[2236 words]

Roger's sword has been revealed to be a Supreme Grade Sword named "Ace". ​​

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Kuzan kept going over the details but his eyes suddenly popped.

"Oh-oh! Damien-san, look! Your bounty!"

.

I looked at what he was pointed towards and saw the 2 separate fliers.

"Oh?" I muttered in curiosity as I read the contents.

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[Poster Image]

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[Poster Image]

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

My price has actually jumped up quite a lot!

From 1.636 Billion to 2.337 billion, even higher than Blackbeard's bounty after he became a Yonko.

I'd say my strength is less than him, as of now, probably around Oden's level, though that is due to change once I master my Haki.

Aurora, previously known as Night Maiden now goes by the Veil of the Night, hmm, her bounty is rather high too.

430 million berries as a first bounty, only around 50 million off my first bounty!

Even though her strength wasn't enough to warrant these numbers, her fruit and her actions surely were.

.

Oh, it seems like the main body is almost here...

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[Few Hours Later]

(Main Body POV)

.

Travelling through my shadow was a bit odd. I suppose I was in the Night Realm, it felt like I was rippling through space as I swam towards the clone's shadow many islands away.

*Purrup*

Bubbles of night energy popped as I started ascending with the other 2.

*VWOOOOO*

A cold wind assaulted my face as I felt the change in atmosphere from the dry darkness of Yozora Island to the mellow warmth of Mortem Island.

.

I rise out of my clone's shadow alongside Aurora and Mihawk as we are greeted by the shocked duo.

[Merge]

A quick flash of green as I merged back.

.

I see the green-haired girl walk up and look at me with a caring smile and then her eyes drift to the side and glared at Aurora.

The two begin some type of mind duel that I was too lazy to intervene between as I walk towards Kuzan.

.

"Yo, Kuzan, this little one here is Mihawk." I introduced the chibi swordsman.

Kuzan was looking curiously at the boy, "Did Damien-san kidnap you? Just tell me and I'll freeze him for eternity."

"The name is Kuzan by the way, I like to sleep. I also like to take long naps. Plus, I prefer closing my eyes and drifting off over all else."

Mihawk remained stoic as he replied, "My name is Dracule Mihawk."

"I will become the Strongest Swordsman in the Seas." He then declared.

Kuzan nodded, "Hmm, then I will become the first man to sleep for a year!"

.

Mihawk then challenged the ice-boy to a duel as they ran away into the forest.

Sucks for Mihawk as he can't mould Haki yet.

---

"Ahem, I hate to interrupt your staring cont-" I was about to say something but Toki intervened.

.

"Damien-san, who is this girl?"

"Right, Damien, who is she?"

.

'Troublesome.' I sighed as I saw the 2 girls stare intently at me.

.

"Ahem, well, Toki meet Aurora, Aurora meet Toki." I gestured to each of them.

Toki squinted her eyes, "Damien-san, you should be careful, I think this girl has some ill intent."

To which the former princess replies, "Hmph, to only ill intent here is the one directed at you."

"Alright, girls, why don't we eat something first."

They nodded.

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[3 Hours Later]

.

Mihawk and Kuzan were still away.

As for the girls, I don't really know how but they already treat each other like old friends.

I suppose both of them were princesses of their respective kingdoms and had to run from a threat. And now they giggle away as I am left to my devices.

.

That aside, I also felt like Toki wanted to say something after a talk with Aurora but couldn't seem to express it.

I, of course, could see her hesitation and had an idea of what she wanted to say so I just put it aside as I had to plan something else.

-----

As of now, it has been nearly 7 months since I left the crew on my little 'vacation'.

The World News Agency Directors have shown some changes but have yet to express them but it should blow up in 4 or so months.

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[The Following Night]

.

"Alright, it's time I tell you what we will do next," I said.

We were sitting in a wide circle around a campfire with me at the front.

.

"In one week, we will split up."

I looked at the green-haired girl beside me and directed towards her, "Toki and I will make our way to Wano Kuni."

I then look at the other girl to my left, "My clone body will go with Aurora and focus on establishing in the Underworld. I want it in my grasp before any big movements in the sea."

