The prison on Beehive Island.
It stood more than ten kilometers to the left of the Skull Castle.
The walls were several meters high, the gate a slab of solid iron. Watchtowers crowned the corners, searchlights swept back and forth.
A small army of vicious, hard-faced pirates guarded the place.
Den Den Mushi were embedded into the corners of the walls, their eyes rolling left and right, up and down, relaying everything they saw back to the surveillance room inside the prison.
"Dragon, go," Garp said, clapping a hand on his son's shoulder. "If anything happens, I'll charge in to back you up right away."
Dragon nodded, his expression grave. He could not help nagging Garp, "Old man, do not do anything reckless. Wait until I have scouted things out, then we move."
With that…
The air around him suddenly accelerated, the flow of wind sharpening into a gale.
His figure vanished from where he stood, as though he had blended into the world itself.
Only after Dragon had disappeared did that hint of worry surface in Garp's eyes as he stared tensely in the direction of the prison.
His fists were clenched so tightly the knuckles whitened.
…
In the blink of an eye.
The black night sky gradually turned hazy with mist.
A faint gust brushed past, and Garp's heavy expression suddenly relaxed. A glint of joy flashed in his tiger-like eyes.
A shadow appeared beside him.
Dragon's face was pale. Sweat clung to his skin, his breathing ragged.
The moment he thought back to the hellish scenes inside the prison, nausea rose in his throat. He almost gagged.
The cells were filthy, the stench suffocating. Cockroaches, bugs, and rats swarmed everywhere.
On top of that…
He had personally witnessed members of the Underworld drag pirates out of their cells, cut out kidneys and other organs, then transplant them into someone else.
The discarded bodies were tossed aside like trash.
And then there were the blood-drawing operations…
The prisoners' faces were shriveled and corpse-like, more demon than human.
He had heard of organ and blood trafficking in the Underworld before.
But hearing about it and seeing it with his own eyes were two completely different things. The impact was searing.
"How was it? Did you find the Celestial Dragons?" Garp asked.
Dragon shook his head. "No. The Celestial Dragons are not in the prison at all."
A faint trace of relief crept into his voice. "Good thing we didn't storm the prison. We would have exposed ourselves and walked right into Rocks' trap."
He had to admit, it was only thanks to his Devil Fruit that he had managed to infiltrate the prison at all. Anyone else would have had a hard time getting inside unseen.
One of the Marines with them asked, "Then what do we do next?"
Dragon fell silent, frowning in thought. After a long moment, he said slowly, "Right now, the place most likely to be hiding the Celestial Dragons is the Skull Castle."
"No." Garp's eyes bulged. "That place is too dangerous."
The Skull Castle was where the core members of the Rocks Pirates gathered, along with most of the officers.
With Dragon's current strength, if he ran into any of the cadres, he would have a hard time getting away.
"We go back and discuss it properly first," Dragon agreed with a nod. Unless they were truly desperate, he did not want to sneak into that monster's den.
…
Dawn broke.
The first light of morning welcomed a new day.
The CP0 team also split up.
Their operation began.
At the harbor.
On a pirate ship, Charlotte Katakuri was going at the sweets in front of him with both hands, stuffing pastries into his mouth as fast as he could chew.
His cheeks ballooned out so hugely they almost hid his features.
If you looked closely, you could see that slit-like mouth of his curling into a satisfied smile.
Desserts were his greatest love.
He must have overstuffed himself, because the food seemed to get stuck. Katakuri thumped his own chest with a fist. A large lump of pastry slid visibly down his throat.
"Ha…"
"So delicious."
Katakuri rose, picked up his trident, and walked out. As he walked, he muttered to himself, "I've learned a lot about using a trident from Slardar lately…"
"Mr. Slardar is really gentle too."
Even though Slardar's face basically screamed "Do not approach," once you actually met and got to know him, you realized something else.
Behind that ghastly fish-demon face, Slardar had a surprisingly gentle heart, and he was very much a man's man.
Just like Katakuri, whose mouth had literally torn open from eating too much.
After checking on a few of his sisters as usual, Katakuri left the ship.
He headed up the harbor, walking toward his usual training grounds.
On the way.
The usual sneers and jeers were gone. The other pirates made way for him instead.
In a shadowed corner of the street, the morning sun had yet to reach, leaving the place in dim light.
Two masked men stood there.
CP0.
One of them took out a Den Den Mushi that looked like a handheld transceiver and lowered his voice. "Chief, we've found Katakuri. We can move at any time."
At the same time.
CP0 Chief Claude, who had infiltrated the ship where Charlotte Linlin's children were kept, spoke into his own Den Den Mushi. "We're ready on our side too. Begin the operation."
With that order.
The two CP0 in the street corner split their roles without hesitation.
One of them hoisted a rocket launcher-like cannon onto his shoulder and fired at the second floor wall of a building along the street.
Boom.
Boom.
…
A string of explosions went off, and the smoke and dust rose in just the right place to swallow Katakuri's figure.
The sudden disturbance made Katakuri's heart jolt. A bad premonition flickered in his mind.
