One Piece: Path to Power
Chapter 35: [35] Courting Death

Chapter 35: [35] Courting Death

[2050 words]

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[The Next Morning]

Damien had finished his 5 am workout and left for the main docks. 

He had met up with the big bad wolf, Rocks, the previous night, alerting him of the imminent departure.

Though Damien didn't expect any farewells, he did get a single 'warning' from his captain: "Don't die or I'll kill you myself."

.

Indra followed a few steps behind, endlessly displaying his reserved personality who only spoke when needed.

Kyoran was strapped to his waist, ready to taste blood.

Damien had seen his attacks get sharper and deadlier over the days, an impressive achievement. 'Perhaps it's time to consider getting my own weapon…' he thought. 

His attacks were easy to unleash but it would be helpful to have a weapon to direct and concentrate them better. 

.

Damien put the thought away as he reached his destination. "Yo, Kaido," he greeted. "Ready for the seaway to hell?"

Kaido settled his club on his shoulders. 

"WORORO! About time."

The three now stood before a medium-sized ship, nothing out of the ordinary. All but one striking feature: a very soft and see-through bubble surrounded the ship, giving it a glossy exterior—it was coated!

Thud!

 A shadow soon fell not too far from them. "Jihahaha! Looks like you brats are ready."

Shiki walked up to the ship. 

*Fwwm* 

His right palm tapped the edge of the vessel's coating as invisible energy covered it all up. "I've attached my powers to the ship, it'll fly at your command," he said. 

Shiki then demonstrated by flicking his finger up. 

*Creak* 

The ship rose without resistance, water flooding everywhere. 

The rusty metal that platted the bottom of the hull became visible; some coral and moss had grown below.

Shiki wasn't lifting the ship, but rather simply lifting the bubble that encased the ship.

The Golden Lion then glanced at Damien with shining eyes that flashed with schemes. Looking at the young pirate as if to dare him to get on.

Damien gave an audible scoff and jumped on board.

As his body, alongside Indra and Kaido, landed on deck, the entire ship lowered down by the weight, though soon returned to its initial position.

Shiki's voice soon bellowed in their ears: "I'll send the ship in Encephala Island's direction. When you reach above the castle, all you need to do is pop the bubble and you'll fall straight down."

Shiki then gestured in a flicking motion of his index finger, hurling the coated ship into the sky at disastrous speeds.

The winds howled from the sonic boom that the vessel left behind, quickly disappearing into a blur.

*Vvooo!*

"Damn Golden Lion, he really had no poise of a Great Pirate," Damien muttered, restabilizing his balance. Naturally, he had flipped the swordsman off before blasting off into the skies.

Kaido enjoyed the ride: "WORORO! Who cares, this way we can get there a little faster."

Indra peered out the ship's coating, studying the white sea of clouds they were in.

The temperature had already dropped to near-negatives, but it wasn't even noticeable to the likes of Damien and Kaido.

Indra, however, felt the chill, and couldn't help but comment, "Even at this speed, it'll take at least two days to get to our destination."

Damien nodded, "Hmm, rest up if you need to, I'm going to train."

He then glared at the ogre beside him.

"Kaido, try not to move around too much, your weight can mess up our journey."

The words evoked a snort from the Beast. He simply plopped onto the ground and pulled out a jug of alcohol from thin air.

Meanwhile, Indra went into the small room on the ship to his own devices, leaving Damien to take the back deck as his relaxing spot.

And there was something he'd been meaning to do.

.

"I've been feeling a coming boost in my natural senses," he thought out loud. "It seems upgrading my Observation recently has led to a possible upgrade."

His words were reflected in the notification that followed: [Your {Voice of All Living Things} can now be upgraded.]

Damien smiled a little, spanning his hearing into the skies.

He heard the voices of the high-flying birds and seagulls, alongside the roars of the Sea Kings deep below. Even the life on a small island they just flew over moments ago.

The Sin Incarnate closed his eyes.

The natural sense began to widen, spanning further and sharper than ever before. The voices went dull as the world quieted down into a brief silence.

"!!!"

And then, there was a boom in his ears as his eardrums banged with voices. "Ugh," Damien groaned at the arrival of the mash pot of voices.

They were loud, very loud! The sense was overloaded, furthered by the next ding in his mind.

[Your {Voice of All Living Things} has upgraded into {Voice of All Things}.]

"There it is…"

Damien breathed out a dull breath as the voices calmed down.

He could hear some other things now too.

Whether it was the wood under his feet or even the dew of the clouds, the stones under the sea or the voices of the sea.

Damien could listen to all voices, both the living and the non-living henceforth! An ability possessed by only a handful of folks. A power nearly ten times rarer than that of Conqueror's Haki!

.

"All words, whether written or spoken, come with the natural intent to communicate. By hearing this intent, I can decipher any language, written or spoken!" he concluded.

Naturally, the true power of such an ability was to unravel the hidden truths of the world that came in the form of giant steles—Poneglyphs! 

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[Meanwhile at Encephala Island]

Encephala Island has 12 docks surrounding it.

There was no need to have patrols as every citizen was under control and supervision by Enigma's fruit; their thoughts were not allowed to go beyond breathing and walking.

The main caste at the center stood proud while a ruckus formed at one of the docks.

…

[Dock 7]

A huge ship was approaching.

Around 300 civilians looked over and walked to it, they were perfectly synchronized in their movements as they stood at the edge of the platform.

