HV - Chapter 168 (Patreon)

Chapter 168: The Outside World’s Emperor Situation

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Lots happened in the outside world in the last two years. 

Canon has been messed up from the beginning when Hashirama bagged Robin and Nami for his crew. The Straw Hats were an entirely different crew now, and since the followers of Luffy were fated to be the center of the world, their change also caused the shift of many canon events.

As the Clone of the Main Body, I have been observing all the world’s changes through news and people’s mouths for the last two years. I even saw them with my own two eyes a few months ago when they came to Fishman Island, and then that’s when I confirmed the new line-up of Straw Hats.

Firstly, they had Marco the Phoenix in their crew. Although such a thing didn’t happen in the canon timeline, it wasn’t surprising now. After the Paramount War, where the man closest to one piece, the strongest man, White Beard passed away.

Portgas D. Ace was leading the New White Beard Pirates. Yes, he’s not dead this time; fate allowed his survival. I’d have expected him to join his brother’s crew, but since his old man asked him to lead the White Beard Pirates in his absence, he couldn’t do that. I guess that’s why he sent Marco to Luffy, to make sure his younger brother stayed safe in this dangerous sea.

Bon Clay had also joined the crew. That meant I had an enemy there already, as he was one of the members of Baroque Works whom I had defeated in the past and sent behind bars. But I don’t think he held any grudges about it.

The next two were quite surprising; Smoker and Tashigi joined the crew as well. I don’t know the story behind wondering what was enough for the hard-headed Marine to lower his head to a Pirate. But it had happened and the crew now stood at a good number, with the total members being: Luffy, Zoro, Ussop, Sanji, Chopper, Franky, Brook, Marco, Bon, Smoker, and Tashigi.

I think the crew’s more powerful than what it was in the original timeline after the time skip. Although they lacked the very important addition of Nico Robin, without whom all the poneglyphs were useless to them. 

I’m sure they’ll find a way, though, they’re lucky like that.

The unlucky one is me, of course.

Times haven’t been good to me, especially right now as I recall these events. Although I found a way to cultivate chakra from the air and atmosphere to keep myself alive, I still couldn’t roam around freely. I had to remain in Fishman Island, with dozens of clones hidden around the island in case this body died somehow. 

I’ve been playing it safe, my priority being the safety of Titi while waiting for the Main body to return. But in that tunnel vision of a goal, I had forgotten that I had other people to protect. After a few months of disappearance, it was officially announced that my crew had died, which meant Dressrosa, the international tourist spot, was for anyone to take.

The Beast Pirates didn’t wait a day to claim it.

Since Doflamingo was under them before he was killed, they felt Dressrosa belonged to them. Nobody in Dressrosa could oppose an Emperor of the Sea’s crew; even me, unless I had the Blackcliff Sword and my main body. I couldn’t express my Conqueror’s Haki enough for it to matter in a battle through this clone body.

So the only thing I could do was send a dozen of my clones to Dressrosa, and at least make sure my girls stayed safe. They were immensely relieved to see me, but when I told them that I was just a clone without any knowledge about the Main Body’s whereabouts and that I could only save them and not their countries, they realized I couldn’t do much even if I wanted to.

Still, their life was what prioritized me. I didn’t care that Kaido sent three members of his Flying Six to restart the SMILE Factory; although Doflamingo fell, Caesar Clown wasn’t jailed yet, and they could make SMILEs for as long as Caesar existed.

I let them be and moved to the hidden parts of the country to keep my girls safe, as well as their families. That was my priority, and it stayed that way for a long time. Until a year and a half later, the Senju Grand Fleet showed up at the shore of Dressrossa.

They hadn’t abandoned the country, of course, they hadn’t, this place was many of their homes. Especially Leo, the Tontatta. Apparently, they had scattered when they heard the news that the main crew died, while the majority of them went to Elbalf in Hajrudin’s reference. Now, they assembled to protect Dressrosa when they heard that Kaido wanted to make Dressrosa into a weapon-producing nation, on top of making SMILEs.

The Grand Fleet came and attacked the Flying Six, and I joined in secretly to help me. I didn’t want my name to spread, that's why I had to hide myself. After all, what if the news reached the God’s Knights and they came to dressrosa in my search? 

In a series of days, we freed Dressrossa for the second time…

Or at least that’s what should have happened. A wall in the shape of an elephant stopped us right before the finish line.

“King really fled from you?” Jack the Mammoth asked as I coughed blood, on my knees while his towering frame loomed over me. “I can't believe it.”

The battlefield was grim, filled with the grunts and groans of the brutal struggle that had unfolded. The once lush grass in this area was now stained with the blood of my fallen allies, their bodies sprawled around like discarded dolls. 

