Markus followed the blond Cipher Pol agent through the now destroyed wall. His feet stomped, casting an echo throughout the castle. He could still hear his crew fighting but nothing else.
He curiously looked around not finding a sign of the CP agent before his eyes flashed red. He glimpsed into the future but found nothing around him finding it interesting how the agent could hide his presence even from his advanced Observation.
His eyes flashed red once more before he ducked under a Rankyaku that tore through a wall like a knife through butter. He quickly turned his head and swung his sword, finding zero air resistance, launching an air slash that opened a hole in the wall leading to what seemed to be an empty room. His eyes narrowed before flashing red and jumping over a speeding figure.
Markus looked down at the CP agent and went to decapitate him before the agent disappeared. Markus grunted in annoyance, "Devil Fruit."
His guard was raised once more as he strolled through the castle with narrowed eyes before noticing Malcolm enter through the original hole he made in the castle. He turned right as his eyes flashed and used Soru to appear next to Malcolm and used Tekkai to block a Shigan to his heart.
The agent seemed to fade away into nothing in front of Markus's eyes. Malcolm was stunned seeing the agent completely vanishing while Markus turned to glare at Malcolm.
"Get out of here!" Malcolm gulped but listened and started running deeper into the castle. He didn't get far before the agent reappeared and went to stab Malcolm through his temple but Markus caught him once again and blocked the attack with Ascalon. "Your fights with me!"
"Impudent. I'll kill all of you." Markus rolled his eyes but kept a serious face while watching closely. He took a deep breath and spread his Observation as thin as he could. He focused heavily on his Haki for any fluctuations in the air and was happy to feel a breeze with his Haki.
"Found you!" Markus disappeared and slashed down near a wall, slicing the entire room in half and drawing a few drops of blood before the fluctuation disappeared. He looked around carefully before his Haki picked up slight movement behind him.
He turned just in time to see a finger aimed at his eye. Markus's body became limp and flowed like paper narrowly dodging the finger before straightening up and slashing wide. He took a deep breath and turned around once more to slash down, cutting through the air and drawing a few more drops of blood.
Markus took a few steps back and huffed without dropping his Observation. He looked around carefully before his nose twitched. He took a deep breath again and smiled.
"I can smell the iron in your b-?" Markus found that his voice was slightly higher than normal, making him confused. In his confusion he barely had time to reinforce his body with Tekkai and Armament to stop a finger going through his neck. He tried to slash wide before the agent already disappeared. He kept his guard up but his mind was going a mile a minute before his eyes widened.
He leaned back dodging a Rankyaku and snapped back up and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and let his Observation Haki fill the area around him before slowly thinning out.
"I was looking for fluctuations because I didn't understand how you vanished but I get it now. Oxygen is thin and a gas so we can't see it, same with most gasses but it's the most abundant gas on our planet's surface. Instead of looking for that seemingly random movement I just need to find something smaller. Something thinner. Something lighter. I just need to find Helium." Markus's eyes snapped forward as he used Soru and sliced through the air sending an air slash towards the ceiling.
"Those fluctuations were you trying to reform your body to attack! I don't need to wait for you anymore! My Observation Haki has evolved thanks to you! So from the bottom of my heart!! THANK YOU!!" Markus gathered as much of his Haki as he could into his sword before spinning around and unleashed another Air slash, this time one reinforced with Haki that split the castle in half. Blood spurted from the ceiling as the agent reformed and fell to the ground missing an arm.
"*Whistle* Damn was that a cool attack! I think I'll call it Flow: Crash Wave." Markus looked down arrogantly at the agent with a smile. "What? Nothing to say before you die?"
The agent glared up at Markus before disappearing. Well he tried to but Markus vanished and slammed his sword into the agent pinning him to the ground, his Armament stopping him from disappearing. The agent spit out blood and looked up with fear in his eyes.
"H-how…" Markus simply laughed. He looked down and put his foot on the agent's head before covering it in advanced Armament.
"I got stronger." Markus crushed the agent's head and huffed before looking at his status.
[Name: Markus
Level: 110
Primary Class: [Advanced Swordsman - Level: 14]
Secondary Class: [Beginner Marksman - Level: 11]
HP: 88%
SP: 61%
HK: 5%]
[Skills:
[Advanced Swordsmanship - Level: 77 [1,953,498/3,290,000]
[Armament Haki - Level: 12 [203,748/3,000,000]
Advanced Forms:
{Emission} - Level: 1 [609,723/1,000,000]
[Observation Haki - Level: 13 [234,987/4,000,000]
Advanced Forms:
{Future Sight} - Level: 1 [809,225/1,000,000]
[Conqueror's Haki - Level: 6 [3,035,652/3,200,000]
[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: 6/8]
[Rokushiki: Soru - Level: 5 [23,749/50,000]
[Rokushiki: Tekkai - Level: 4 [30,985/40,000]
[Rokushiki: Shigan - Level: 4 [2,094/40,000]
[Rokushiki: Geppo - Level: 5 [39,805/50,000]
[Rokushiki: Kami-e - Level: 5 [48,201/50,000]
[Rokushiki: Rankyaku - Level: 4 [8,598/40,000]
Markus calmly walked through the large scar he left in the castle examining the damage and found he did in fact cut from one end of the castle to the other. He smiled at his increased strength and let his remaining Observation flow through the castle. He headed in a specific direction whistling a tune to himself.