Eyes sharp with caution, he scanned the surroundings, muscles in his arms bulging as he gripped his trident tightly. He shouted, "Who is causing trouble on Beehive Island?!"
Screams and curses erupted from all around the street as people scrambled to get away.
"Soru."
The other CP0 agent flickered behind Katakuri in an instant. Before Katakuri could react, a hand-blade chopped down on the back of his neck.
Katakuri pitched forward.
A smile flashed in the eyes under the CP0's mask. He reached out, fingers closing on Katakuri's clothes to drag him away.
Then everything went wrong.
Pshhh.
The trident's sharp tines punched through the CP0's abdomen. Blood gushed out in a spray.
The agent stared down in disbelief at the weapon impaled through his stomach. "You… you didn't pass out?!"
The wave of pain that crashed over him was unreal.
The other CP0's face twisted in shock as well. Dropping his weapon, he used Soru again, flashing to stand in front of Katakuri.
A simple, clean Shigan, whistling through the air, drove straight into Katakuri's chest.
His finger stabbed in, then withdrew.
A fountain of blood followed.
The blinding pain warped Katakuri's features, but he still did not let go. Instead, he twisted the trident in his hands.
His voice came out hoarse. "So you're CP0 from the World Government. No wonder you resort to such dirty tricks."
"But if you think you can just take me down easily, you've got it all wrong. After training under monsters like Captain Ares and Kaido…"
"How could I, Charlotte Katakuri, be knocked out by a little pain?"
The inhuman training he had gone through had already tempered his will and pain tolerance into something far beyond ordinary.
The other CP0 clamped down on Katakuri's wrists and pinned them with all his strength. "This brat is ridiculously strong," he gasped. "Vulture, knock him out now. If the Rocks Pirates get here, we're done!"
"Damn it!"
The CP0 behind Katakuri, codename Vulture, had veins bulging on his face under the mask. He grabbed the trident's shaft with his left hand and yanked.
The blades tore free of his flesh. Sticky blood soaked his clothes.
He lifted his right hand high and brought it down savagely on the back of Katakuri's neck.
Thud.
The dull sound rang out. Katakuri staggered.
Blood spurted from his mouth and splashed across the ground.
What stunned the CP0 even more was that Katakuri still did not black out. With his mouth full of blood, he grinned.
"Do you know what happens to people who lay a hand on me?"
"Captain Ares and Kaido will never let you go."
He knew the explosions would definitely attract the attention of the Rocks Pirates members responsible for security.
This was Beehive Island.
Rocks territory.
If you made trouble here, you died.
It did not matter how powerful your backer was. Even if your connection went all the way to the Pirate King, it would not save you here.
Katakuri understood that he absolutely had to hold out until someone came.
"Damn it, what is this kid's body made of? How is he still conscious after that?" Vulture was shaken. His face went pale under the mask.
He knew the force behind that chop was no joke.
An ordinary person's spine would have snapped from that hit alone.
Yet this brat was still awake.
But time was something CP0 did not have the luxury of wasting.
He raised his hand again and chopped down on Katakuri's neck once more. Another mouthful of blood burst from Katakuri's lips.
If the other CP0 had not been pinning him, Katakuri would likely have crumpled to the ground.
Bloop…
Bloop…
A Den Den Mushi buzzed to life. The two CP0 agents froze, dread spiking. Cold sweat soaked the faces hidden beneath their masks.
Vulture picked up the call. Claude's voice came from the other side, "Vulture, is it done?"
"N… not yet. Almost," Vulture stammered, panic creeping into his tone.
Claude's voice came back low and edged with anger. "Finish it immediately. If you can't, then cut your belly open and be done with it."
He frowned, but did not ask further questions. With a sharp click, he hung up.
Even so, suspicion gnawed at him.
Two CP0 agents taking this long to handle a child who was only a few years old?
He turned to the agents beside him and to the bound Charlotte children. "We are pulling back. Something must have gone wrong over there. To be safe, we switch locations."
"What? How useless can Vulture be that even this little thing goes wrong?" another CP0 blurted, stunned.
Claude did not answer. "Continue the operation. Take all these children with us."
Back on the street.
After repeated strikes to his neck, Katakuri's head was spinning. The world tilted and spun.
It felt like his soul was floating free of his body, like gravity had let go.
In his mind.
Images flashed by.
The battle between Ares and Big Mom, the moment he had steeled his courage and begged to train under Ares, the determination to become stronger.
He remembered wanting enough strength to protect his siblings.
He remembered the sight of Ares training and the way it had left him deeply shaken.
He remembered other pirates trying everything they could think of, yet failing to gain a place in Captain Ares' division.
He remembered Kaido correcting his form.
He remembered Ares correcting his form.
He remembered drinking and feasting together.
Talking about the future together.
…
The memories flowed past in his mind like a slide show.
They snapped his consciousness back into clarity.
Veins bulged along Katakuri's face and neck. His skin flushed red-purple. He ground his teeth, mustering every last ounce of strength to roar:
"I am…"
"I am…"
"I am a man acknowledged by Ares!!!"
Boom.
With the awakening of his will, the roar he unleashed exploded outward as a shockwave of sheer spirit.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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"