The Conglomerate- One Piece SI Ch.11

Chapter 11

Back in Marine HQ, the old Lady Tsuru was quite amused as she found herself getting visited by one of the Most Powerful men in the entire Marine organization. The little brat had grown up quite a bit, as he sat there looking down at her with a solemn look.

“I thought that you would be more receptive to my request, ‘great staff officer’?” he began, making her raise a brow. After all, he was far too young to intimidate her.

She had fought against the likes of Shiki, Gol D Roger, and Whitebeard. And as powerful and menacing as Sakazuki may be, in comparison to those men, he was but a petulant child.

“And what request was that?” she replied, acting all nonchalant, as the unrelenting behemoth ground his teeth.

“This is no time for games!” he barked out like the rabid dog that he was, as Tsuru’s eyes narrowed.

“You were meant to keep ‘her’ as your apprentice,” he added, and of course, she had received his request, and by ‘her’ he was referring to a young little recruit from West Blue, making her wonder if the truth was indeed as she thought it out to be.

Her eyes moved towards the ‘hibari’ flower placed in his pocket as she raised a brow.

“Don’t get so worked up,” she replied, turning away from him, as the air in the room began to heat up.

“It was she who requested to be a part of his crew, and who am I to deny a young, budding marine officer?” As for the reason behind his request, it was rather obvious.

“And I can assure you, she is safer with him than she would be even in this place....”

0000

SIR CROCODILE—The Head of Baroque Works

His plans for the kingdom were being stalled by that stubborn King. Crocodile had underestimated the resolve of that man, yet the old man continued to thwart his plan as he refused to take action against the rebellion, forcing him to do it all himself.

Not that it mattered to him, but Crocodile was impressed by his perseverance, though it would not serve him well, because soon enough the man would be his prisoner and then one of his ‘agents’ would put the final nail in the coffin, and Alabasta would fall into his hands, along with its great secret.

There had been a few hiccups in his plan, like that damned rookie Straw Hat and his crew, and that Fire Fist but he had taken care of all of these idiots, and just as he had dealt with those fools another problem reared its ugly head in the form of Marines.

He had known that word about the events on Alabasta would reach the Headquarters, and Sengoku would need to deploy someone. Though thankfully, he had deployed none other than the most sleazy Marine ever, the Admiral Aokiji, who, despite his power, was prone to bouts of unrivalled lethargy and laziness.

By the time he would make it to this place, Crocodile would be the ruler of Alabasta and have the power of one of the Ancient Weapons in his hands.

Yet somehow, HQ's plans had shifted, and the Marine now headed towards Alabasta was an absolute menace for him and his plans.

“Bartolomeo, the Cannibal,” he repeated as he sat in his room with the girl who had brought him this news, and the disgust and rage he had for that bastard went beyond just his recent plans.

No. The bastard had been a thorn in his side for some time now and was one of the major hindrances to the expansion of the Baroque Works. East Blue was the most peaceful of the four seas, and in recent years, that peace had continued to spread and strengthen all because of that bastard who made it his mission to hunt down Pirates and criminals like a madman.

Criminals here cowered upon hearing his name, and though his rank was no more than that of a ‘Captain’, his strength and power were anything but simple. The bastard was a student of Garp and could rival any of the Admirals, and he was only a captain because he had made some powerful enemies.

“Are you sure that he is the one they are sending?” he confirmed again, hoping that he had heard wrong, but his Vice President, who sat at a desk along the wall, nodded.

“I am certain,” and unlike his other subordinates, she was not one to usually make mistakes, so he bit into the butt of his cigar and clicked his tongue.

“That is quite a problem then,” because if the bastard was to reach Alabasta before his plan was complete, then Crocodile would fail.

“It is rare for you to be scared of a simple Marine?” questioned his Vice President, as he raised a brow.

“I am not the only one who should be scared,” he added, looking her in the eye.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because though he may hold the rank of a captain, he has been trained by the Marine Hero Garp and the Admiral Aokiji himself,” and he knew that there was a connection between her and that lazy bastard.

