Shu was tall and slender, wearing a mask that covered most of his face, revealing only his eyes. With his Paramecia-type Rust-Rust Fruit ability, he was the nemesis of many self-proclaimed swordsmen and had repeatedly achieved great feats.
Upon discovering Damon's arrival, Shu felt his heart pounding wildly, his calf muscles trembling involuntarily, and his body hair standing on end, just like a mouse seeing a cat.
Just as Shu thought Damon was about to use his power to give him a severe beating, Damon brushed past him without turning his head and said calmly:
"What are you standing there for? Get back to your posts!"
If it were before, Shu might have scoffed at it.
After being exposed to King's Haki, Shu realized that this young man was not someone with connections, but a strong individual who had gotten there through sheer strength. He instinctively turned around, stood firmly on his feet, saluted Damon's back, and shouted:
"Yes, sir!"
Marine Headquarters and Impel Down were very close to the Sabaody Archipelago, which was also the only way to the New World.
After several hours of sailing, the outline of an island began to appear in the distance, and the enormous figure of the Yarukiman mangrove gradually came into view.
The Yarukiman mangrove was known as the world's largest mangrove tree, with its thick roots extending above the water, forming the famous Sabaody Archipelago.
Given the increasing prevalence of piracy in recent years, Marine Headquarters often set up ambushes in the Sabaody Archipelago to arrest those aspiring pirates who attempted to reach the New World. This had earned the Sabaody Archipelago the nicknames "Island of Failure" and "Island of Re-departure."
The Sabaody Archipelago was very large, and its different areas were divided by numbers on the trees.
Areas 60 to 69 were primarily naval bases and entrances and exits for World Government vessels.
Just as the warship was preparing to head to port number 61 for repairs, Shu discovered a pirate ship docked at pier number 41. Recognizing them by their goat-horn skull-and-crossbones pirate flag, he said:
"That's the Devilman Pirates' ship! The captain is Devil Diaz, with a bounty of 60 million Berries, and he's hailed as the strongest rookie of the year!"
Shu had barely finished speaking when he felt waves of scorching heat coming from behind him.
He whirled around and saw Damon holding a fireball that had rapidly expanded to a diameter of twenty meters. His throat bobbed with difficulty; thinking Damon was about to kill him, he cried out with a mournful face:
"Captain, I was wrong!"
Damon tilted his head and looked at him, not understanding what he was up to, and comforted him:
"It's okay, you're weak anyway. Don't take it to heart."
Shu: "..."
The next instant, he saw Damon raise his hand, and a huge fireball roared out.
Ever since Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, uttered that earth-shattering line on the guillotine, a great pirate era had begun all over the world, and every year a large number of new generation pirates emerged.
Given that these pirates had committed countless atrocities, including burning, killing, and looting, the World Government and the Navy set bounties to apprehend them based on the crimes they had committed.
Pirates who rose to prominence during this year, and who successfully overcame the many trials of the Grand Line and finally reached the Sabaody Archipelago, were considered rising stars among pirates.
There wasn't a term like "Worst Generation" yet, but these rising pirate stars were still highly regarded.
Although in Damon's memory, Devil Diaz, the captain of the Devilman Pirates, had already been a slave of the Celestial Dragons for many years when he appeared in the original work, given that the bounties of most new pirate stars were now less than 100 million, his 60 million bounty, which made him the strongest rookie of this generation, undoubtedly showed that he had the strength and ambition to match.
In fact, there was no need to question the authenticity of this bounty amount.
Crocodile, the first Shichibukai to become a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, known as Sir Crocodile, had a bounty of only 81 million Berries.
In a world where bounties didn't experience inflation, any pirate with a bounty approaching 100 million must possess strength and commit crimes commensurate with their notoriety and bounty.
The very name of the Devilman Pirates revealed the nature of this group.
