One Piece: Path to Power

Chapter 42: [42] A Vacation of Sorts

[2235 words]

Please refrain from putting spoilers into comments regarding future plots for new readers, thanks.

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"I want to take a little vacation around the seas," Damien said. "There's a few things I've been meaning to do."

"…" Rocks glared in response; he studied every subtle movement of the young pirate before him. 

"Do as you like, you've got two years."

Damien hummed at the response and took his leave from the gloomy room without looking back. 

…

"It's done, Commander," Indra, who had appeared beside Damien, said. The two walked from the center of the island toward Damien's little corner. 

"As you asked, I gave him a third of the loot from Enigma, around a billion berries," Indra reported. "But, he also knew of our transaction with Big Mom and was dissatisfied by not getting his claws on a piece of that."

Damien scoffed. 

"Linlin's money was never part of the deal, if he wants more gold, he might as well have to pry it off my dead body."

Indra nodded, "I told him as much."

"…"

Damien looked at the swordsman with surprise. "You said that to his face? And he let you leave alive?"

Indra blinked, seemingly confused at the question, "He didn't stop me."

"Rahahaha, you're almost as crazy as me!" 

…

[A Little While Later]

Damien was now back in his 'home'.

It was visibly more broken down; the foundation had cracks from possible fights and duels of some powerful pirates. After all, Hachinosu was a den of filth, but expensive filth. It could also be considered a bounty hunter's dream, at least before it became their grave.

Damien kicked back and relaxed on a leather couch, breathing in the stench of the island. He took out a jug of saké from his inventory and gulped it down.

"Hmm, it's not bad every once and a while but I don't see myself drinking alcohol daily," Damien murmured.

While seated, the Sin Incarnate heard a sharp cry: "Squawk!"

His eyes traced over the room and onto the open window—a sky-blue bird appeared. 

"Come."

The bird flew over and sat on Damien's forearm, rubbing its small head at his shoulder. The young pirate scratched his feathered friend's dome while extending his Voice of All Things to hear the message.

The chirpy voice echoed in his ears, though it sounded like a normal chirp to anyone else.

Damien slowly nodded, and a satisfied smile graced his visage.

"So the World News Agency headquarters is at an island called Fooljack Peaks in the Grand Line," Damien summarized, cupping his chin in thought.

It had been around eight months since he had released a plethora of birds to scan the world for the headquarters. And it seems they found it. 

Supposedly one of the dignitaries of Néa Island, the News Capital of the World, had leaked some clues to the nearby birds. Something about a new ship of reporters being sent to the HQ under Cipher Pol's supervision, thus revealing the location inadvertently.

A ding went off in Damien's mind at the same time.

[Operation Nexus has been updated.]

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<

[Operation Nexus]

[ Find the World News Agency Main Base - ✔️]

[ Find Replacement President - ❌]

[ Bring the replacement under control - ❌]

[ Have the Agency exit the World Government's Grasp - ❌]

[Time Limit - 1486]

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<

"Time is trickling by fast, it's already nearing halfway through 1483. Looks like the replacement president should be located soon," Damien said to himself.

It was, if anything, another task to accomplish over the next two years to come.

.

Damien sent the bird back out and brought some things out from his inventory.

"Devil Fruit Extraction Theory…"

The Sin Incarnate read over the contents and brought them down to a few single points. "So Enigma came up with three separate ideas."

Method 1: Fruit Resurgence.

Main Idea: It was known that the Devil Fruit would reappear in the same type of fruit that it was before consumption. Therefore, if a fruit user were to die, and if the same type of fruit was placed near their corpse, said fruit should take on the ability itself; effectively respawning the Devil Fruit.

Dilemmas: There were millions of different fruits over the seas. Even an apple comes in the form of many variants and it could prove to be difficult to find the exact type of fruit to respawn the power.

.

"The first method has merit but it may end up gambling on a useful Devil Fruit," Damien muttered to himself.

He recalled a scene back in the anime where a fruit was successfully respawned by Caesar Clown. However, it also alluded to the fact that Caesar was aware of which fruit the ability belonged to, hence preparing it beforehand.