“Aokiji?” she whispered as Crocodile nodded.

“He single-handedly defeated one of the Super Rookies and his entire crew in North Blue, and if he lands on this island, then it would spell the end of our plans,” and so he had to stop him, for as long as he could.

“So, what is your plan then?” she asked, knowing that Crocodile was not one to give up so easily.

“Well, as strong as he is, I know of his only weakness,” and he planned to exploit that, because as powerful as he was, he was naive and had a soft spot for the common people, and that would be his undoing.

“The bastard thinks that he can be the savior for all humanity, that fool,” Crocodile scoffed at the idealistic bastard.

“I will show him!” and with that, he stood up.

“Are the rest of the agents in place?” he asked, and the demon child nodded.

“Mr.4 and Miss Merry Christmas are already to move against the King, and Mr. 2 is in place as well,” and that was good, because they would need to move up their plans now.

“What about that weapon ship?” he asked.

“Mr.1 and Miss Doublefinger are taking it into Nanohana as we speak,” and so the preparations are complete.

“That is good, everything is in place,” and so he walked down to the basement where the recently captured group of troublemakers were being held, and he really wanted to meet this Straw Hat and his crew, for the bastards had caused quite a bit of trouble for him.

“Command all agents to attack the Marine ship headed for the kingdom, and make sure that it does not land,” and they would all fail, easily, because none here except him were a match for that man.

“Will it work?” questioned Nico Robin as he shook his head, and reached the basement where all the Stra Hats and the Princess were being held.

“No. But it will buy us time,” and he eyed the little pirate and smiled as another idea hit his head.

“But they are not the only ones I plan on sending to fight against him,” and he walked to the front of the cage, as the straw hat, his crew, and that precious little Princess all glared at him.

“You will pay for this, Crocodile? Your plan will not succeed,” the little Princess argued as Crocdile smiled wildly.

“We will see about that...”

0000

NOJIKO

Despite his usual laid-back attitude, Nojiko was soon beginning to learn that the Marine captain she was serving under was a slave driver. She had seen many a Marine before, yet nothing had prepared her for the sheer rigorous physical training that was the norm on his ship.

Neither Bell-e-mere nor Tashigi in their recent meet-up had ever mentioned anything of the sort, and so she wondered if all of it was the norm, or was it something unique to him?

“Hey, Hibari?” She turned towards the young ensign girl who sat there, collapsed on the deck, along with a hundred other seamen, all of whom were groaning and screaming.

“Yes,” the young girl answered, her entire body drenched in sweat.

“Do all the marines train like this?” she asked, because if they did, then what was stopping them from putting an end to this age of piracy? Though her doubt was correct, the blonde girl shook her head in desperation.

“No. Not at all,” she answered.

“But Captain Bartolomeo said that a forty-hour training regimen per week is the requirement for his seamen,” and that requirement went even beyond that for her and Hibari, who were also quizzed on various other things, like navigation, maps, history, and so forth.

“It is one of his own rules. The HQ makes no such demand,” and she pouted as she realised that he had been lying.

“Then why the hell does he make us all work like that?” and the other members of the crew had seemed fairly accustomed to the routine by now.

“Well, it’s because the captain has quite a reputation,” added Hibari, as she drank some water from her bottle.

“Reputation?” she asked.

“Yes, because of his fame he is often the target of various Pirate Crews, and has even had a few run-ins with a few big names from the New World,” and that was a surprise, she had not thought that the Marines would allow for a simple captain to work in the New World.

And if the Grand Line was treacherous, then the New World was hell itself. The Marine presence there was negligible, and most of it lay under the control of the Four Yonkos.

“And despite all of this, Captain Bartolomeo’s ships are famous for not losing even a single Marine ever since he was a commodore,” and that seemed impressive.

“And that is impressive?” she asked, and the girl nodded.

