Heat haze, ash and lingering flames made visibility hard while the sound of cracking glass filled the air. The once sandy ground was now mostly smooth glass that was broken in many places while scorched black in others. The gray boulders that used to rest around the area were now either black, broken or melted depending on how Marcus attacked them. As for the handful of small trees in the immediate area, they were turned into charcoal and looked like the skeletal hands of giants clawing out of the underworld.
As for Marcus, he stood shirtless in the middle of the hell scape he created not moments ago breathing only slightly hard. The power of his sword's Mera Mera no Mi was pretty crazy and the more Marcus tested it, the more he realized he couldn't find a cap to its power. Well that wasn't a hundred percent accurate, the current cap was his stamina. But once that increased, so would the power of its attacks.
Something else Marcus noticed was his sword could even drain his stamina and save it for later. It happened by accident once and after a bit of testing, Marcus decided to let his sword drain him of stamina every night before bed. Not only did it give him an edge he could use in combat to save his own stamina. It also helped to train his stamina each night when he passed out exhausted.
Marcus spent the next couple months on Punk Hazard as he let Vegapunk collect data on his sword while he practiced how to use it properly. While he did come up with a few specific attacks he named and could whisper that his sword would respond to. He still planned to figure out more moves over time, but for now Marcus had two main modes for his sword. The first was just his sword being a sword while the second was to unleash its flame powers with a single word.
As for how well his sword's new power worked, Sentomaru refused to fight with him if he used it. While Sentomaru was a tough fighter and could use haki, to not get burned he had to fight with haki coating him or large parts of his body. It was mentally draining and taxed his stamina quickly which made the fight boring for Marcus.
Besides Vegapunk testing his sword, Marcus talked him into making him a small ship he could use with his sword. It acted a lot like Ace's ship from the manga, except it had a slot for Marcus's sword and he would need to hold it as he allowed it to drain his stamina. Marcus also redrew the ship plans Iceberg made for him as best he could before he asked Vegapunk if he could improve them to work with his sword's new power.
Vegapunk agreed because the design was completely unique and he found it fascinating. He even offered Marcus a job when he found out Marcus came up with the idea. Marcus obviously turned him down, since he didn't actually invent the design and had other plans in mind. Vegapunk still asked him questions about the design and how well his ship worked as he improved on the design itself. Marcus wasn't sure if they were improvements Iceberg already made, but the redesign to the propulsion system was completely new.
Vegapunk also added random touches and bits of technology to the design that would improve the quality of life on the ship. A generator that would work off of his sword's power, a battery bank that would be connected and charge off of it. Electric lights, fridges and other miscellaneous items Vegapunk added and then included instructions on how to build them all.
Marcus even found out, much like he suspected, that Vegapunk was the person who invented his electric guitar and the equipment that went with it. Vegapunk even gave him a copy of the blueprints so he could fix it if he needed to. Marcus highly doubted he would be able to do it, but he wasn't going to turn down blueprints to what was considered cutting edge tech.
While all that was happening, Marcus stayed in touch with everyone else and was happy to hear Ace and Sabo ate the devil fruits he gave them. Both of them were slightly against it at first and Marcus even planned to have Kuma force feed them the fruit if needed. But it only took a week before they both decided to eat the fruit. Now they spent half the day fighting each other as they learned how to use their powers. As for Luffy, Marcus gave him some advice on how to try using his own ability.
Marcus also talked to his grandpa a couple of times and even though they were technically close, both of them being in the New World. Garp never came to visit because he was swamped with chasing down a handful of nasty pirates. He apparently already captured three of them and was now tracking down the last one before he took another vacation.
As for Uta, Baby 5 and J, they were all with Shanks and his crew as he recovered from losing his arm. As for how it happened, it took place on Elbaph and afterwards he was declared one of the four emperors of the sea. Marcus didn't get the full details, but he had a decent idea of what happened. Sometime during the fight against the king of the giants, Shanks's arm was cut off. At least that was the story he was told. Marcus didn't really question it, since Shanks was supposed to lose his arm when he saved Luffy.
Once Marcus's new little speed boat was completed and Vegapunk's testing was finished. Marcus decided to finally leave the island and go meet someone he planned to rescue if possible. The speed boat Vegapunk created was big enough for four people to use, but space would be tight. But it was also designed for larger than normal people in mind, so someone like Nicholas could easily sit down inside of it.
