After I finally manipulated Tessa to be my cocksleeve, and then fucked the shit out of her with my fingers. Our relationship was different. She was always by my side. Everywhere I turned, Tessa was there like she was my shadow. I had truly broken her. The crew was giving knowing glances, gossiping instead of minding their own business. Yeah, something was going on between us. Is it necessary for me to inform them of what's happening? Fuck no. I really didn't care what they thought, as long as they made me Pirate King. The annoying truth was that Woman and Sex was full of emotions. Once you fuck they become obsessed. Men was easy to understand—we fuck and we move on.
When I arrived at the docks, all I smelled was blood and salt. Pirates were tearing through the Kingdom's defenses like they were nothing. Usual shit. I didn't care for a plan because all we had to do was just crush them. I swung once with my Prayer's Maul, trying out the offensive capabilities of my Hurricane-Hurricane Fruit. The tide was turned. Literally. A tornado came from the strike, tearing through the pirates like a shredder. Bodies were smashing the ground hard, and the rest of the pirate crew froze. Like someone pointed a gun at them in a dark alley.
"Who the fuck…?" one of the pirates stuttered, as he struggled to get on his feet.
I towered over him. "You really didn't do your homework, did you?" My voice sounded like I was a judge, the one that made you pause to think about all of your life choices so far.
My reputation wasn't everywhere yet—not like Whitebeard, Shanks or any of the powerful Pirates and Admirals. I was just a rookie. Taking down one of the future Supernovas, gave me some infamy but I knew better than to ride on this high. Kid was just an arrogant rookie who had yet to be humbled until I came along. If I didn't have the Lord of The Skies backing me, I would've killed Eustass Kidd. Couldn't risk him being a threat in the future. The game for me was very simple. All I had to do was dodge the Yonko Commanders and Admirals until I was powerful enough to take them on. It's what I needed to become a future Yonko.
The pirates littered the docks like ants, holding themselves together from their wounds. My tornado did not kill them at all. I really could have with ease, but I held back.
"Please! Don't kill us!" one of them shouted, on his knees like a pathetic rat. His voice was like a mosquito buzzing in my ear that I just wanted to swat away but I held back. Maybe it was Morality. Whatever was left of my humanity that I hadn't truly drowned in blood yet.
"If you're begging, you're not much of a pirate," I whispered, spinning the prayer's maul in my hands as I enjoyed the weight. It felt good. "Lucky for you, I'm feeling generous today."
I stepped closer, stepping on shattered wood that had rum in it. The pathetic man flinched at my approach like I was the Grim Reaper. I probably was.
"Go," I said. My voice was like a knife at his throat. "And don't come back. Tell everyone you meet: This kingdom belongs to Zadael. Spread the name. Make sure no one forgets it."
I didn't have to tell him twice. When he struggled to his feet, he ran, dragging a few of his wounded crewmates with him. They ran with him like the afraid cowards they were. Big fishes in small ponds.
The docks were soon quiet after that. The villagers watched from hidden posts. The sound of water hitting the docks was the only thing that I could hear. I paused for a second just watching the sea past the docks. My fame wasn't widespread but in this section of the South blue? I was myth. Everyone had heard of the Black Giant that took over a Kingdom from it's previous tyrannical king around these parts.
It was Tessa who appeared at my side. Her arms crossed over her chest with a smirk on her face. "You let them go? Soft, Zadael. Real soft."
I took a quick glance at her before I kept staring out at sea. "Soft?" I spoke, making sure she felt the weight of my words. "No. Smart. Dead men don't talk. The living spread fear."
She laughed, her voice was low and throaty. "Fear, huh? You sure it's not that little moral streak of yours holding you back?"
I gave no answer. Merely hung the Prayer's Maul over my shoulder. Let her think about what she wants. In the end, power was what remained of me and everyday with every swing, I got closer to claiming the ultimate power.
Tessa was on my shoulder, her claws digging into it that really let anyone know that she was mine and that she didn't care about personal space. The village cheers which I once basked in at first quickly became annoying. To them I looked like a godsend, but I really wasn't. Just a lucky guy. All that came to me was about the future, what happened next. The bigger picture. My picture.
The villagers' lives weren't going to be their own for long. It was going to be mine. My constant presence here was going to result in how I got my crew in the first place: inspire some dumbasses to join the Shell Pirates, to join me. They'd want to join the Shell Pirates for some noble cause which did not matter to me. Soon after that, it'd be a regular thing. Villagers soon to be joining the Shell Pirates to make it an awesome superpower in the world. Afterwards, I'd move on to the next populated island. The next big Kingdom. Rinse and repeat.
The plan? Simple. Execution? Tiresome. Me and my crew? We would have to be on babysitting duty for every single island. Every time, the same process until we had a sustainable recruitment process from a lot of islands. Until our influence could naturally spread without trying. Sooner or later, I'd reach there. The Yonko Status would be mine, no politics behind it, just a Yonko in name until I overthrew a real Yonko or the Marines decided to add a 5th Yonko. Just unadulterated power. And all of this wouldn't have been possible without the Lord of the Skies in my corner. Funny how, it wasn't even about me anymore, wasn't even about my glory. I was building something greater than myself, something for the Lord.
"So," Tessa purred like the cat she was in my ear. "What's the plan for today?"
