It was a colossal island, no smaller in area than the desert kingdom of Alabasta in the first half of the Grand Line.
Clambering ashore, Wang Zhi found himself at the edge of a primeval forest. Every tree towered tens of meters high; some ancient giants climbed past a hundred, like landmark skyscrapers in a city of green. Between trunk and trunk, the undergrowth rose nearly to a man's chest.
He looked out. Verdure smothered everything. Ridges and peaks blocked his sightlines so thoroughly he could glimpse only a sliver of the island's whole.
"What kind of emergency would make that fool Silver Axe abandon me, John, and Ares and sail off?" Worry tugged at him. If it weren't serious, they never would've left the rendezvous to wait for his return.
Wang Zhi drew his greatsword.
With two quick swishes through the grass silver flashes like a whetted scythe the thicket fell clean at the waist, neater than a mowing deck.
He stepped into the forest along the trail he'd carved.
An hour or two later, he'd still seen no human sign at all. Doubt nagged at him. "Did I pick the wrong direction? Maybe they never came ashore here."
"If only I had a Den Den Mushi… but those are on the ship…"
To dive earlier, they'd deliberately left the phone snails aboard; the pressure and lack of air at depth would have killed them. No one had imagined things would go so sideways that even contacting each other would become impossible.
He stopped, frowning. "Do I push on, or head back and see if John's found them? For all I know he's already linked up with Silver Axe."
After a moment's thought, he chose forward. "John knows which way I went. If he finds Silver Axe and returns to the spot and I'm not there, he'll follow my trail. He's bound to spot the island."
"A ship's faster than my swimming anyway. I just need to leave a mark."
He glanced at a nearby giant tree, lifted his sword, and hewed down. With a forest-shaking crack, the tens-of-meters-high trunk toppled into its neighbors.
"They'll know I came this way when they see a tree cut clean through."
"One more sign, and there'll be no mistaking it."
Swish, swish.
Rumble… rumble!
Several more behemoth trunks went down. Flocks of birds burst from the canopy, shrieking and chattering as they spiraled skyward.
Wang Zhi cut the brush aside and pressed on.
A few hundred meters later, a rustling chorus rose all around. He halted, hands tightening on the greatsword, and turned toward the sound with his guard high.
"Hm? Rabbits?"
A whole troop of burly rabbits poured into view bodies covered in white fur, yet the contour of their muscles showed through in slabs. Each stood as tall as a full-grown tiger.
Rabbits by form only by bearing they were more like savage apes. They moved upright, simian in posture, exposing the blocky musculature of chest and abdomen (on both sexes) to Wang Zhi's gaze.
And unlike the docile creatures their name suggested, each one radiated the feral pressure of a carnivore.
Pairs of blood-red eyes fixed on him. The aura rolling off them felt more vicious than lions or tigers. "These odd rabbits aren't weak," Wang Zhi judged. "I'll have to be careful."
His Observation Haki told him plain as day each carried a dangerous presence, surpassing ordinary beasts. Upright, corded with muscle… he'd never seen their like.
Then again, the seas teemed with oddities. A veteran of the Grand Line, he'd met plenty: the kung-fu dugongs of Alabasta, the warlike baboons of Kuraigana Island, the countless tribes of Fish-Men and Merfolk… even beasts that knew Armament Haki weren't exactly unheard of.
Dozens of rabbits encircled him some perched on branches, some peering from the grass regarding him as a pack regards prey.
"Gugu…"
"Gugu…"
A few chuffed, and in the next instant one launched speed on par with CP9's Six Powers, Soru.
A blur; it was in his face. Hidden claws snapped out, tips glinting like needle-bright stars.
"Out of my way!"
Wang Zhi's blade fell. A silver streak flashed through the air.
A bloody line split the attacker's chest; the brute tumbled back and slammed into the earth, red soaking the roots and blades around it. It wheezed, blood bubbling, as life fled.
The scent of iron spread.
That single death sent the rest into a frenzy. Red flared hotter in their eyes; teeth ground; the chorus of chittering rose in pitch. Blood had woken the pack's killing lust.
They shrieked as one and surged.
They moved with uncanny agility.
Ringed by simian hares, Wang Zhi's greatsword howled each sweep lethal but he wore heavy gold armor and fought with a style of power and breadth. Facing attackers from every angle at once, even he found his reach taxed.
Thuds rattled across his cuirass.
The towering, golden-armored warrior rocked like a skiff in a gale.
"Clear off!"
He snarled and kept cutting but several rabbits leapt onto him, clamping his arms like crab claws to pin his limbs.
He bucked, wrenching his frame to fling them free; a couple tore loose and skidded away. But more were on him in a heartbeat, fangs bared, squeals needling his ears.
If not for the armor, one would have ripped his carotid open by now.
Pinned, his sword arm slowed, his swings cramped.
"Damn it!"
He clawed at the rabbits clinging to his back with his off hand but armor that made him a fortress also robbed him of flexibility. He couldn't reach the ones on his shoulders and spine, and his sword arm was too busy fending the front to help.
Wang Zhi name known across the seas found himself driven to the brink by a pack of rabbits. He was scraped up from earlier fights; he hadn't rested or eaten properly; and these creatures were both powerful and nimble an ugly match-up for a man like him.
"What is this cursed place?!" His heart sank. First Sea Fiends, now demon rabbits on top of that murderous weather.
"This sea is too damned strange."
He'd read scraps about Sea Fiends in ancient logs and sailors' diaries, but these ape-rabbits? Never even a whisper.
The sea is endless. No one has ever set foot in every corner of it.
Elsewhere, a massive Marine battleship ghosted to the island's edge.
On deck:
Sengoku taller than Yao Ming by a head, Justice cloak draped from his shoulders studied the Vivre Card drifting forward above his palm. His expression hardened. They were hunting a top officer of the Rocks Pirates; there could be no carelessness.
He turned to Zephyr and Garp. "The Rocks crew should be on this island."
"This time, we clip their wings break the eagle's pinions."
Rocks had grown too strong; he threatened even the vast apparatus of the Navy.
Pull one thread and the whole weave moves. A head-on war would bleed them white. But now, with Rocks's officers isolated, the Navy had a chance.
"They won't slip the net especially Ares," Zephyr said. "Sixteen years old and already Admiral class. If we don't cut him down now, he'll be another… Rocks."
Garp rolled his wrists and grinned. "Leave the others to you two. That kid's mine."
"I want to see exactly what tricks he stole off me. Let's find out if my iron fist hits harder or his dragon claws cut deeper!"
Light flashed across the lenses of Sengoku's frog-eyed glasses. "Garp, not this time," he warned. "No grandstanding. You carry Justice on your back."
"Our primary objective is to capture the Rocks officers."
"This is not a game."
Knowing Garp all too well, he pre-loaded the reprimand.
Garp's knuckles cracked as he flexed his hands. "I'm itching for a straight fight with the brat. I won't hold back."
Lately the Roger Pirates had inexplicably slipped into the West Blue, leaving Garp with nowhere to throw his punches.
Suddenly
A dragon's cry split the sky.
"AAOOO !"
Every Marine on deck stiffened. Sengoku snapped his head toward the sound. Far off, a vast black "cloud" scudded toward them at speed.
"It has to be Blood-Hand Ares," he barked. "Battle stations now!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.
The story's already ahead on Patron. Go there if you want to catch up faster!
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"