One Piece: Path to Power
Chapter 5: [5] A Frightening Reality

Chapter 5: [5] A Frightening Reality

[2700 words]

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"Chug! Chug! Chug!"

The festive mood continued as the men partook in the joyful occasion.

It certainly was not odd for such parties to erupt in pirate crews.

Ignis sat at the core of the ship as he too raised his drink and devoured liters of the forsaken liquid.

…

"Hey, when did we bring a brat on board~?" a drunken pirate questioned with a mix of confusion and joy.

His friend beside him also joined in, "Oya? How come I don't remember having this kid on our crew?"

Damien now stood at the bow of the ship.

He gazed at the banquet before him and raised his left hand.

A red glow encompassed the palm as crimson energy seemed to swivel within it.

The drunken pirates didn't think too much of it.

"Oh, so he's the one with the party tricks~!" 

"Wait, that is-"

.

"Utter Ruin."

.

The churning red currents suddenly acted in tandem as they exploded into a crimson light, shooting out in a river of blazing wisps.

*Boom*

The pulverizing energy raged out as if a dam had given way, the horizontal stream simply extended without stopping and left a shredded and crushed trail of utter destruction.

As it encountered its first human obstacle, the energy ripped into the man's body as it was enveloped in the eerie red glow, exploding into a mist of flesh and bones.

The current shot its way through the ship, obliterating every pirate that stood in its way while reducing them to macro-sized cubes.

"Ahh!"

"Aooh!"

"Ugh!"

"Ouch."

"Ruahh!"

Screams and cries of pain broke out.

Those who were only partially in the way of the current had limbs or parts of their bodies removed.

It was simply horrifying.

Twenty of the eighty pirates died while another ten were missing parts of their bodies and therefore incapacitated.

"Run, he's got some witchcraft!"

"Momma no!"

"My leg!"

Ignis who was able to dodge out of the way in time could only look up in great worry.

"An ability user!" Pabulum commented as he unsheathed his rapier.

"So I was right, there was someone ready to take us down!"

Ignis picked up his axe and roared in anger, "Damn brat! He waited right till we were all drunks! Men, kill him!"

Most of the remaining pirates picked up their weapons and charged forth.

.

Damien squinted his eyes as he readied his fists, each glowing the familiar red.

The flash of indecision from hordes of people looking to kill you passed by quickly, leaving a determined expression behind.

It was beyond reckless to dive into such a party with little to no training, but Damien knew this was his last chance before the pirates would leave.

Information with a sprinkle of vengeance was his greatest motivation.

*Swish!*

One pirate with a sword slashed at Damien as he sidestepped, allowing the weapon to get lodged into the ground.

Seeing this opening, Damien drove his left fist into the man's liver area, kicking the air out of his lungs. The man then glowed red and exploded into pieces.

Another three came running from separate angles. 

As they were drunk, it wasn't difficult for the smaller Damien to dodge the attacks, after all, a single touch would take them all out.

*Slam*

A pirate suddenly jumped from the upper deck onto the one where Damien was, slashing his saber right away.

Damien's glowing fist collided with the blade and it shattered like glass, Damien's hand then grabbed the man's throat and stomach.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* 

Three shots went off as a couple of gunmen unloaded their flintlocks in Damien's direction.

The young boy used the pirate in his hands as a meat shield.

He then tossed the dead pirate in the air as he exploded like a firework.

The blood showered down caused the gunners to wipe their eyes by which Damien had already arrived and taken them out.

"Die, kid!"

"You're surrounded!"

"Lights out for you!"

Out of nowhere, twenty men rushed around Damien forming a complete circle.

Damien hummed as he crossed his hands in front of him, the opposite hand pointing out to each side.

The desire to name his every move was overpowering, perhaps originating from him being in an anime world.

.

"Obliteration Pulse."

.

The pirates' faces were swamped with fear as they saw the familiar red energy rage its way towards them.

Damien's body pulsed out with a full 360-degree attack as all within 10 meters of him were reduced to minced meat.

The wooden boards were now slicked in blood and the heavy smell pervaded within the entire area.

Ignis scowled in both anger and fear as he saw his fine men reduced from a staggering eighty to the now less than thirty could only shake in fear.

"I-I'm outta here!"

"I don't get paid enough for this!"

"Sorry Cap', but that kid is far scarier than you!"

The majority of them chose to jump ship, leaving barely 10 men behind with their fearful captain.

Damien slowly walked forth, trying his best to use as little stamina as possible.

He had only eaten the devil fruit a mere three days ago and could only do some basic attacks, of which each drained a noticeable amount of stamina.

'Killing so many people…' Damien thought to himself.

'If someone told me I would be slaughtering tens of people like this a few days ago then I would probably laugh them off…' he thought while shaking his head. 'But here I am, taking life without second thought.'

A slight sigh as the boy shook his head, snapping out of his reverie.

