"Break into a Marine base?!" Coby shrieked, his voice cracking. "Are you two insane?! That's Axe-Hand Morgan's fortress! We'll be caught and executed on the spot!"
Luffy just picked his nose. "But Zoro's swords are in there. So we gotta go get 'em. It's simple."
"Simple is not the word I would use!"
I placed a calming hand on Coby's shoulder. His entire body was trembling. "Luffy's right. There's no other way. But we're not going to get caught." My confidence seemed to surprise him. The passive growth from the Essence was a constant, steady hum within me; my body and mind felt sharper and more powerful than they had even yesterday. Fear felt… distant.
"So what's the plan?" Coby asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Luffy pointed to the very top of the central tower. "I'll get up there and find that Helmeppo guy!"
"And how are you going to get up there?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
Luffy grinned, grabbing onto two opposite pillars of the base's outer wall. "Secret weapon!" He began to stretch his arms backward, his body pulled taut like a slingshot. "GUM-GUM…"
"He's going to launch himself?!" Coby squeaked.
"Looks like it," I said, already backing away to give him room. I needed to get up there too. While Luffy's entrance would be loud and flashy, mine could be silent.
"ROCKET!"
With a loud snap, Luffy's arms retracted, launching him through the air in a soaring, albeit clumsy, arc. He shot over the wall and crashed spectacularly into the top floor of the tower, sending tiles and debris flying. So much for a stealthy approach.
"Okay, my turn," I murmured. I walked to the base of the high wall, a solid thirty feet of sheer stone. I took a deep breath, focusing the power that now coursed through my veins into my legs. My muscles coiled, dense with potential energy. Then, I jumped.
There was no sound, just a whisper of displaced air. The world became a vertical blur as I shot upwards, clearing the wall with ease and landing silently as a cat on the rooftop below where Luffy had crashed. The jump had felt effortless. A few days ago, such a feat would have been impossible. Now, it was as natural as walking. My growth was accelerating.
I found Luffy brushing dust off his shorts in what appeared to be Morgan's office. It was gaudy and ostentatious, with a massive, half-finished statue of the captain himself taking up one corner. Helmeppo was cowering behind a desk, his face pale with terror. Propped against the wall, gleaming in the afternoon light, were three swords in white sheaths.
"Ah, Kai! You made it!" Luffy grinned. "Look, we found the swords!"
"I'm… I'm telling my father!" Helmeppo shrieked, pointing a shaky finger at us. "You'll be sorry! He's the great Captain Morgan! He'll kill you both!"
"Yeah, yeah," Luffy said dismissively, grabbing the three swords. "We're just gonna borrow these."
Suddenly, the doors to the office slammed open. A hulking figure filled the doorway, casting a long, intimidating shadow over us. He was massive, at least seven feet tall, with a thick torso and a jaw made of steel plates, a grim metal replacement for his lower face. One of his arms was not a hand, but a colossal, double-bladed axe, polished to a mirror shine.
Axe-Hand Morgan had arrived.
His eyes, cold and merciless, scanned the scene: the damage to his office, his sniveling son, and the two intruders holding the pirate hunter's swords.
"Pirates," he growled, his voice a metallic rasp. "How dare you set foot in my base. And on the day my statue is to be completed, no less." His arrogance was a palpable force. He didn't see us as a threat, but as an infestation to be purged.
"Marines! Seize them!" he bellowed.
From the hallway behind him, a dozen Marines flooded in, leveling their rifles at us.
"So you're the big boss?" Luffy said, a challenging grin spreading across his face. He passed one of the sheathed swords to me. "Hold this for a sec."
Before the Marines could pull their triggers, I moved. The world seemed to slow to a crawl, my mind processing every variable—the trajectories of their aim, the tension in their trigger fingers, the distance between each soldier. I became a white-haired blur, a phantom weaving between them.
A precise chop to a wrist sent one rifle clattering to the floor. A quick leg sweep took down two more. A gentle push against a pressure point in another's shoulder made his arm go numb. I moved with an economy of motion I hadn't possessed before, my control over my body absolute. In less than three seconds, all twelve Marines were groaning on the floor, disarmed and neutralized without a single life-threatening injury.
Morgan's eyes widened slightly, the first crack in his arrogant facade. "What is this? Who are you?"
"He's Kai! My first mate!" Luffy announced proudly. "Now that he's taken care of the small fry… it's my turn!"
Luffy charged forward, his fist cocked back. "GUM-GUM PISTOL!"
Morgan was surprisingly fast for his size. He brought his axe-hand up, blocking the rubber fist with the flat of the blade. The impact sent a shockwave through the room, but Morgan stood his ground, merely skidding back a few inches.
"A Devil Fruit user," Morgan grunted, a cruel smile forming on his metal jaw. "No matter. Your parlor tricks are useless against me!"
He swung his axe in a wide, horizontal arc. The massive blade sliced through the air with a lethal whoosh. Luffy, with his rubbery agility, simply bent backward, the axe passing inches from his face.
"We have the swords, Captain!" I called out, seeing no reason to continue a fight deep inside enemy territory. "Let's get back to Zoro!"
"Right!" Luffy agreed. He bounced back to his feet, grabbed the other two swords from me, and made a dash for the hole he'd created in the wall. I followed close behind.
We leaped from the tower, landing in the courtyard below with heavy thuds. The scene that greeted us was one of chaos. A squadron of Marines had Coby cornered against the execution post. But the boy wasn't cowering. With tears streaming down his face, he was fumbling with the last of Zoro's knots, his fingers working desperately.
"Stop right there, or we'll shoot!" a Marine lieutenant shouted.
Coby flinched, but he didn't stop. He was risking his life to fulfill his part of the mission. He was finding his courage.
"ZORO!" Luffy bellowed, his voice echoing across the yard. "WE GOT YOUR SWORDS!"
He threw the three katanas through the air. They spun end over end, a beautiful, deadly pinwheel. At that exact moment, Coby pulled the final rope free.
Zoro, free for the first time in weeks, moved with a speed that was nothing short of breathtaking. He snatched his three swords out of the air with practiced ease, his hands finding their familiar grips. He settled into a low stance, one sword in each hand and the third, Wado Ichimonji, clenched firmly between his teeth.
A dangerous, feral grin spread across his face. "Finally."
Just as he armed himself, Captain Morgan landed behind us with a ground-shaking thud, his axe-hand gleaming. He and the remaining Marines formed a circle, trapping us.
"Nowhere to run, pirates," Morgan rasped, his eyes burning with fury. "This courtyard will be your grave."
Luffy just laughed, cracking his knuckles. I stood beside him, feeling the energy coursing through me, ready for what was next. And beside me, Roronoa Zoro, the Pirate Hunter, stood as our ally.
The odds were stacked against us. But for the first time, the Straw Hat Pirates were assembled for battle.
Authors note:
Just make do with 4 chapters for now guys I will stock up some chapters for a little while, don't worry though I will still update every day though not like this one with multiple uploads.