Their dull eyes all squinted together, as if each vision was shared and combined to focus on every ounce of detail they could salvage.

The coming vessel had a sunflower-shaped figurehead with a face, and the body of the ship was like frosted ice cream, white with folds. The main building on the ship was shaped like a cake with candles mounted upon it.

The sails were ginormous and had words printed upon them.

[ B I G ⋅ M O M]

…

[Onboard the Ship]

"Mama! We've arrived!" the voice of a young boy rang out through the ship.

*Creak* The doors to the main buildings on the ship opened as a few people walked out.

They came in varying sizes. Some 8 feet, some 9, some 15, and so forth and so on.

"Ma-Ma-Mam-Ma! Very good! Let's go, my lovely children!"

Sporting sharp curves and a voluptuous figure, she was a true beauty at this time.

Standing at around a towering 29 feet in height (8.8 m), coined as a Titan of the Rocks Pirates, she was Charlotte Linlin!

[Images of Big Mom (in Discord)]

The gigantic woman had brought along her 24 children, even the infants.

Her ability allowed her to reinforce the souls of her lovable children, amongst other things. With this, she could ensure that Enigma was unable to use them against her.

Thud!

A quick bang resounded as a certain person landed.

It was a man in his early thirties. One of the very few members of the Enigma pirates who wasn't under their leader's control.

Thaddeus Enigma had a chess system.

One King (himself). One Queen. Two Bishops, two Rooks and two Knights. Alongside the eight Pawns.

Other than these ten were the 50,000 pirates and citizens who did as they were told, no matter how absurd it was.

And that only included the forces of Encephala Island and not the islands nearby.

.

The one who arrived was a Bishop of Enigma – Norrox. A 16-foot tall man (4.88 m) with bushy eyebrows, sharp clothing and long violet hair.

"Charlotte Linlin-sama," he saluted in a dull tone. "Lord Enigma has sent me to fetch you. Please follow me to the Encephalon Hotel."

Such a welcome brought a disdainful smile to the woman: "Oh? Enigma won't even come out to meet me?"

Norrox was pressured by her gaze but replied with confidence.

"Ahem, please forgive our poor reception but Lord Enigma is currently busy in his Chamber of Schemes," he replied.

The words drew a wide smile on the ginormous woman. 

"Ho? I hear he likes to plot his moves in a room within that castle of his. Is he making a big move again?"

"Yes, Lord Enigma said he will be out in two days, please enjoy our available luxuries till then," Norrox informed. "I'm sure the younger ones would have a pleasant time here."

"Ma-Ma-Mam-Ma! You hear that, Katakuri. I'm sure they have nice desserts here."

A seven-year-old boy with magenta hair and scarred mouth looked up and nodded, "Yes, Mama, the younger ones would enjoy their time here."

[Image of Young Katakuri (in Discord)]

With that said, the Big Mom pirates had arrived and were now awaiting the reemergence of 'Medulla' in two days.

…

Linlin's enormous figure made its way to the center of the island, admiring the efficacy of Engima's regime along the way. Regardless of the inhumane aspect of it, the brainless ones were truly a brilliant asset to any pirate kingdom.

"So that's the Citadel?" Linlin muttered as she saw the distant behemoth of a structure.

It was a grand castle enclosed by a very mesmerizing sphere. Many colours washed over the sphere as a blinding light was emitting off the top of the citadel.

The sphere was given the name, 'The Sphere of Brilliance!'

Against the beliefs of most, it was not a wall. Furthermore, it did not have any properties of solid matter.

Rather, it was like a hologram that spanned all over the giant castle.

[Image of Grand Encephala Citadel (in Discord)]

.

The Citadel overshadowed the rest of the island, a landmark so to speak.

"The Awakened Mind-Mind fruit allows Enigma to project this field of his, fully aware of any minute change in atmosphere as it happens, quite the power," Linlin said in a grinning voice.

Norrox heard these words.

"Yes, it is truly a magnificent creation," he said, though his tone was far more respectful now. Almost as if he knew the man would be able to hear their words as they had stepped through the field.

He then directed Linlin to a smaller building. "You can stay here, Lord Enigma will see you within two days."

Linlin just gave a quick nod, her eyes drawn to the other building next door: 'Build-a-Cake Workshop!'

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[Two Days Later, in the Skies]

Encephala Island was surrounded by smaller islands with the Citadel at the North end, all located in the Mind Sea.

The surrounding landmasses, Amygdala Island, Parietal Island, Hypothalamus Island, Stem Island, Occipital Island, Cerebellum Island, and Hippocampus Island each had over 10,000 pirates stationed upon them. Naturally, accompanied by thousands of ships. 

.

Sailing a galleon-sized ship through would surely be seen from afar and bring the wrath of 70,000 pirates upon any assailant; akin to courting death.

Hence, the alternative that was decided by Damien was simply to fall into the very heart of the island and slay the Overlord before the tens of thousands of swarms could arrive.

Some may consider such a plan to be reckless, even to the point of courting death. 

.

Damien stood at the bow of the ship. Indra to his right and the giant Kaido behind him.

His eyes peered through the clouds and onto the faraway chain of islands.

"Once the Overlord is taken down, all the mindless ones should regain their sanity and allow for a swift escape before any other parties come." A solemn light flashed by the pirate's face as thought out loud, "It shouldn't be too difficult, right?" 

To Be Continued…

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Author's Corner.

Question of the Day: If Rocks = death, then is courting death the same as courting Xebec?

Images are available on Discord alongside other niche details: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q