As for what it looked like, it was slightly larger than a row boat and besides the seating it didn't have much else. It was a completely sealed design to protect people from the weather and used three hydro foils as its only propulsion. The boat had no mast or sail on it and the driver's seat was where Marcus would place his sword. Once seated into the slot, Marcus could channel his stamina into his sword and used it kind of like a joystick to control the boat. Left and right obviously determined the direction, while pulling the sword towards him would release more power from the sword and pushing it away would lower it.
It was rather simple all things considered, but Marcus was happy with it. It took another couple weeks to stress test it and make sure nothing broke from his sword's power output. But luckily Vegapunk designed small inlets that would suck in seawater as the boat sped across the water. Sure it slowed down the top speed it could reach, but it also acted as a cooling system for the whole system and stopped the metal from melting.
Once everything was ready, Marcus packed some supplies, ate a massive meal for the road and then said goodbye. Vegapunk and Sentomaru saw him off since they were the only people he interacted with during his stay. Besides basic supplies, some extra clothes, a new den den mushi and his sword, Marcus left with three eternal poses along with a promise to visit again.
Marcus's speed boat, powered by his sword and his stamina, was easily twice as fast as his original ship without him pushing for max speed. Since he had no idea if he would run into trouble while in the New World, Marcus planned to keep his stamina in check in case he needed it. Sure worst case scenario he could probably out run whoever he ran into if needed. But that would still require stamina to do, so he made sure he never used more than he could easily regenerate in a short time.
The weather was relatively calm as Marcus's boat basically flew above the water around a third of its top speed. Marcus kept one hand on his sword as he pulled out his den den mushi and started to dial a number. After a few rings a man answered, his speech slightly slurred as he asked, "Marcus? Why'd you call me?"
"I need a favor if you're up for it."
"Why should I help you out? You never joined my crew and then you stole my little Uta's heart! Then I find out you already have some other girl who's apparently your fiance!" Shanks said in a slurred voice filled with annoyance.
"Hey, I never agreed to anything and I've tried to talk both of them out of liking me! But neither of them listen at all."
It sounded like Shanks chugged down a bottle before he let out a burp and said, "Well you should be more firm! If you don't like them, just say it, don't string them along."
"I tried that with Uta and she almost broke down over it… And don't even get me started with Baby 5 and her weird personality." Marcus said as he shook his head before he added, "Anyways, can you do me a favor or not?"
"Tell me what you want first."
Marcus glanced at the eternal pose and the name on it which was resting on a small shelf as he said, "I'm heading to Wano and don't wanna run into Kaido… Do you think you could possibly lead him on a wild goose chase?"
The call goes completely silent as Marcus steers his boat to correct its course. After almost a minute Shanks finally asked in an incredulous tone, "You want me… To lead Kaido away from Wano so you can do what exactly?"
"Uta wanted to form a band with me and we are still missing the drummer. I'm going to Wano to pick her up."
There's another pause where it sounded like Shanks was drinking again before he asked, "And who exactly is this woman you're going to pick up?"
"Kaido's daughter, Yamato."
Shanks burst into loud laughter for a few moments before he said, "You want me to lead Kaido on a wild goose chase just so you can steal his daughter and have her join Uta's band?"
"Pretty much… Do you think you can do it or do I need to call my grandpa for help?"
"Bah, if it's for Uta's band I'll do it. Plus it'll be hilarious when Kaido finds out… I would love to see his face when he finds out." Shanks said as he started to laugh again before someone yelled, "What the hell are you doing! I told you not to drink until your body is completely healed!"
"Hongo! I already told you I know my own body better than you, I'm perfectly fine!" Shanks said and it sounded like he was struggling with the other man before he added, "I'll call you back once he takes the bait."
"Who is taking what bait?" Hongo asked as the line went dead and Marcus shook his head slightly.
Marcus glanced at the Wano pose again and adjusted his ship as he increased the speed a little. He had no idea how long it would take to get there with his ship, but Vegapunk told him it was about two weeks or more with a normal ship and good weather. With his course set, Marcus settled into what was a pretty comfortable seat as he sped towards his first real destination in the New World and hopefully a new friend and band member.