*Step* *Step*

Ignis subconsciously took a few steps back but then snorted.

"Ugh, enough of this nonsense! You know who I am, brat!? I have a 39 million bounty and am the captain of the Blazing Pirates!"

"You idiots! Kill the ones that jumped ship while I take care of this red-eyed boy!"

Damien hummed in return as he readied himself to fight the towering man who stood over twice his height.

A deep breath to calm his thoughts, allowing his instincts to take over.

Any staggering thoughts were converted into sheer will and commitment to his actions, born from his mother's final words.

.

Ignis roared out as he shot forward with his axe.

Boom!

A giant hole was left on the ground as Damien sidestepped.

The boy tried to throw a punch at the pirate but then lowered his head.

*Bang!*

A surge of instincts told him to retreat as the other pirates tried to shoot him down.

He raised his left foot as it gathered with his pulverizing energy and slammed it onto the ground.

The sound of pixelation erupted as the entire main deck seemed to be filled with a red checkered pattern.

Boom!

Around half the floor crumbled and gave way.

"Ugh!" the pirates fell nearly eight meters, left with bruises and broken bones.

Damien gave out some short breaths as his stamina began to plummet.

"!!!" the hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood as Damien felt the chill of death.

Boom!

As he moved to the side, the entire ground previously under him was destroyed.

The 12-foot tall (3.66 m) giant stood before Damien with his trusty axe.

.

Damien took a deep breath as he rushed ahead with great resolve.

*Woosh!*

Ignis waved his axe horizontally as the air whistled in return.

Damien sprang into the air with all his energy, clearing the axe and then extending both his arms to grab the pirate's knees.

The red energy swam out and wrapped itself around the man's legs as they glowed red.

"AHHH!"

Ignis roared out like a dying boar as his body fell to the ground, his legs reduced to tiny cubes.

"Y-You damn brat!"

Ignis' unyielding gaze met Damien's eyes as he saw the sharp glint in the red pupils.

The boy reached out and grabbed the enemy captain by the head.

"This is for my mother."

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"Crumble."

.

A thin current of pulverizing energy then swam out from Damien's palm and into Ignis' head. Swimming its way through his brain and down his entire nervous system.

Each cluster of nerves was enveloped in the crushing energy as the unimaginable pain clouded the pirate's eyes.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Ugh! It hurts!"

"S-Stop, just kill me!"

It didn't take long for the squirming pirate to beg for death as moments passed and the torture only continued.

Damien's face showed tiredness as he felt ounces of stamina remain.

Ignis' eyeballs soon popped out of their sockets as blood dribbled out from all orifices.

*Splatter*

Like a watermelon, he exploded in a flurry of red.

Thud!

Damien fell to one knee, trying to stabalize his breathing.

Though it seemed that the danger had not entirely disappeared.

*Swish!*

A sharp whistle and a wave of pain.

Blood erupts as Damien's upper chest goes hollow as a thin and sharp rapier blade cuts right through his sternum.

"Ugh!"

The dripping of the red liquid created quite the melody as the boy was swarmed with intense pain.

"You left your back open, kid."

Damien tilted his head to see a green-haired man standing behind him—Pabulum, the ship strategist.

He had been hiding under two corpses, even using his own captain as bait.

"Better I get all the cash for that fish, Papapapa! You did me a solid!"

Damien's pained eyes suddenly flash as his hands shoot out and grab the rapier.

A moment passed as a familiar scene went down, followed by the sound of pixelation.

*Fwooo*

Pabulum retreated as he saw his weapon explode into tiny bits while seemingly shocked.

"You… fool! You want to bleed to death that fast? I pierced your lung with that one!"

Pabulum's smile then vanishes as he sees his young adversary stand up.

Damien's clothes had mostly been ripped and the bloody hole was visible.

The flesh around it seemed to squirm as squishes of blood were heard, and yet the hemorrhaging began to stop.

The wound, at least from the outside, was sealed.

Damien let out a deep sigh as he wiped the blood off his now-closed chest, "That hurt."

.

Pabulum gulped as he fell to the ground, tripping over his fallen companion with a thud.

A shadow cast over his body as he saw the menacing red in the young boy's eyes.

Pabulum instinctively knew that he could only rely on one method to get out of this alive: Scare away the threat!

"L-Listen kid, you don't know who you're messing with!" He said. "We're just doing the bidding of one of the Five Families of the West!"

Pabulum saw Damien pause and continued in a hurried tone, "If you let me go, I can get them their goods and say the others died from the storm, a win-win, n-no?"

Damien recalled some info from his past life. 

The Five Families of the West were five enormous mafias that controlled Underworld operations in the West Blue. Luke Bege headed one of such families before becoming a Supernova.

"..."

Pabulum then saw Damien reach out and grab him by the throat.

"So am I right to assume they were the ones who gave you the intel for this island and paid the marines off?"