Damon activated the Fire Cloud Technique, and the flames obeyed his command, condensing at his fingertips. With a few breaths, they expanded from a small flame into a fireball with a diameter of twenty meters at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Whoosh!"
The fireball flew through the air in a graceful arc, almost grazing the top of Shu's head.
Shu squatted on the ground, shivering. He felt a heat on his head first, followed by a chill. He couldn't help but touch his head, only to find that his forehead was completely bald, without a single hair.
Looking up at the young man in front of him, Shu felt like crying but had no tears left. He thought to himself: "And you're still saying you weren't taking this opportunity to retaliate?"
Of course, this was a complete misunderstanding of Damon.
Since Damon never considered him an opponent, where did the retaliation come from?
As for the fireball burning off Shu's hair?
This was completely an accident!
Believe it or not, Shu certainly didn't believe it.
"Boom!"
A deafening roar came from behind, followed by a fierce gust of wind.
Just as Shu was about to stand up, he felt as if a pair of scorching giant hands were pushing him forward from behind. He stumbled and lost his balance, falling to the ground and even hitting his teeth, with a broken tooth falling out.
Shu looked bitter, feeling that ever since he became enemies with Damon, he had been plagued by misfortune, as if God himself was against him. It was simply bizarre.
He scrambled to his feet, covered in dust, and turned around abruptly when he heard the exclamations of the other soldiers on deck.
The pirate ship, only slightly smaller than the warship beneath their feet, was cut in half by a massive fireball. The fierce flames spread rapidly from the gap in the ship along the wooden hull. When Shu looked back, the pirate ship was already engulfed in a sea of fire. Due to the large gap, seawater flooded in, causing the entire pirate ship to gradually sink and create a whirlpool on the sea surface.
"Hiss!"
Upon seeing this, Shu gasped.
Sinking a ship single-handedly?
Damon's casual move completely changed everyone's perception of him.
What others thought didn't really matter. Damon stepped out into the air, as if strolling through the sky, and walked leisurely toward the pirate ship.
At the same time, Damon spared a sliver of his attention to the system's notification.
"Ding!"
"Congratulations, host, for reciting a classic line from Jujutsu Kaisen. You have been awarded one chance to draw a prize. Would you like to start the prize wheel?"
There were only two types of prizes in the lottery wheel: spells and spell tools.
Spells: Limitless techniques, six eyes, ten types of shadow magic...
Spell tools: Wandering Clouds, Heavenly Reversal Blade...
[Ten Shadow Spells - Summon Jade Dogs]: Summon two jade dogs, one black and one white, from the shadows to fight for you.
"The power of shadows?"
Damon rolled his eyes inwardly. He hadn't expected the system to come again, splitting the ten shadow spells into ten rewards, just like the Navy's Six Powers Iron Body back then.
Considering that the stronger the ability on the lottery wheel, the lower the probability of drawing it, which was basically around one in ten thousand, Damon seemed somewhat relieved.
"Who destroyed my pirate ship?!"
A bloodcurdling roar came from the captain's cabin, and as the door shattered, a man dressed as a pirate captain walked out.
The captain's uniform was black and red, and the zipper was undone, revealing his muscular, scarred body. The man had an ordinary appearance, with two braids on his head that resembled goat horns. He held a rapier in one hand and roared angrily at the sky.
Then, he saw a figure descending from the sky.
"Boom!"
The moment the boy's feet touched the ground, his right hand had already drawn his sword without anyone noticing. Blazing flames filled the Zanpakuto's blade, and amidst the flickering firelight, his scarlet eyes stared at the bewildered pirate star.
The three tomoe in his pupils spun rapidly, and the illusion was released silently, dragging Devil Diaz into a dreamlike illusion. Only those with strong enough willpower or Haki could immediately escape from the illusion.
Taking advantage of the moment when the other party was stunned and confused, Damon disappeared from the spot in an instant.
Flash!
When the boy's figure reappeared, only a sharp glint of light flashed by, and a bloodstain appeared on Devil Diaz's neck.