They nodded as I went on.

"My other clone will stay here with Kuzan and Mihawk, you will continue to train and understand your respective powers."

.

I stopped as I waited for questions.

Aurora spoke up first, "Damien, where will we begin? The Underworld is vast after all."

I nodded at her, "We will first go pay a visit to the Emperor who you met before, the Black Fish."

She then evilly smiled and went quiet.

.

"Ano... Damien-san, I think I'm ready for Haki." Kuzan claimed as he looked at me with shining eyes.

I gave him a scoff, "I'll tell you when you're ready, till then, just try to survive my training."

.

He then looked down and drew circles in the dirt.

Mihawk remained quiet while Toki seemed excited as she was glowing green, ready to go to her home after 820 years.

.

"Very well, until then, let's get along."

[A/N: Recall that he can make 3 clones max. 1 is at Fooljack Peaks while only 2 are left to split.]

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[4 Days Later]

.

"Your left side is too weak..."

"Now you are pivoting your foot too much..."

"Lessen the power or you won't be able to direct it..."

"No, your moves are too obvious..."

"Use your legs more otherwise you'll lose out on power..."

.

My clone was currently using [The Eye] on Mihawk as he was charging at me with his sword.

{The Eye} - Allows you to see any flaws in attack techniques for those weaker than you.

He had an absurd talent for the sword and now that I had added him into my Crew, it had exploded even more.

.

4 days ago, there were 14 major and 32 minor problems with his stance.

Now, 4 days have passed, only 2 major and 7 minor remain.

.

He fixed his mistakes as soon as I pointed them out but still needed to work on 2 big things.

1) Left side of the body. Mihawk is right-handed so naturally, his left side is weaker, this is a huge problem as any smart enemy will instantly know the difference and only attack on that side.

2) His body is too small to generate enough power. This is not something he can fix and is a work in progress. If anything, I will feed him Leviathan-Class Sea Kings to help him grow.

.

The 7 minor ones were just little things that he remedied instantly as I commented on them.

Kuzan was working on his freezing range while duelling some Behemoth-class Sea Kings, the third-largest species out there.

-------

(Clone Body)

.

I also bought some [Seastone Pendants] for the girls as I wanted them to have that available to them and not be useless without the fruit.

That aside, I was training them in Rokushiki and Haki as well.

.

My other clone helped them build on their Haki as they both had a talent for the Colour of Observation.

They had weapons too, Aurora liked daggers whereas Toki had a sword with her that was supposedly given to her by her parents centuries ago.

It was a Great Grade Sword.

I gave out some manuals as they worked on them.

-----

'Sibyl, tell me what I need to Awaken my fruit?' I asked while sitting by the edge of a cliff.

[The next sub-level is the {Peak-Advanced} stage and then it's followed by Awakening.] She said.

[I'd say once you learn to integrate your Advanced Haki with your fruit is when you would reach the absolute peak of this level of mastery. As for Awakening, that requires something more.]

.

I nodded in understanding. I suppose Ryou and Infusion are what I need to gain the final drops of understanding my powers to even think of Awakening, not too far away.

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[3 Days Later]

(Main Body)

.

"Alright kids, I'll be away for a while, maybe 3-4 months, though my clone is connected through conscience so it won't be much of a change," I said to the boys.

Mihawk just nodded without much of a change in expression while Kuzan just smirked.

.

"Arara, Damien-san, you will be alone with 2 pretty neechans, I'm jealous." He nudged me with his elbow.

.

To which I responded,

*BONK!*

Kuzan fell to the ground, rolling around in pain.

I polished my fist as I smiled at the boys.

"Train hard."

---

Over the 7 days, I noticed Aurora continuing her attempts to attract my attention. I found it amusing and didn't say no. Yet I still felt wrong to just act like nothing and leave her hanging so I decided to answer her question when I returned from Wano.

.

Surprisingly enough, she showed no such affection to my clones, and only to my main body.

I did ask her why and she replied,

"Clone or not, there is only one you and that's the one I love."

I still had no clue how she differentiated between clone and main body but accepted it nonetheless.