It didn't take long before he found a ruined wall leading into a secret passage into the ground. Markus kept whistling a soft tune as he walked down the steps. The walls were littered with moss and crumbling rocks. Markus could even feel a cold breeze heading deeper into the tunnel.
Even though it was dark Markus could see clearly with his Haki. Eventually Markus stopped sensing four auras near the end of the tunnel. As he got closer he could see a fire burning making him squint slightly and reel his Observation in. He eventually stopped behind Malcolm to see a grown man cowering in fear behind a woman and a young teen boy. They were dressed in elegant clothes with unique hairstyles almost mimicking the Celestial Pigs.
"Couldn't do it could ya?" Malcolm turned to show his tear streaked face.
"They don't even remember us! We all look the same to these bastards! Why?! Why can't I kill them?!" Markus looked at him with a blank face before disappearing. When he reappeared all three heads of the royals rolled across the ground. Malcolm was stunned and collapsed as Markus turned to him.
"Because you're a better man. I, however, am not." Markus sheathed Ascalon reeling in the little amount of Conqueror's coming from it as Malcolm just looked at the dead royals with unknown emotions. Markus calmly picked up the fallen torch and held it while waiting patiently.
After a few minutes Malcolm stood up with his back facing Markus. He spoke softly, "I didn't kill them…"
"Yeah. I guess your promise to join doesn't count anymore."
"I couldn't do it…"
"It was a kid, what were you supposed to do?"
"They killed my brother…" Malcolm shook slightly.
"Yet, you saw past that and looked to the future."
"Why… Why did you kill them?"
"They had positive connections to the Celestial Pigs. Nothing more, nothing less."
Malcolm stood tall and looked at the dark ceiling as tears fell from his face. His face was blank showing no emotion before turning to Markus.
"I… I have a dream!" Markus smiled softly as Malcolm continued, "I want peace! I want the fishman to stand on the surface and not feel scared! I want to stop feeling scared!!
Please! Help me!!" Tears fell from Malcolm's face as Markus walked up to him and patted his back gently.
"Hahaha! Don't worry Malcolm! When I chose to become a Captain I knew what needed to be done! I'll protect my crew! I'll make sure their dreams are fulfilled! I'll do all the dirty work to accomplish those dreams! Let me do the dirty work! Let me take that pain! Just smile and rely on me!" Malcolm's tears flowed faster as he fell to his knees.
"Thank you! Captain!" Markus stayed there for a few more minutes comforting the crying Malcolm before they stood and started walking back to the castle. Markus handed the tall fishman a piece of cloth to clean his face and led him back.
It didn't take long before they returned to the castle. They walked through the destroyed castle stepping over dead or unconscious guards before finding themselves back out front. Markus smiled seeing his crew waiting for him with large bags filled with treasures. Rebecca was the first to notice them.
"About time you got back! We were about to head back to the ship without you!" Markus smiled warily and scratched the back of his head.
"My bad, my bad! Took me a while to deal with that Government lackey! He had a rather interesting Devil Fruit." Harlen walked up and dropped one of the two bags he was carrying in front of Markus.
"Doesn't matter, you're here now. We should probably head back before more show up, I'm tired." Anderson walked past them with his own bag tied to his fishing pole and nodded.
"Me too! That guy I fought was quite durable." Harlen nodded.
"Good thing we also learned the Rokushiki, the scared guy was hella fast." Markus laughed loudly.
"See! I told you the tort- training I put you through was worth it! Hahahahaha!" His crew deadpanned knowing for a fact he was about to say torture. They followed Markus back to the ship. Eventually Markus looked to Malcolm. "I forgot to ask but what can you do?"
Malcolm nodded slowly, "I'm pretty proficient in Fishman Karate and can work a ship in almost any waters."
"Awesome! I can't wait to see your Karate in action! We also needed a Helmsman so this is perfect! Come on guys let's set sail! Onward to the next island!" Anderson coughed a few times.
"Actually captain, the logpose hasn't reset yet." Markus' face faulted but recovered quickly before pouting.
"How long will it take?"
"From what I learned in town it should only take a few more hours." Markus hummed and nodded before jumping up with a smile that sent shivers down the crews backs.
"Then we party until then!" The crew collectively cheered in excitement before Rebecca headed to cook and the others set up a small stage for Markus to sing at. They started parting and went all night for their successful raid and Malcolm joined.
They partied for a few hours until the logpose reset. Malcolm and Anderson, not having partied as hard, were ready to take the helm and ship out. They set sail a little before dawn while Markus took to the crows nest and kept lookout while the rest of his crew slept. While in the crows nest he gave his crews status once over and smiled before getting comfortable for the night.
[Pirate Crew:
Celestial Dragon Pirates - E
Captain - Markus Lv. 110
Vice-Captain - Harlen Lv. 104
Navigator - Anderson Lv. 90
Chef - Rebecca Lv. 74
Doctor - Hector Lv. 41
Helmsman - Malcolm Lv. 66
Ship - The Sailing Dragon Lv. 1
Trainees - Klark Lv. 83
11x Marines Lv. 38
9x Marines Lv. 32
16x Marines Lv. 26
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/ 45/100 Crew Members!]
2500~ Words