Seaside System - Chapter 4.2

That night, after he'd gained his first win over Commodore Yarisugu, Kaden was busy packing his bags.

All of two of them, and he just stuffed one inside the other. The smaller bag contained what little clothes he had that weren't torn to pieces through his training every day, his cash and some food.

Mostly fruit.

Specifically apples.

And a few other essentials. Honestly, most of his marine uniforms were totalled, so much so that currently, he found himself in just a pair of his uniform pants, black combat boots and a crimson red tank top.

And he stuffed the bag containing his essentials, into the big ol' sack containing the sea stone he'd scraped from the bottom of a few warships to put to better use.

What use he didn't quite know yet, since he didn't want to waste it on some common sword like the cutlass he had currently. Maybe he could coat a meito or two with it?

An easy pair to get his hands on was back in Logue Town.

He cast a look at his right wrist, where two different log pose sat innocently. One with a single compass and the other with three. One for Paradise and one for here in the New World.

Not that he planned on using them any time soon, but it was best he grabbed them now when he had the chance.

Not to mention a bunch of Eternal Poses he pilfered as a well. Beyond the one he needed to get to Punk Hazard, he wasn't sure where he'd head after he grabbed the item he was after.

He wasn't planning on sticking around there long. But, that wasn't to say he really had an ironclad goal right now for after he obtained the clone of the dragon devil fruit.

Dressrossa wasn't that far away from Punk Hazard and was one of the few places he could head to and know what to expect. But that was Doflamingo territory and despite how much he liked Rebecca, he really didn't want to deal with that guy until he was strong enough to do something about him.

But Punk Hazard was also at a point where he could skip over a few areas and come out in the East Blue.

Unlike others he wouldn't need to deal with most of the dangers of doing something like that.

Getting that far with Geppou would be a stretch…but with the ability to fly with the clone of Kaido's fruit, it would be much more manageable.

"I'd definitely be getting a bounty like that though." Kaden mused, collapsing onto his backside on his bed. He had no illusions towards his ability to stay out of sight for long.

Even if going to the East Blue sounded like a real vacation right about now. Head to East Blue, kick the shit out of Arlong and his little band of wimps that loved to pick on the weak, attain the gratitude of everyone on that island, especially Nami's, get her gratitude and affection…and profit with a hot orange haired babe of a cat burglar.

Sadly that life was not for him. Because a marine of the New World going rogue and turning up in the East Blue? And a known user of the Rokushiki?

He'd have some real heavy hitters sent after his ass if he stuck in one place for long.

The amusing idea of heading there and hanging around to get recruited by Luffy popped into his head, before he squashed it. Amusing as it would be to be a Straw Hat, something all fans of One Piece wanted to be at some point, him turning up with Joyboy himself was bound to make him an even bigger target once his grandfather realised he was still alive and kicking and Luffy had no interest in being the likes of a Shichibukai.

"…That wouldn't be a bad spot to be in." Kaden grinned faintly at the thought of the eight warlords of the sea. Too bad all eight spots were filled though.

A hard knock on his door stopped his thoughts from going down any deeper on that path.

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Kaden got up and made his way over to the door and pulled it open…

To reveal a large queerly dressed fishy lipped annoyance beaming at him with a massive grin, "Kaden, good news!" Commodore Yarisugu laughed, "We got your promotion to Commander put through after I convinced Vice Admiral Vergo about your strength and potential, congratulations! Let's go hunt some pirates together to celebrate and use them to fish for giant sharks for dinner tomorrow!"

"…………..Fuck you." After a long awkward silence, Kaden growled out a cuss and slammed the door shut in the mans face.

________________

The next morning, around the time Kaden was originally supposed to have been leaving the shitty island G5 was stationed on behind and moving on with his quest to get good with the power of a dragon-

He was instead still there, and currently in a very bad mood. Right now, instead of moon walking his way across the sky towards Punk Hazard, he was instead smashing his bandaged fists over and over again into the front of a massive marine battleship.

His fists stung mightily and his bandages seeped with blood, but Kaden was too annoyed to pay it any attention and just kept hammering his bloody fists into the front of the giant ship over and over again.

'How do I use this?' his thoughts swirled around that one notion. His abrupt promotion that he hadn't been taking seriously at all when that queerly dressed fucker had brought it up, yet found foisted upon him within less than a literal day.

It made no fucking sense that it was approved of so fast. Unless Marineford HQ just had a standard of putting through promotions for G5 without putting much thought behind it.