It took me a little bit longer than I would've liked when I realized she meant us. She wanted time. She wanted my attention. And I still hadn't made her understand that I wanted an open-relationship. By that I mean Harem. I mean, come on—One Piece world, endless possibilities, and by that I mean women, and I'm supposed to stick with one girl who was not even canon. A background character before I came along.
"If you're trying to fuck, just say it," I fired back and I calculated my voice so that only she could hear. Her face turned into a blush, as she started to act like some lovesick school girl.
"Well, I mean…" she trailed off into an awkward silence that I knew only an anime character from an anime could act.
"You're too goddamn easy, Tessa." I only shook my head, the corners of my lips beginning to curl.
"Shut up," she snapped, the blush still visible from her furry cheeks as she held her face.
"Make me," I goaded, knowing full well she really couldn't. She only stayed perched on my shoulder and she said something under her breath. I didn't hear it, and I really didn't care to. It's crazy how a man could move on so quickly after he already hit.
The moment I pushed the doors open, the stale air of the palace washed over me that was strangely satisfying when it shouldn't be. The room always smelled like terrible decisions and bad leather. "Bonesaw Bill! Get your lazy ass on guard duty!" I barked, my voice dominating the room immediately.
A moment later, the man walked out. Bill's face was always hard to look at, scarred every which way that forced his face to look like he was in a perpetual scowl.
"Sure thing, Captain," he drawled, he was up against a pillar that looked like he had all the time in the world. His curious eyes landed on Tessa who was on my shoulder. A grin cut through his screwed up face. "Hey, Captain," he chuckled, "try not to let the lady keep you too... distracted."
"Shut the hell up, Bill," I growled, I didn't even give him a glance, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.
Tessa nervously laughed, her face turned red, the same kind of red matching the blood I spilled the other day when it was my turn to be on guard duty. "He's got a way with words, doesn't he?" she whispered, her breathing was low.
Ignoring them both, I passed the throne room. The massive seat at the end of the throne was waiting there, like it was begging for me to sit on it. It was designed to fit my 25 foot frame. It didn't even look like a chair anymore, more like a work of art. The villagers did a decent job. They were quick with it too. Then again, I was very quick to make it clear that being lazy was not going to fly under my rule.
I fell into the throne, the nice stone touching my tough skin. The throne felt like I was sitting on something unreal. I'll never admit that though. After all, the tyrant they had overthrown was because of me. It was me who ripped the guy's head off and placed it on a spike. Still the throne was a great fucking upgrade then before, that I honestly could not complain.
Lila had built my massive ship faster than anything I've ever seen so I expected nothing less. At least they weren't complaining like under the old king. Still, I was never going to be cruel until push came to shove.
Bill gave me one last knowing look before he left, his cutlass hung over his shoulder as he sauntered off to do his work.
Tessa shifted her weight on my shoulder, her voice practically meowing in my ear. "Do you think they'll ever see you as something more than... this?"
I looked down upon her, curiosity in my gaze. "What? A giant bastard who killed their king?"
She expelled her lungs. "That's not what I meant."
"Doesn't matter what they see," I said plainly. "They're alive, aren't they? That's more than they had before."
Her silence was palpable but I really didn't care to fix it. One Piece was so much realer and darker then the anime made it to be. It was just like my old world, but with powers. People didn't follow you because they liked you. They followed you because you were a dreadful being or you gave them good reasons not to give you resistance.
And to say I was good at both would be an understatement.
The villagers didn't take long to start talking about their goddamn Kingdom falling apart. It felt like I was sitting on some twisted Iron Throne, playing King Joffrey, but without the sadistic streak or ... being a complete piece of shit. I even gave a damn for the place. After a whole damn day of listening to their whining and fixing their own messes, I was getting ready to tell them to all go right on and piss off.
I muttered to myself, hand on my face and about ready to cry, "Look, just sign up for my damn crew, already. In fact that's why I'm here, not for a royal therapy session."
I thought I would get a break but just as I did, one of my mink scouts came sprinting into the room, tail puffed and eyes wide.
"Captain! We need your help!"
The edge in his voice made my muscles coil, I straightened up. "What now?"
The mink huffed, "It's Bonesaw Bill— he can't hold the island against this crew."
I cut him off. "What crew?"
He was gulping like a fish out of water. "The Bonney Pirates."
That got my attention. Canon. Shit. My hands became fists. Non-canon crews? Throw some of my Sea Giants at 'em and it's easy. But these guys were a part of the canon world and were a whole different level of screwed. Damn plot armor.
I got up and grabbed my kingly coat. "Alright. Let me deal with this."
My cocksleeve Tessa looked up from sharpening her knives. She smirked so much that I knew that she knew it was bullshit. "How special can these Bonney Pirates be? Why don't we just send Nulsor and Brosor?"
The sea giants were who she was talking about, big, dumb and built to smash. Yeah, I could've sent them, and… I wasn't about to explain to her — or anyone — about canon crews being a different beast. They went by different rules. They didn't give a fuck about my rules.
"The fuck did I just say?" I snapped. "I'll deal with it."
Her eyebrow went up, but she didn't push it. Smart move. "Whatever you say, Captain." She was cocky as fuck as she climbed up and onto my shoulder and I could sense the amusement radiating off her.
"Let's just go, alright?" I barked and then I stomped out of the room.