"They're at it again?!! We have to do something about these bastards!!" A young but large man shouted in anger.
"I understand how you feel Akainu but they aren't a normal group of pirates." Sengoku, the new fleet admiral tried to calm the current Vice-Admiral Akainu, "Not only has his crew showed miraculous Haki capabilities but the Captain holds all three types along one of the lost Supreme Grade Blades. On top of their captain holding immense charisma that can't be denied.
Our best bet is waiting until they enter the grandline then trying to corner them before they can make any more moves." Akainu clenched his fist in anger.
"They've destroyed the biggest Marine Stronghold in any of the four blues! We have to take them down now!" Sengoku sighed and rubbed his forehead before slamming a fist into the table the marine officials were all at.
"We've been given orders to wait so listen! Take a group of 4 rear-admirals and wait near the beginning of the grandline! We'll find which path they're taking and will set up a trap for them." Akainu, not happy they could go now, was pacified for the time being.
****
"I guess this is where we part ways, Captain." Klark shook Markus's hand while Markus looked sad.
"I guess…" Klark laughed awkwardly.
"Don't feel down, Captain. We'll see each other again in no time I promise." Markus sighed and hunched over.
"Yeah but you're my crew… I hate saying goodbye, especially to my family…" Klark smiled softly and patted Markus's back.
"There, there. It isn't a goodbye forever just until we meet again." Markus quickly sprung up and nodded.
"Of course! I'll see y'all in Water 7." Klark nodded and waved goodbye as he boarded the marine ship.
"See you in Water 7 Captain! Stay safe! And don't worry about Henry and Issac! Hector's one hell of a doctor! What he taught some of my men was better than any lesson at training camp on first aid!" Markus nodded and waved goodbye with tears building up.
"I'll miss you all! Goodbye Klark! Goodbye Henry! Goodbye Issac! Goodbye Jak! Goodbye Jay! Goodbye Ethan! Goodbye Ian! Goodbye Thomas! Goodbye- ah!" Rebecca came over and dragged Markus back to the ship by his ear. "Stop! Stop! I'm coming damn it! I was just being a good captain!!"
"We know you're a good captain Markus but saying goodbye to 30 plus people will take forever so let's get a move on!" Markus looked down and pouted. Rebecca sighed and rubbed her forehead. "How about I make some lunch right? That'll cheer you up."
Markus instantly perked up and nodded enthusiastically and laughed out, "Make lots and lots of meat! Oh bean sprouts too!"
Rebecca nodded and headed towards the kitchen while Markus bounced over to the figure head to sit down. Instead of looking out to sea he looked back and saw Anderson setting course, Harlen was training, and Hector was relaxing on the deck reading a book. Markus smiled and opened his status.
[Name: Markus
Level: 106
Primary Class: [Advanced Swordsman - Level: 12]
Secondary Class: [Beginner Marksman - Level: 11]
HP: 100%
SP: 100%
HK: 100%]
[Skills:
[Advanced Swordsmanship - Level: 70 [107,984/2,730,000]
[Armament Haki - Level: 11 [95,423/2,000,000]
Advanced Forms:
{Emission} - Level: 1 [43,323/1,000,000]
[Observation Haki - Level: 11 [1,580,925/2,000,000]
Advanced Forms:
{Future Sight} - Level: 1 [89,837/1,000,000]
[Conqueror's Haki - Level: 6 [1,074,253/3,200,000]
[Beginner Marksmanship - Level: 60 [820/2,100]
[One Sword Style - Flow - Level: MAX]
[Cooking - Level: 34 [2,591/3,400]
[One Sword Style - Advanced Flow - Level: 4/7]
[Pirate Crew:
Celestial Dragon Pirates - E
Captain - Markus Lv. 106
Vice-Captain - Harlen Lv. 100
Navigator - Anderson Lv. 85
Chef - Rebecca Lv. 68
Doctor - Hector Lv. 37
Ship - The Sailing Dragon Lv. 1
Trainees - Klark Lv. 80
11x Marines Lv. 35
9x Marines Lv. 30
16x Marines Lv. 25
Marine Ship Lv. 2
Increases all stats of crew members by 2%!
Increase Crew rank by recruiting members and reaching higher levels!