[A/N: I've read a boatload of fanfics where the MC would use this method. Impel Down opts to house huge threats to ensure powerful Devil Fruits don't enter circulation, why wouldn't they bring 10,000 fruits, pile them in front of said prisoners and kill away? Or are we expected to believe no one tried this method in 800 years until Caesar came along? It can't be that simple.]

Damien then read the next method.

Method 2: Fruit Syphoning.

Main Idea: By imposing another Devil Fruit with one of syphoning nature, it may be possible to extract the power.

Such fruits include the Dark-Dark Fruit, Deprive-Deprive Fruit, Forest-Forest Fruit, Absorb-Absorb Fruit and Copy-Copy Fruit.

If the power is used to transfer the fruit from a user into another fruit, it may even allow for the Devil Fruit to entirely re-emerge as an uneaten power. 

Beyond this, a fruit like the Ope-Ope Fruit may be used to switch one into the body of another, effectively taking their powers.

Dilemmas: Such fruits are rare and may require a great deal of training to reach the state of fruit extraction.

.

"The second one can certainly be employed. After all, Blackbeard seemed to have used some technique to extract Whitebeard's powers." Damien hummed to himself, going over the list of fruits.

He then checked out the third method before considering expanding on the previous two.

Method 3: Host Devouring.

Main Idea: As a Devil Fruit is simply a vessel to house the ability, it can be inferred that once a person becomes an ability-user, they now become the vessel. Thus by entirely consuming a Devil Fruit user, one can obtain their ability.

Dilemmas: The fruit-user to be eaten must be alive during the devouring. Eating in a single bite may prove to be more successful but this requires the strongest of wills.

"…"

Damien's face warped into disgust.

However that expression was soon changed into a wry smile as the pirate murmured, "Enigma deserves credit for this theory."

"Charlotte Linlin ate the previous Soul-Soul Fruit user to get the ability… but it's a little out of my ballpark."

Damien eliminated said method immediately, eating humans, especially live ones, is where he drew a big fat line.

.

"Looks like Enigma found the second method to be the most plausible, he even kept tabs on each of the Devil Fruits with absorption properties."

Damien's eyes ran down the next page that was printed in a chart template, matching fruits with their locations:

Dark-Dark Fruit – Location unknown.

Deprive-Deprive Fruit – The user was found in the North Blue, the leader of a fleet of Pirates, Shiryō Dorobō. 

Forest-Forest Fruit – Location unknown; 42% chance of being in the New World; 31% chance of being in Paradise; 26% chance of being in the World Government's grasp; 1% chance of being in the outer seas.

Absorb-Absorb Fruit – User found in the Cipher Pol 'Aigis' Zero: Codename "Leech".

Ope-Ope Fruit – The user was known to travel from sea to sea, acting as a divine doctor to heal untreatable maladies; location otherwise unknown.

Copy-Copy Fruit – The user was found in Pryde D. Sol's crew: Jello, the Sin of Envy.

[A/N: Do not confuse Shiryō Dorobō with Shiryu of the Rain.]

.

Damien went on to put the notes aside, leaning back into his chain of thoughts.

"Blackbeard's power surely has some way of extracting powers," he inferred. "Law was able to use his powers to switch the bodies of people with the minds of others, truly granting them the former's abilities."

He finally came to an answer, "Perhaps the answer may also lie in one of the remaining powers…"

The Sin Incarnate narrowed his eyes in thought while playing around with a tiny, golden token in his hands, debating his choices.

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[A Few Days Later]

"Ara~!"

"You want to leave me behind in this dull island all alone, Damien-chan," Shakky's pouty voice graced the younger pirate.

Damien rolled his eyes at the weeping eyes of the female pirate.

"I'm sure you have things covered, Shakky-nee."

.

They two sat in the meeting hall of the island with Skull Rock and their conversation was interrupted by a loud voice from the giant doorway.

"Newgate-san, you're back," Damien greeted.

Whitebeard gave a low hum as he plopped onto the seat across from the two, his towering frame shaking the very table.

Shakky got up to get some refreshments.

"Rocks is driving me like a horse, honestly, aiming at the Heavenly Tribute so openly," Newgate grumbled.

Shakky placed a large barrel far beyond her size on the table, which amusingly enough, fit perfectly in Whitebeard's grasp.