I was on my knees knelt amidst this carnage, my breaths coming in ragged gasps as I fought to remain conscious. “Fuck…”

The air was thick with a noxious purple fog. It was like a deadly miasma that clung to everything it touched, and all my allies had fallen to it. Jack the Mammoth had unleashed his poison gas, just as he had against Zunisha in the canon timeline, in a desperate bid for victory. What a weak little bastard.

The Senju Grand Fleet lay on the ground, their bodies convulsing as the poison coursed through their veins. They needed immediate treatment, otherwise they might die. But while I alone remained unaffected by the poison, thanks to altering my constitution to that of a poisonous plant, I wasn’t in any state to help others.

Even with the advantage of my constitution, my clone-self was not enough to defeat Jack and his allies. No, I had taken out the Three Flying Six, but Jack himself was a tougher nut to crack. He towered over me, his hulking form casting a long shadow that seemed to swallow me whole. 

I looked up with a scowl, finding his face partially obscured by a protective mask, the thing that kept him immune to the poison he had unleashed.

For hours, the battle had been raging on, with me and my clones fighting alongside the Senju Grand Fleet. We had been on a winning streak since our coordinated attacks and superior numbers gave us the upper hand. But now, all of it has fallen apart.

Just because of a stupid poison.

All hope seemed lost, and Jack knew it. He stood there, taunting me instead of attacking me, his laughter echoing through the eerie quiet like a cruel joke. "How incredibly weak," he sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. 

How infuriating was it that he called me weak when relying on underhanded tactics? He tried to taunt me further, “Did King really flee from the likes of you? Disappointing.”

‘Stupid fucking bitch,’ I wish I had my sword beside me. One Tectonic Cleaver and he’d have been turned to minced meat.

Sadly, even if the sword magically appeared in my lap now, I didn’t have the strength to lift it. I had dozens of clones spread around the battlefield earlier, all of whom tried to connect to the Sage Mode and failed. Now all those clones had been taken out, and only I remained.

Do I give it a try? One last time?

But what's the point? It never worked.

Letting out a sigh, I looked up at Jack. “Weak little bastard. Your brother was a coward to flee, and surprisingly you're even more of a coward by using poison to win. Pathetic weakling.” 

I taunted back and the stupid Fishman frowned at me. With a growl, he raised his foot. He didn't speak any other words, but his foot was as large as my entire body raised while he transformed into his mammoth form—his foot grew even larger.

It was like the shadow of a castle over me, warning me of my last moments. The only thing I could do was close my eyes. 

…But death was hard to accept without the least bit of resistance. I took a deep breath in… and tried to enter Sage Mode one last time.

And the world bloomed like a fragrant flower.

I felt my entire existence connecting with the natural energy around us, time seemingly slowing down. I felt the world flow within me, revitalizing my battered spirit, and reality itself blooming through my body like an explosion.

My hair lightened, growing a bright blonde hue as if it reflected the sun, and my eyes shimmered with a vibrant green energy. My skin grew hard like wood, gaining the texture of wood. While above me in the sky, a hexagon shape began to shine bright. 

It had the symbol of a flower blooming on it.  

The [Rapture].

Something told me that it's a thing called Icon, the [Rapture Icon].

…I realized that me and the Main Body—no, I was the Main Body now—we're having the same line of thought. Because our minds have become one and the same now. I let that side of my consciousness deal with the thinking, while my focus locked into Jack.

"...Finally." I breathed out, my voice laced with the power of the sun and life.

Jack's laughter was cut short as he saw the golden glow enveloping my body, my eyes blazing with a fierce new power. His foot did not stop descending down, even as he shouted, "What are you trying?!”

But it was too late. Instead of dodging, with a fluid motion of my hands, I summoned a dense orb of chakra, its radiant energy cutting through the fog like a beacon of hope. 

Jack charged down at me, his massive foot barreling towards me like a freight train. But I was ready. I sidestepped his attack with ease, my movements imbued with a newfound grace and speed and leaped to the sky.

My form cut through the poisonous air like a burst of wind, and the orb of chakra in my hand, the Chakra Sun Rasengan, slammed into Jack's skull with the force of a thunderbolt, sending him hurtling backward with a large cavity in his brain.

He crashed into the ground, his mask cracked and askew, as the realization dawned in his eyes. Blood spilled from his brain, while his throat gagged for two seconds before giving up. He was dead.

"This is the power of Sage Mode, Jack," I declared, landing back on my feet. "Then again, no point in talking to a corpse."

The few Beast Pirates lurking around, wearing masks, looked at their defeated master, and then around them as a burst of wind took the poison away from here. The area cleared, filling with vibrant green plants and wrapping around my injured allies to heal them.

My enlightened mind ignored my surroundings and locked toward the direction of the Main Body. I suppose it's about time he returned.

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