…Which sounded depressingly on point.

The problem was, this promotion just massively increased the bounty he would get once he went rogue. He wasn't some Commander from one of the four blues, he was a full on Commander stationed in the New World.

That high of a rank here in the New World? He'd get slapped with a massive bounty to start with from that alone. Then taking into account everyone here basically already knew he trained in the Rokushiki, and Vergo knew he was training in Haki.

And then there was his age. He was only fourteen. A kid that young rising to Commander rank in the New World, with Rokushiki and Haki training? They may as well call him Rob Lucci 2.0 even if they were nothing alike, and he'd be lucky to be slapped with a just a bounty of a hundred million to start off with.

And then once it came out he had the clone of Kaido's fruit? Boom! That bounty would rise massively.

He would need time to master the fruits abilities and increase his strength with it to deal with anyone who came after him.

'If I knew Life Return this would be a whole lot easier.' he grimaced. With that, he could boost the results of at least his physical training massively.

Well at the very least, he supposed the enhanced recovery rate of a Zoan would be incredibly useful on that point as well.

As it was, no matter what excuse he gave for leaving G5, he'd have maybe two weeks at most before he was declared as either missing in action or a possible deserter, and then the second he was spotted-

Bam! Massive bounty on his head.

Sure he wouldn't have people combing the world for him, but the second anyone in the marines caught sight of him, he would have the true high ranks like Vice Admiral's deployed, especially once his devil fruit was revealed and he may as well just live with a sword hanging over his neck at that point.

Wait-

Kaden's eyes widened and his next punch, halted immediately, a pressurized blast of air erupting from it regardless and slamming into the hull of the battleship he was in the process of punching silly.

SWORD!

The secret marine sub group made up of marines that gave up more or less their rights as marines so they could act where normal marines couldn't, like picking fights with Shichibukai or Yonkou crews.

If he joined SWORD with, he could maybe use that as a way to work around deserting kind of like X-Drake and become a marine aligned pirate and-

"No, fuck that." Kaden scowled at the thought, utter revulsion filling him. Why in all that was holy, should he need to fucking pretend to keep his allegiance or actually stay aligned to the World Government? Something deep inside him, rebelled at the very idea of doing such a thing.

Honestly, the World Government disgusted him. They were pathetic lackeys that did as they were told like dogs by the Celestial Dragons, no not even dogs, at least dogs had worth.

And they were gutless cowards on top of that. They would take the chance to go after Whitebeard, one of two Yonkou who didn't actively harm others despite his station as a pirate, but only after they had leverage and the chance to lure him into a spot where they had the advantange.

Instead of going after the likes of Kaido who had enslaved an entire country and forced innocents to starve by the ten of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions!

Wano was a massive place after all.

And then after Kaido was defeated, only then did they have the balls to make a move on Wano and it was to go after the weakened Straw Hat pirates.

No way a group consisting of Sengoku, Garp, Aokiji, Kizaru and Akainu, with the ability to call upon the Shichibukai to aid them and all the Vice Admirals a and the likes of CP0 and Cp9 couldn't take down Kaido.

They were just too cowardly to do it and risk the losses that could come from such a battle, especially in the name of protecting people who did not pay the heavenly tribute and thus were not considered part of the World Government.

No, the idea of joining such a group for the benefit of the marines with them having the ability to cut him off at any point they deemed necessary?

Fuck that!

"Fuck the marines." Kaden decided right then and there. And there, it felt like a weight lifted from his shoulders and the fear that lingered of the bounty he'd get and the possibility of those sent after him before he was ready, disappeared.

He turned away from the battle ship, the front of it stained with his blood and eyed the towering G5 base with a speculative eye.

"Fuck the marines." he grinned and repeated.

If he was going to desert and get a bounty anyway, then he should do it properly and get the most out of it as he could.

______________

That night, when most within the base were asleep and Vice Admiral Vergo had left on one of his routine 'pirate hunts', a figure sped away through the sky, fleeing the island.

A massive sack held over one shoulder as he streaked away into the stormy rumbling skies of the New World, not a single marine of the incompetent G5 noting anything was amiss at all, the marines on guard too absorbed in a game of poker to do their jobs

Until the next morning when Vice Admiral Vergo returned, to find the coffers containing all the beri the G5 marine base had in stock, completely empty, not a single beri to be found anywhere within sight.

And to make matters worse, it was payday.

And the newly promoted young prodigy and rising star of the G5 base, Commander Kaden D. Freeman, nowhere to be found.