“Yes, it is normal to lose at least ten percent of your crew every year, and mostly that number is greater. But Captain is famous for being protective over his crew, that is one reason, every Marine wants to be on this ship despite the training and the hardships,” Hibari added, as she looked down nervously.

“I am very grateful that the captain deemed me capable enough for the position,” and the man himself was doing a head-stand—No, a finger stand, but not a simple one.

For as he stood there balancing himself on his finger, he was also carrying a massive amount of weight on his legs, as he simply hung there in the air, balancing it all on his one finger.

“Captain! Captain!” one of the crewmen suddenly screamed.

“You have to see this!” and she saw him open his eyes, as he kicked up all of the weights, and jumped onto his legs, and caught them all as if he was catching fish.

His muscles shone through his shirt because of sweat, and she saw the young Hibari glance away, blushing at the sight as she herself chuckled and simply eyed those sharp lines and shapes with interest.

“What is it?” he asked, as the seaman came running down.

“It’s the Alabasta shoreline. It is all covered by ships that belong to a rogue organization called Baroque Works,” and everyone was now attentive as the captain frowned.

“Baroque Works is blocking our ship,” and that organization was supposed to be an arm of the Warlord Crocodile, who was supposed to be a Marine ally.

The captain was frowning as he took the telescope from the seaman and looked into the distance. By now, the ships were also visible to the regular eye, and indeed, more than a dozen ships stood in their path, stopping them from getting to Alabasta.

“What are we supposed to do now?” asked Hibari, and Bartolomeo was quiet as he walked to the front of the ship, rubbing his chin.

He did not speak up for a minute, as their ship continued to move towards the Baroque Works’ ambush, causing her some alarm.

“What are you thinking, Captain?” she asked, because she had thought that he was capable enough of dealing with this many ships, or had she been wrong?

Well, it was a dozen ships, and with each having at least a crew of few thousand, the number of people they were facing was indeed quite astronomical, and perhaps was enough to overwhelm him.

“Hmmm, I am simply having trouble deciding on how to sink them,” and as the implication of those words registered, she gawked at him.

“What!” she asked, and he nodded as if that was a serious question.

“I don’t know what to do. I could simply crush them, or I could just push them to the side,” and by now, the crew behind her was having trouble.

“Sir! They are loading the cannons! We need to do something!” and she saw nearly three dozen cannons all aimed at their ship, as she replied.

“Just do whatever, crush them, but do something!” she ordered, and he turned towards Hibari-chan.

“What do you think, Hibari-chan?” She was a bit pale, seeing all those cannons aimed at them.

“I don’t know captain, it is your choice...” and the enemy fired, as Nojiko closed her eyes on instinct and screamed.

“AHHHH!” but the cannons never hit, and the boat never rocked as she heard the sound of explosions only.

And as she opened her eyes, she saw a massive barrier in front of them intercepting the cannons, as her worries eased as the green-haired man’s face shifted.

“Crush it is,” he whispered as he crossed the fingers of both his hands.

“Grand...” she heard his whisper, and watched as twelve massive barriers formed over the enemy ships. Massive rectangular blocks hung over the ships like harbingers of doom as he brought his hands down.

“...Fall!”

BOOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOOM!

And the cannons stopped firing as the sea rocked their ship. The enemy ships were all decimated in one move. Then she saw him move his hand, and two barriers emerged, pushing the debris to the side and cutting a path for their ship.

“Hibari! Nojiko!” the captain commanded, as they both stood straight.

“Get all of these men in cuffs, I am going ahead...”

0000

In the distance, a young Portgas D Ace watched the entire Baroque Works fleet go up in flames, and whistled in appreciation.

“So, this is the Marine making even the Pirates of the New World tremble,” and indeed, though the more established names did not fear him, the up jumped rookies all feared this young Marine Captain who had captured over a hundred pirates in a single year.

“And if he is Luffy’s rival, then that makes him my rival as well....”

0000