"So many Sea Kings?!"
Standing atop a lavishly decorated battleship, Ozz shaded his eyes with one hand as he stared toward the distant battlefield, excitement gleaming in his gaze.
The scale of this war was beyond anything he had ever seen.
Warships filled the sky and sea, their cannons unleashing an endless storm of firepower. And their opponents were the hulking shadows beneath the surface, massive silhouettes moving in the deep like living islands.
Even a movie wouldn't dare draw a map this huge.
"It's coming!" one of the Twenty Kings suddenly blanched. Clearly, he sensed something a fraction of a second after Ozz did, and he immediately began barking orders to the fleet.
Everyone else looked utterly lost.
But Ozz merely crossed his arms, calm as ever. He even lowered his eyes to the waters before the ship.
From Ozz as the center point, the "view" seemed to zoom out, farther and farther, pulling back until the warships became tiny black slivers.
Only then did the true outline of the sea below reveal itself.
It was a mouth.
A jaw so enormous it was absurd, yawning open from the depths.
"So this is the power of Poseidon… driving Sea Kings so gigantic they're practically islands!"
Only now did several of the Kings finally realize that they had already been surrounded by a swarm of colossal, ancient Sea Kings rising from the deep. Their expressions tightened, turning grim.
Even if those monsters couldn't kill them outright, the casualties would be catastrophic.
Im instinctively spread his wings.
A terrifying torrent of Conqueror's Haki, enough to blanket an entire massive island, poured out in a violent surge. It was obvious he intended to intimidate them into submission.
"It won't work."
Ozz's hair whipped wildly in the pressure of that Haki. He glanced at Im's little "thunder tantrum" and shook his head, almost helplessly.
"Im doesn't understand what you mean."
Im's ringed eyes fixed on him. A giant pentagram magic circle formed in his hand, as if he was ready to unleash sorcery.
But these Sea Kings had lived through countless years. They were ancient, intelligent monsters, and at their peak they were nothing like the Sea Kings of this era. Im wasn't going to "handle" them with a wave of the hand.
Besides, there was someone behind them, someone pulling the strings.
This wasn't a problem Conqueror's Haki could solve.
Ozz didn't know how the Twenty Kings dealt with Poseidon's "pets" in the original timeline, but he had his own way.
He took a single step forward.
In the stunned gazes of everyone around him, Ozz stood tall and raised one hand slowly.
The fleet…
rose.
It lifted off the sea.
…
"Oh! Dr. Vegapunk! Kuma!"
"Hello."
Over this period of time, Kuma had slowly adjusted to this life. The lab's living conditions were excellent, and Vegapunk had been obsessively focused on the experiment, ensuring the embryo developed exactly as Ozz demanded.
But one issue kept eating at him.
The problem of awakening.
"No, no, no, no…"
Vegapunk scribbled frantic strings of symbols no normal person could understand, then tore off page after page. His forehead was drenched in sweat.
"These results show it no matter how I look at it… it's just an ordinary Gum Gum Fruit!"
Staring at the reports and data, Vegapunk's brows knotted tightly.
He could tell Nika from rubber. The outward expressions of the power were completely different.
If they produced nothing but a rubber giant, there would be no way to deliver on the promise.
Ironically, other difficulties were easier to solve, including what should have been the hardest: dual Devil Fruits. Even that had been handled using the method Ozz provided.
"There's no choice…"
Vegapunk tore up another draft, drenched in sweat and completely frustrated.
"It can't be done anytime soon. We'll have to shift our focus to the Seraphim: Seven Warlords first."
During these days, the seas remained restless. The number of pirates was skyrocketing at an unprecedented rate, especially the young ones, all chasing dreams and rushing toward the depths of the sea.
The first half of the Grand Line, Alabasta.
A newspaper unfolded slowly through curling smoke. A pair of icy eyes swept across the print.
"Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates?"
Crocodile visibly froze for a moment, then sneered.
His broad hand crumpled the paper, and the entire sheet dissolved into windblown sand.
Yes, broad.
Sitting in that office now was no longer the "little Croc" Ozz remembered.
He had become…
the "old Croc." (Plot reasons, he'll turn back soon, don't yell at me. (╥﹏╥))
"Boss, the Dance Powder has been arranged. The rebels have been extremely restless lately."
At the sound of the report, Crocodile didn't move. His eyes slid sideways. A slender, dark-skinned beauty stepped in from the doorway, speaking as she walked.
"Is that so…? As expected."
Crocodile rose and strode past the sand-colored crocodile ornament, stopping before the window.
"Even without Haki, a mere Alabasta doesn't require me to use that power."
Outside, the country was already in chaos. He watched it with a cold, ambitious smile.
"Ha… hahahaha… This is the kind of military nation I want!"
Behind him, Nico Robin stood quietly, staring at his back with an unreadable expression.
…
The New World, Dressrosa.
"Doffy, ever since Caesar left, the output of our SMILE factory has dropped a lot. We can only rely on our old stockpile now."
Trebol stood beside Donquixote Doflamingo, dragging his mucus as he made his report.
Following his gaze, a blond young man sat there, arrogantly composed, fingers twitching cold strings as he thought in silence.
There was no usual grin on his face. His eyes were on the newspaper. The sunglasses hid his gaze, but the slight downward curve of his mouth betrayed his mood.
Hearing Trebol, he replied flatly.
"If the output drops, then it drops. It can't be helped. Ozz needs Caesar, so Caesar has to go."
"As for Kaido…"
He considered it briefly.
"If he's unhappy, tell him to call Hawk-Eye."
With that handled, his attention returned to the paper.
Trebol's curiosity got the better of him. He shuffled closer, craning his head to look.
A familiar face stared back from the headline.
"This… this is Law!!!"
"Yes."
Doflamingo spoke softly, but his focus locked onto the man in the spotted hat, the one with the gloomy eyes. Veins bulged on his forehead.
"Back then, Ozz stopped me from killing him and Corazon."
"But do you really think they're the only ones who belong to Ozz?"
His voice sank.
"A man who betrays the Family…"
"Even if he lives, he won't live well."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"