She saw the clones only as her 'boss' and did as they asked with deadly accuracy and precision. A perfect assassin.

-----

"Ready to go?" I asked the green-haired girl next to me.

She nodded with a soft smile, "Mhm, I'm ready."

.

And thus we began our journey to the Country of Samurai.

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[The Eternal Hurricane, New World Sea]

.

Within the raging rapid of the New World was a giant ever-spinning hurricane.

The area around it was ruined as it went on its infinite journey, carrying the Isle of Spirits with it.

--

[Death Valley]

.

Humongous fossils lined the area, as tall as mountains!

The water that flowed through the island was pitch black with fish the size of lions and unknown beasts swimming about.

The land was covered in a thick mist layered with acid as it would corrode the flesh of all creatures.

In the terrifying and absolutely horror-inducing lands of Death Valley sat one single man.

The lands nearby were withering away as he radiated with the essence of death itself.

.

"XAHAHAHAHAHA! So close! I am so close!"

Every word uttered sent a huge blast of Haki as it rippled through the area and out the hurricane, killing any nearby sailors or villages.

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[An Island in the New World]

.

"GURARARARARA!"

"WAHAHAHAHAHA!"

.

An extremely sharp naginata shone in the hands of a man with a white mustache as he clashed blades with another man with unique facial hair.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A cataclysmic clash echoed all over the island, sending out shockwaves as it reduced the nearby lands to rubble and dust.

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[The Angelic Sea]

.

"JIHAHAHAHA!"

"Die, woman!"

Shiki roared as he brought down his 2 swords upon the pure-white woman flying in the air.

.

"It is you who will die, Golden Lion!"

.

"Heaven's Fall!"

.

"Golden Paradise!"

.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Their duel neared its end as they continued to clash blades, sending out 600-meter tall tsunamis in all directions.

---

[~7 km Away]

.

A huge fleet of marine warships neared the Angelic Sea led by 2 Admirals.

Admiral Sengoku alongside Admiral Kurowashi as they stood at the front of over 20 warships.

Followed with nearly 10000 marines as they headed to duel the Rocks Pirate Fleet.

.

The tired pirates of the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th Division were ready to fight back with Big Mom at their front yet another wave of pirates suddenly appeared, trapping the marines in a pincer.

.

Large silver portals opened up as 20 or so ships sailed in with a giant ship at their lead. They flooded out like water bursting out of a dam as the roars of pirates echoed through, causing scowls to appear upon the marines' faces.

Alas, a ginormous ship sailed out, with 1 word printed upon its sail.

.

[ R O C K S ]

.

With a flaming skull replacing the 'O'.

"Oh? Shakky came?" Linlin thought out loud as she saw the new fleet.

.

"Ufufufu, all of you, get ready to fight," Shakky said as she polished her pistols.

.

"""""HAI! SHAKKY NEE-SAMA!"""""

.

The fresh 5000 pirates that came with the Black Death were ready to fight.

Whitebeard's 1st Division, Shakky's 4th Division, Damien's 5th Division and the new 8th Division clashed with the Marines. With Big Mom leading even more from the opposite side.

.

"How could this happen!" Sengoku roared out as he saw the pincer.

"It seems like the Black Death is ever-present with her information agency," Kurowashi said cryptically.

.

"ALL TROOPS, READY FOR BATTLE!"

.

10000 marines, 10 Vice Admiral and 2 Admirals vs ~8000 experienced pirates led by Big Mom and Shakuyaku.

.

The Angelic War concludes as another begins in its place.

.

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[The following is excluded from word count]

Author's Corner:

So, Damien and Toki off to Wano.

Clone #1 and Aurora off to the Underworld mission.

Clone #3 stays with Kuzan and Mihawk with Clone #2 still at Fooljack Peaks.

Whitebeard update, Xebec update, Angelic War update.

Recall that Shakky can teleport things to some place she's been to before with a single bullet.

Next chapter will begin the Wano arc.

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Random Trivia:

Would You Rather Take A Guaranteed $100,000 Or A 50/50 Chance At $1,000,000?

Thanks for Reading!