It really pisses me off, balls, or whatever, with Chinese fics, especially the name changes. I never hear or read anything Chinese, Korean, or whatever, not understanding why they change their names. I have to wait like 30 chapters after the character's introduction to find out who it is, because if I look it up online, it doesn't come up. I'm talking to you, Zongman. That's why I never read anything Chinese or of similar origin again. I was just complaining, just ignore this.
I'd also like to say that I'm going to fix the writing of the fic a bit. It won't be a rewrite, but rather to fix the coherence and all that. I'll do it with a program, not AI, but something that tells me the errors and flaws and how to fix them. But I'll do it during the week of the 19th, since I have a week off. Let's continue with the chapter.
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Traveling by sea can be a truly incredible experience, only if you don't have thalassophobia, or in this case, megalophobia. In this world, there are very gigantic things, objects, or animals, but without counting all that, it's a very refreshing feeling. Only if there's no old man trying to recruit you into the Navy by beating you up.
Right now, I'm lying on the ground, all hurt, with a few wounds, in front of a guy who, in his vocabulary and mind, doesn't even have the word "moderation." But let's go back to what happened between the Navy's arrival and now.
Once the Navy arrived, they took the prisoners to the cells of the dog-headed warship. It turns out Garp was passing from South Blue to Marineford, so Kong asked/forced Garp to do this, since he had to pass through here.
Let's summarize the current Navy forces. Kong is the current Fleet Admiral of the Navy; he hasn't retired yet to give the position to Sengoku. Speaking of which, he's currently an admiral alongside Tsuru and Zephyr. Garp was already a Vice Admiral and has most likely already rejected the promotion to Admiral.
Regarding Sakasuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan, well, they must be currently in the Navy, holding some rank as Rear Admiral or something, perhaps lower. I don't really keep track of the Marines very well since I have no need to. I don't plan on joining them or fighting them. They're out there, doing something, at least for me.
Back on topic, Garp went out to eat, leaving me with Bogard to explain everything that had happened, and asking him to take us to Sabaody along the way. But, there's always a catch, I needed Garp's approval to board the ship.
I had to find him and ask him to let us go with him. At first, he refused, but then he heard about all the things we did in the country. So he said:
Garp: "I'll let you go up there only if you join the Navy," he said while eating crackers and wiping his nose.
Obviously, I refused, so we reached a point of no progress. In the end, we reached an agreement. I needed training, especially in Armament Haki. During the fight with Johnny, I was able to use it for a few moments, but after that, I can't do it again. In fact, I can't do it now either. I can't replicate the moment and the feeling of when I managed to activate it, so all I have to do is face someone of equal or higher level to master it.
The deal is this: I had to land three consecutive hits on Garp with Armament Haki, so that if among those three hits, I wouldn't receive any from Garp. If I managed to do that while we were traveling to Sabaody, then I wouldn't join the Navy, but if I failed, I would join.
The trip from here to Sabaody is two months, so there's time. I don't think it will take me long to master Armament Haki, since I'm close to achieving it. I just need a push. The problem is the punches. Garp is an old scoundrel, and he won't let me land those punches even if I'm capable of them. So I'll have to play a little dirty to get them.
Now we can return to the present, day one of traveling with Garp, day one of the beating I'm getting. Garp didn't hold back and immediately started fighting with Haki. He also uses the six Marine styles. It's an incredible experience seeing them mop the floor with your butt.
After two hours of fighting, I managed to activate my Haki for a moment, but a visceral punch placed in my stomach instantly shut it down. It still wasn't enough, but it won't be long.
*3 hours later*
I saw Garp's fist approach my face. My Observation Haki isn't very powerful, but I can still see the future, even if it's for a second. All of this has been developing my reflexes during combat, so I was able to block it with my arms in the shape of a cross over my face. If he managed to break through my defense, my face would be ruined, and I wouldn't be able to impress any female marines.
One of the things I regret is that, in a religious country, I didn't manage to hook up with any resentful nuns. I didn't have the chance; with the missions and other situations, I didn't have time to court anyone. How sad my life is.
I wished with all my might to block Garp's blow. I felt it again, but much more clearly, the sensation of my desire and will becoming real, to accomplish what I want. Before the blow landed, my arms turned metallic black, stopping most of the damage from the impact. It still hurt a lot, but as much as before, and most importantly, it didn't break my defense.
