the night sky.
…
[East Blue, Shimotsuki]
"Truly, what horror you plant in the hearts of your enemies, what glory you attain through blood. Ahh, my student who will be able to follow your path in the endless sea of time?", Koushirou muttered to himself, as he looked at the depiction of Lupin on his bounty poster.
…
[Somewhere in the New World]
"Father, please allow me to return to Wano? I have to comfirm with my own eyes, what is written in here.", Izou, 16th division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, pleaded before an imposing old man.
The scars and medical equipment on his body doing nothing to hide the fearsome strength the old man still wielded.
"Hmm … We will all go, so set course towards Wano! I wanna sees this new Emperor with my own eyes! Gurarara!"
…
[New World, Baltigo]
Putting down the newspaper, a complicated look appeared on the tattooed face of a serious looking man.
"'The Lone Emperor', a fitting name indeed for one with such power, though he is still a monster all the same. *Sigh* Either way this benefits us greatly, as the World Government just lost their biggest weapon supplier. We have to make sure to use this to our advantage, so put more pressure on them and send reinforcements to the battlefields where the conflicts are most intense. Try and gain some ground, while they still recount their losses from this clash with the new Emperor.", the man ordered, after a moment of thought.
…
[Red Line, Fishman Island, Palace]
Lupin D. Black, The Monster, The Lone Emperor, Dead, 6.220.000.000 Berry.
Otohime had a complicated feeling in her heart, as she looked at the portrait of the man, that had left an fathomable impression on her mind.
'Forgive me, Your Majesty. The world isn't yet ready for such changes.'
His words still rang in the frail Queen's ears even after so many months had passed.
Otohime knew them to be true and sincere, as her Observation Haki hadn't sensed any falsehood in the man, which made her think of the happenings that day with an even heavier heart.
Several of her subjects had died that day at the hands of Lupin and for that she should hate the man or at least resent him, but knowing what she did, she couldn't do so.
She had sensed the ill-intent in the heart of those men towards herself, and worse her children. Otohime had never confronted them about that, as she had hoped to change their view with sincerity and by being open-hearted, though with little to no effect.
That man clearly had an incredible powerful Haki as well and probably one far more sensitive than her own, so he must have sensed the darkness and violence in those Fish-Men's hearts, which had caused him to attack them.
She couldn't be thankful for his attacks either, as she was a pacifist at heart, hoping to solve conflict without violence. Furthermore his actions that day had made her efforts to gather her people's support for her agenda basically impossible.
The sole memory of him scaring those gargantuan Sea Kings into submission, also caused a healthy amount of fear to sprout in the Queen's heart, while at the same time proved that Lupin had no intention of harming Fish-Man Island, or else he could have probably destroyed it easily enough.
Truly, Otohime's heart was filled with complicated emotions, as she looked at the picture of a man looking like the winged-incarnation of a god of lightning.
…
[Grand Line, Amazon Lily]
'I am free.'
An empty look appeared in the eyes of a world-shaking beauty, as she looked into the distant night sky, almost forgotten words echoing once again in mind.
A silent tear rolled down her cheek, as she could feel the phantom pain of a branding iron on her back.
Memories of a boy descending from the sky like a god of war with lightning at his beck and call, replayed themselves in mind, as the yearning to be like him – to stand tall and free and against all opposition – spread through her heart once again.
A few long moments later the young Queen wiped away the mark of her weakness form her face, as she once again assumed the bearings of a beautiful, but heartless ruler.
…
[New World, Totto Land, Whole Cake Island]
"What a terrifying boy, but it seems that he has no crew. So maybe he wants a companion and even get married … ? Mamamamama.", a giant figure voiced out in the darkness laughing to herself.
…
[Somewhere in the New World]
"Ayy, he truly isn't a simple man to understand, though if what Rayleigh told me is true, then he will come looking for me rather sooner than later and he doesn't seem to be the merciful type either … Killing an Emperor and his whole crew, just for a look at his Road Poneglyph … *Sigh* I guess, I will have to compromise this time, or risk 'The Monster's' wrath … *Sigh* Truly, the Wolf Clan isn't easy to deal with … ", a red-haired man mumbled to himself, as his gaze wandered aimlessly over the paper in his hand.