Pabulum regained some courage and nodded, "T-That's right! The Gambino family did this, I just followed orders! It's best if you let me go and nothing will change!"

Damien squinted his gaze upon the man, "Don't worry, they'll get what's coming for them."

His hand then swirled with the crushing red energy as it enveloped the strategist's body, "They will join you soon."

*Splatter*

The raided ship was practically painted red after Damien had finally completed his goal.

Thud!

Damien then fell to the ground, laying out in a T-shape as his body recovered.

His insides were still damaged and would take a few hours to fully heal. As for his stamina, it too was practically empty.

Sure enough, Damien's gamble had panned out in his favour.

…

[Thirty Minutes Later]

Damien slowly got back up, his bones giving slight cracking noises as the joints were moved after a while.

He had enough energy to move around but he needed food.

Before that, there was one thing to check.

*Creak*

Damien walked into the captain's quarters and looked around for some goodies.

And lo and behold, some interesting things were there.

First, he saw two bounty posters smacked on the walls of the cabin.

"I guess it fills one's pride to see their infamous poster, how conceited, though I'd probably do the same," Damien said as he glanced at the pages.

-----< WANTED >-----

< PABULUM >

< 'Green Fox' >

< 𝔅 12,900,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

-----< WANTED >-----

< IGNIS >

< 'Blazing Axe' >

< 𝔅 39,000,000 - >

< DEAD or ALIVE >

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Damien also found a chest filled with banknotes.

A directory noting the exact amount: 14.4 million berries.

There were some cheap compasses and maps laid on the desk alongside some empty saké cups littered on the floor; the room reeked of sweat and alcohol.

Damien then reached for the drawer and found a thick red book, as thick as a telephone directory from his previous world.

*Thunk*

He plopped it on the desk and read the bolded title.

"DEVIL FRUIT ENCYCLOPEDIA"

[Image (in Discord)]

.

Damien nodded at the contents and flipped his way through it.

There were three main sections, Paramecia, Zoan and Logia. 

Though Damien did see that some familiar devil fruits could not be found. Such as the Dark-Dark Fruit.

"Interesting, Oh-ho, look at this," he murmured as he went to the Paramecia Section.

The subheadings were bolded.

"Internal-type, external-type, secretion-type, release-type, support-type, special-type, and disaster-type."

Each fruit was associated with a picture of the fruit itself.

Damien looked over some interesting fruit powers.

[SPECIAL PARAMECIA TYPE]

[Mochi-Mochi Fruit - Allows the user to create, control, and transform into mochi, making them a Mochi Human.]

.

[Ope-Ope Fruit – The user can create a spherical space in which the user has complete control over the placement and orientation of the objects inside, making them a Free-Modification Human.]

.

[Soul-Soul Fruit – The user can freely interact with and manipulate human souls, making them a Soul-Manipulating Human.]

.

[Balance-Balance Fruit – The user can freely switch anything of equal value. This can be a physical, psychological, spiritual or cosmic exchange, making them a Mad Tita- *COUGH* an All-Conserving Human.]

.

Damien then turned to another section.

[DISASTER-TYPE PARAMECIA]

[Tornado-Tornado Fruit – The user can summon tornadoes of varying intensity, making them a Tornado Human.]

.

[Gravity-Gravity Fruit – The user can create and manipulate gravitational forces, making them a Gravity Human.]

.

[Tremor-Tremor Fruit – The user can create vibrations, or quakes to cause enormous damage, making them a Tremor Human.]

.

[Pulverize-Pulverize Fruit - Gives the user the ability to crush anything into pieces, making them a Pulverizing Human.]

.

[Weather-Weather Fruit - User gains complete control over the weather, making them a Weather Human.]

.

[Clank Clank Fruit - Allows the user to create things by combining inanimate objects at will, making them an Assimilation Human.]

…

"How familiar," Damien muttered as he saw the black and red fruit in the image. 

Damien spent the next 15 minutes just going over certain fruits, admiring the crazy and weird devil fruit powers that existed, on record that is.

Naturally, certain fruits with more special characteristics were kept hidden or 'unknown'.

His eyes then drifted to a newspaper wrapped up with a string.

He unfurled the paper as he smelled the nostalgic aroma of ink.

"What the hell…" he uttered.

And it wasn't wrong to do so, after all, the date wasn't what Damien was expecting!

He then heard a familiar voice in his mind.

[Damien, I have completed my update and am ready to assist you henceforth.] 

[...]

[How could this be? This makes no sense…] 

It was the first time Damien heard panic in Sibyl's voice.

[Damien, you are early. Way too early!]

He blinked as he read the date once more.

The paper was recent, dated February 21, 1474!

Roger reigned over the seas well after the 1490s and became the King of the Pirates by 1499!

This wasn't Luffy's Era, nor was it Roger's Era…

It was Rocks' Era!

To Be Continued…

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Author's Corner.

Images: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q