Damon stood behind the pirate star and slowly sheathed his sword.
With a clang, Devil Diaz's head fell to the ground, his face still frozen in a look of bewilderment and disbelief. He clearly hadn't expected that he, a pirate who had made a name for himself on the Grand Line, could be so easily defeated by a mere teenager.
The Sabaody Archipelago was also known as the Island of Failure.
This meant that every year, a large number of ambitious new pirate stars were defeated by the Navy who were lying in wait.
Devil Diaz was not the first pirate to fall, nor would he be the last.
When the naval warships approached the pirate ship, the battle on the deck had completely ended. The pirates were either dead or had surrendered. Only the figure standing in the sea of fire was like a rising star, radiating dazzling light.
Damon was not a man of indiscriminate killing, and he was well aware that many pirates were forced to risk going to sea to become pirates because of the cruel exploitation by the Celestial Dragons and nobles. As long as the ringleader was punished, he would not mind letting the other minor characters go if they were willing to surrender, allowing the Navy to arrest and imprison them, giving them a chance to reform.
A pirate ship usually had more than a hundred pirates. Even after Damon's massacre, there were still more than fifty pirates left. They were being shackled one by one by the soldiers and escorted to the warship.
In addition, a group of soldiers wanted to rush into the pirate ship and loot its spoils before it sank.
Seeing that the matter had come to an end, Damon asked Vice Admiral Tsuru for half a day's leave.
Given that the warship was about to proceed to port area 61 for rest and repairs, Vice Admiral Tsuru agreed to allow Damon to temporarily leave the fleet.
On the Sabaody Archipelago, the roots of the Yarukiman mangrove tree secreted special natural resins through photosynthesis and plant respiration. These resins expanded upon contact with air, forming magical bubbles with a variety of uses, such as bubble cars, bubble Ferris wheels, bubble flying machines, and even houses built on bubbles.
Damon stepped onto solid ground and looked up into the distance.
Towering trees reaching hundreds of meters in height were everywhere, with roots that resembled dragons and pythons coiled on the ground. In order to save land, the residents of the Sabaody Archipelago even built houses on the trees.
Every so often, there was a towering tree with numbers carved on its trunk to mark the area.
Before Damon could even make a move, a pleasant perfume scent wafted over.
Damon turned around and saw that Momousagi Gion had appeared behind him without him noticing, looking at him with a smile.
"Do you know any fun places to go? Take me there!"
"I don't want to!"
"Why?"
"I don't think we're very familiar with each other, are we?"
Damon's straightforward remarks did not discourage Momousagi Gion; on the contrary, she seemed quite pleased that a boy had rejected her request to her face.
Seeing that there was now a clingy young girl beside him, Damon secretly felt a headache coming on.
"Does she have some unique quirk? Why does she like to stick to me like that?"
_______________
Support the journey and unlock advanced chapters!
If you're enjoying Damon's story, his journey of wielding memes from other worlds inside the One Piece universe, collecting ultimate skills like the Sharingan, Bankai, Blood Demon Arts, and Ten Shadow Spells, and watching him shake the very foundations of the World Government… there's always a way to stay ahead.
I work every day on this novel, developing its world and chapters, and every bit of support helps me keep delivering more content with higher quality and faster releases.
By supporting me on Patreon, you'll get exclusive access to advanced chapters before they're released to the public. You can move ahead in the story and read up to 20 chapters in advance!
📚 Support Tiers:
$5 → Read 5 advanced chapters
$10 → Read 10 advanced chapters
$15 → Read 15 advanced chapters
$20 → Read 20 advanced chapters
Every bit of support, even a small one, makes a real difference and helps me continue writing this journey that we're experiencing together.
Join now and start reading the stacked chapters before everyone else:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/The_King_MT
Thank you to everyone who supports the story and believes in this world. You are the reason it continues. ❤️