D-Rank Requirement:
2/4 Crew Members Level 100/ 44/100 Crew Members!]
'So Harlen finally surpassed level 100. His Armament did feel stronger last time I patted his back so I guess he's just a natural with it. His Observation could use some work but I'm confident he can learn Ryou sometime soon with his mastery.' Markus hummed in deep thought about increasing his crew's training. His crew collectively felt a shiver run down their spines but shook it off.
Markus spent the next week training with Harlen and the others, forcing Hector to start learning Haki using his usual brute force method. He hadn't seen much success in Armament yet; but by the end of the week he could dodge every tenth hit while blindfolded touching the threshold of Observation.
As they traveled Markus spent more time on his Swordsmanship and learning the seven advanced forms of his flow style. For every hour he spent training his advanced Haki he would spend four more training pure swordsmanship slowly but surely making progress.
While sailing a seagull dropped off a newspaper that Anderson picked up. While reading he spit out the tea he was drinking and stared dumbly at the headline.
Celestial Pirates Bust Another Slave Trader!
"Captain!! Look! We made another headline!" Markus was curious and bounced over, wiping the sweat from his forehead and picked the paper up.
"Blah, blah, blah… Ah! Celestial Dragon Pirates destroy a marine stronghold that was doubling as a front for capturing and selling citizens for slavery?! Huh, you know that Lieutenant from Marineford was a little suspicious." Seeing Markus's surprised face they knew he didn't actually believe that.
"Bullshit. You just wanted to fight someone." Markus laughed sheepishly at Harlen before coughing and flipping the paper to find new bounty posters.
"Blasphemer" Markus
Dead or Alive
175,000,000 Berri
"Dead-Man" Harlen
Dead or Alive
125,000,000 Berri
"Fisherman" Anderson
Dead or Alive
90,000,000 Berri
"Celestial Cook" Rebecca
Dead or Alive
75,000,000 Berri
"Celestial Traitor" Klark
Dead or Alive
120,000,000 Berri
"Demon Doctor" Hector
Dead or Alive
30,000,000 Berri
"Inferi Duo" Henry
Dead or Alive
20,000,000 Berri
"Inferi Duo" Issac
Dead or Alive
20,000,000 Berri
"They increased again!! Look, we're all so wanted! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Hector snatched his own poster with an incredulous look.
"So soon?! When did they find out?! How did they find out?! I'm a wanted man!! No!!" Markus laughed louder while Hector sulked already having a bounty while the rest laughed at his expense.
Meanwhile with Klark and the former marines they were doing their own celebrating.
"We're wanted men!/We're wanted men!" Henry and Issac rubbed their bounties in the rest of the crew's faces. They knew having a bounty just meant more bounty hunters but being such a tight knitted group and sailing under Markus's flag gave them confidence especially now that they had their own bounties.
"LAY BACK DOWN DAMN IT!?! Dr. Hector said you two need proper rest for at least a month!" Henry and Issac sheepishly settled down and sulked all the way back to bed while Klark just laughed loudly while looking at the new bounties.
"Lunch!!" Rebecca walked out onto the deck with multiple platters of food. Markus dropped the bounties like trash and ran over salivating seeing all the food. He immediately started stuffing himself while the others made their way over to eat.
"So what's our first course of action once we reach the grandline?" Harlen asked while eating meat off the bone. Markus hummed in thought before swallowing food for two people and coughing violently.
"Ah! Gyak! I'm okay!! I don't know, probably just wait for the log pose to point us somewhere then set sail." Hector shook his head and sighed.
"Please we're all wanted, especially you since you stand for the exact opposite of what the World Government is probably waiting for us somewhere at the beginning of the Grandline." Markus's face lit up sending another shiver down the crews spines.
"Oh!! You're so smart Hector! That means we have more Haki training in our future! Andy! How far from Reverse Mountain are we?" Anderson sighed at the nickname but accepted it while pulling out a map.
"Uh… we should reach it by morning tomorrow why?" Markus stood up with an evil grin.
"Cause we're gonna send a message to the marines. Speed up the ship!" Anderson nodded and unfurrowed the sail all the way, picking up some speed.
Markus sat at the figure head with a huge smile thinking about his journey. He started from a no name village and trained hard enough to become respectfully strong in the South Blue before awakening his system that took him to new heights. His Haki had progressed smoothly with the only downside being not many good fights to properly develop it but that would change on the grandline.