"The captain has set his sights on the entire New World, and he's an object of great fear for the World Government because of one main thing," Shakky said. "Captain Rocks does not care for any taboos and does whatever he wants. Aided by a group of pirates that don't fear death and you have a pirate crew that can truly challenge the status quo."

Damien finished his drink while nodding in agreement.

Whitebeard just drank silently. He seemed to concur but was plagued by irritation from his recent tasks.

.

"Anyways, Damien. I heard you're running off to train, Gurarara! I've never seen someone so hungry for power," Newgate laughed.

Damien shrugged, "Like you said, times are about to change; I want to get ahead of the curve."

Shakky puffed out a cloud of smoke, gracefully returning to her seat.

"Captain Rocks is also going on a little trip, kid. He has a place to explore in mind."

"It's called Death Valley, found in the Weeping Waters of the Dead. Once thought to be a myth like the Florian Triangle and the Azkaban Sea."

"They say the spirits of the dead gather on the island of Death Valley and wallow in everlasting despair; how poetic for our Captain," She said with a smile. "It's also one of the Trinity of Valleys:"

"Known for its abundant natural resources: Isle of Deities – God Valley,"

"Where the spirits of the damned gather: Isle of Spirits – Death Valley,"

"A hell prevalent with all types of natural disasters: Isle of Disasters – Extinction Valley."

Damien soaked in the news. One of the valleys especially booming in his mind. He couldn't help but take a deep breath; things were starting to get messy.

.

Shakky then cast her gaze on her self-proclaimed younger brother. "What about you, where do you plan to go?"

Whitebeard too looked curious, awaiting the answer.

Damien slowly placed the empty cup onto the table, letting out a soft thump. He matched the pirates' gazes and answered.

"When I fought Enigma, I realized that I only beat the Overlord because of my luck in evolving my Haki at the perfect time," he slowly said. "I have good talent in Observation and Conqueror's Haki, but my Armament Haki is far behind."

"Heck, even before Enigma, there was Sengoku. I tried to fake internal destruction with my powers but it can only go so far."

An ambitious light gleamed in Damien's eyes, reflecting the bright colours that matched the setting sun.

"Amongst some other errands, my main destination is the Land of Samurai—Wano!"

"..."

Shakky and Whitebeard both leaned into their seats as if absorbing the words they heard.

The woman took a deep breath of smoke in and slowly uttered, "Wano is a dangerous place. Home to the Sword God and the powerful force of the Samurai. It's a natural fortress that doesn't take kindly to guests."

Whitebeard also chimed in, "Though it's dangerous, Wano also houses the best artisans in the world. Perhaps the weapon you want can also be found there." 

Damien nodded, "Alongside Emission Haki, that is also a goal; forge a suitable weapon to work in tandem with my powers."

Shakky puffed out a smoky cloud and asked, "Since you've decided, just make sure you catch some of the Koi near the waterfalls, they can pull you up to Wano."

Damien seemed surprised; he caught the smug glance of Shakky who was ever-proud of her intel skills. 

"I'll keep that in mind."

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[Later that Day]

The Sin Incarnate came eye-to-eye with his sole subordinate.

"Indra, it's almost time for me to sail," he said. "You know what to do, right?"

The swordsman gave a simple nod.

He echoed Damien's orders in a calm voice: "Find other like-minded people to join under the Division as fodders. Don't worry Commander, I'll surely find some."

Damien hummed at his confidence. He felt quite trustful of this sharp sword. Perhaps it was an anime thing to have a loyal right-hand man.

"Very good," he said with a smile. "I look forward to seeing how strong you've gotten by the time I return, Indra."

The room fell quiet once more.

Perhaps it was Damien's continuous growth, charisma, or the ability to trump the greatest of challenges, he had already won the loyalty of Indra.

The swordsman could sense the ominous wind that had fallen all over the New World. The death of two Overlords created a vacuum of power and there was no doubt about it, the next few years would determine the eras to come!

To Be Continued…

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Author's Corner.

This wraps up the first part of the Overlords of the Seas Saga (if you can call it that).

Damien will go off on his own for a while, leaving Indra with a task to gather up some muscle in the Division, after all, just the two of them isn't much of a force. 

Two years in canon times brought a lot of change, let's see how much changes after Damien's little trip…

Would you eat a powerful Devil Fruit User alive to take their powers? 

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