I crawled a few meters back from where I was, then looked at my arms with Armament Haki. The reason why Armament Haki can or cannot be seen is because of Observation Haki. Without it, you can't be Armament Haki or Conqueror Haki. That's why, in the Marineford War, despite using Haki, it wasn't visible, since we were looking from Luffy's point of view. He didn't have Observation Haki, so we didn't see anything. But after Time-Skip, we were finally able to see it because Luffy already had Observation Haki.
(Note: Don't take this explanation as canonical; it's just an explanation of how it might work and what happens before and after Time-Skip.)
Garp: "Let's stop for now, let's continue tomorrow. I'm hungry," he said as he left. I lay down on the ground to rest.
On the ground, I extended my hand. It was normal, and from one moment to the next, it was enveloped in Haki, then it returned to normal, and so on until I got bored. The important thing is that I'm finally able to control Armament Haki.
I relaxed and fell asleep on the ground. Fighting with Garp took a lot of energy. I slept until someone arrived, woke me up, and kicked me out. Some recruits were going to use it for training.
On the way to the place where they let us stay, I saw Trini resting in front of where I was sleeping, leaning against the door, her eyes closed.
Trini: "I see you had fun with the Vice Admiral."
Dante: "I have to do it. I don't want to join the Navy. If I do, what will happen to you?" She opened her eyes and stood at attention.
Trini: "We have a pending conversation. It wasn't brought up because of the situation in the country and because someone might hear, but we're not there anymore, and we have more privacy." It reminded me of a mother about to scold her son.
I sighed. It would have been nice to have a mother. In my past life, I didn't have one. My parents died at a young age in a car accident, leaving only me to survive. I ended up being raised by my grandparents. While here, my mother was a slave. I saw her during my first years of life; after my second year, I never saw her again.
Dante: "Okay, come on," I said, resigned. Long story short, we talked about each other first.
First, Arthur, like me, is training. In this case, he asked Bogart for help, which he accepted for free. I mean, like so much of my bad luck, I didn't force him to do anything.
Second is Sulli, who's been in the ship's infirmary, helping the marines who were still wounded from a fight with some pirates. There weren't many of them, but they only had one medic on the ship, so Sulli's help was well received.
Third, Isis has been playing and familiarizing herself with her Devil Fruit, but I'll still force her to train in other things next week, because relying on your Devil Fruit is a death sentence, especially in the New World, so it can't stay that way.
Now, back to the main course, I told her, well, everything. From my life in the Holy Land, my family, my training, what it's like there, and why I escaped from that place. I also told her about the confrontation I had with my father and the deal I made with him, and that's pretty much it, since shortly after, I met her and her father.
After everything we'd been through, I had a great deal of trust in her, although I'd never admit it out loud or to anyone. I see her as an older sister, someone to lean on, and if anything happens to me, someone who can take over as temporary team leader.
She didn't say anything, just sat there thinking.
Trini: "I always knew you were a bastard, but it turns out you really are one." I see everything's fine. If she insults me and all that, it's because everything's fine. We're back to normal. "It's incredible that I have the title of having beaten a Celestial Dragon and still be fine and intact." Technically, that's true, since the others who did it were also Celestial Dragons, either dead or in prison.
Dante: "If that's all, go. I want to rest, and your ugly ogre face won't let me sleep," he said only out of spite for what she told me. Technically, I'm still a Tenryuubito, since they never took that title away from me.
After that, we fought for 20 minutes until I decided to give up, just so he'd leave and let me rest. Mana was going to fight Garp again, and I need energy.
This is going to be a long two weeks, at least for me.
Annastasia's POV
It's been a year and a bit since Dante left here. The family situation hasn't been great. Dianna got a little depressed, but it passed quickly with a conversation with Alex. Now the two of them are training together, probably to bring him back.
But we all know there's another reason for that, something more hidden. It doesn't matter to me or affect me; I'm fine like this. If he comes back, fine, fine too.
Because the most important thing is me and me. Always me. And it turns out my last slave died. They're all useless and weak. So I'm going to Sadaody to buy new ones.
The only bad thing is that I'll have to go with my fiancé; there I'll figure out a way to get rid of him.
Now I just have to go to Father and ask him for money. I have a feeling something exciting is going to happen in Sabaody. I can't wait to get there and see the incident the pirates occasionally cause there, but I have a feeling that's not all, that something else will happen.