He knew he needed strong opponents to progress any further in his advanced Haki let alone his Swordsmanship or normal Haki. Harlen was a good opponent but between not going all out on their ship and not having their lives threatened they couldn't progress too far.
From what Markus could tell Harlen's Armament was around Level 7 already and his Observation was around Level 4. Anderson's Armament was around Level 4 and Observation around Level 5. Rebecca's Armament was only about Level 1 but her Observation was around Level 3 while Hector still had a long way to go before he could manifest Haki.
He wanted them all to reach at least level 10 in Haki before reaching the New World but he was happy with their progress in the short time he's known them. He had been a pirate for just about a year now and he already knew two advanced forms of Haki so he was happy with his own progress.
They sailed the rest of the day until they first spotted a huge wall of red.
"Wow! I can't even see the top! I wonder if I can climb it?" Markus commented first before Rebecca smacked him in the back of the head and sighed.
"We're heading to the grandline. Can you not say stupid things?" Harlen walked over and was also amazed.
"I don't know it would be good strength training. Wanna give it a try Captain?" Rebecca glared at him.
"Stop encouraging his stupidity! Let's just get moving." Anderson nodded and quickly spotted the lighthouse off a lowered rocky area.
"I see the lighthouse! If those blackmarket brokers are to be trusted the entrance should be to the left of it. Turn Starboard!" The crew listened to their Navigator and turned right aligning their boat with what looked like a raging river.
"Holy shit it's actually going up?!" Rebecca stared incredulously at the entrance to the grandline.
"Alright! Everyone gather around!" Markus shouted loudly and dropped a barrel of Rum on deck. Everyone walked over in confusion before Markus raised his foot and slammed it on the barrel. "I'm heading to the grandline to become KING OF THE WORLD!!"
Seeing his conqueror's Haki come to life everyone smiled warily before catching on and walking over. Harlen raised his foot and took a deep breath.
"To live a fulfilling life!" Anderson raised his foot next and slammed it down with a laugh.
"To see the world!" Rebecca raised her own foot next.
"To live freely!" Hector walked over and slowly raised his foot feeling slightly out of place. He took a deep breath and slammed his foot down.
"To save as many people as possible!" They all raised their feet before slamming them down crushing the barrel.
"To the Grandline!!!" Markus jumped onto the dragon figurehead with a smile.
"Turn Port! Starboard! Port again! Damn this current!!!" Anderson was about to pull his hair out as they roughly sailed through the narrow passage into the Grandline. He shouted orders the crew followed relentlessly trying to not crash. Markus laughed loudly and swung his sword creating air bursts that helped stop the ship before crashing a few times while Harlen and Rebecca worked the sails and Hector worked the rudder.
"The rudders stuck!"
"The sails are fighting against us!" Harlen shouted.
"Hard Starboard! Starboard! We're gonna crash!!" Markus ran over and jumped over the side of the ship. He used himself as a buffer from the hard redline and the ship. He extended himself and pushed the ship back on course.
A fishing line from Anderson quickly wrapped around Markus bringing him back to the ship before Markus ran over to the other side and repeated the action to avoid crashing again. The sails turned wildly but were caught by Rebecca and Harlen working together to try and straighten it out.
Markus ran across the deck and swung his sword at port side moving the ship slightly off course before Hector pulled the rudder with all his strength and straightened it out. Anderson at the helm quickly turned the wheel doing his best to follow Hector's example straightening out the ship.
The clouds that hide the top of the mountain parted as they zoomed through it, rocking the ship as it pierced into a flat body of water before rushing back down. They had the fight all over again trying to keep the ship straight and avoid crashing.
After the nearly hour long struggle the ship finally stopped in front of an abandoned looking lighthouse. The crew sprawled across the deck in exhaustion before one by one getting up to examine the area.
"Did we make it?" Harlen asked first while Markus jumped up and down in excitement.
"We're here! We're finally here! This is the Grandline!" The crew cheered loudly. Markus' smile brightened as he laughed loudly. "We're actually here. Watch out world! The Celestial Dragon pirates are in the grandline! And we're here to cause some trouble!"
2500~ Words