Chapter 21

As the sea train began to move through the underground water canals and head toward the ocean tracks, Luffy and Nami both began to scream for very different reasons. The sea train had begun a sharp descent and gaining even more speed with the help of gravity. Markus found a spot where he could relax and not move much. There wouldn't be a lot happening on the journey with their train. All the action would be on the train CP9 was on.

Shortly after they began their downward trajectory, the Rocket Man shot through empty air toward the open ocean. At the same time, the Franky Family appeared behind them in the air, launching out of their own spot. The Franky Family had a giant ship that was pulled by two massive creatures known as Yagura Bulls. The Bulls are creatures similar to a horse that evolved to swim. Strong, fast, and rather intelligent, they were used heavily by the locals. Though they rode smaller versions through the canals.

As the Franky Family and the Rocket Man flew through the air in tandem, the Franky Family launched a pair of spears attached to chains to latch onto the Rocket Man. Shortly after the two groups combined, they landed hard on the ocean. Kokoro, the old granny from the station and... was she the wife of Tom? He couldn't remember. He just remembered that Tom was a pretty awesome guy who built Gol D. Roger's ship. Anyway, she stuck her head out of the engine car and looked at the ocean, "Let's see now, where's that rail..."

Markus made sure he was secure in his spot just in time to hear Kokoro's voice over the intercom, "Urgent message from the control room! We will be latching onto the rail soon and that means our speed will increase considerably. Please brace yourselves so you'll only receive minor injuries!"

The train started to swerve and hop around a bit as Kokoro tried to get it onto the tracks. As she was, a young girl's voice could be heard. Markus smiled at the little girl's tenacity. It was like she wasn't scared of anything, no matter what. Kokoro's granddaughter, Chimine, and their pet rabbit, Gonbe, were outside hanging onto one of the rails lining the engine of Rocket Man. Luffy was nearby so he wasn't worried and he could always rescue her before she landed in the ocean and use Geppo to stay safe.

Those two weren't the only stowaway. Paulie and two other members of Galley-La had stowed away as well. Markus had just adopted a policy of non-interference when it came to them. Instead, he was focusing on his Observation Haki and looking in the direction they were heading. Unfortunately, even with his improved range of nearly 150 miles (240km), the Puffing Tom was still too far ahead for him to get a reading on it.

He didn't pay any more attention to them as Kokoro managed to get the Rocket Man onto the tracks. The moment the wheels hit the track, Rocket Man took off... well... like a rocket. Everyone was suddenly subjected to extreme forces from the acceleration. Everyone but Markus and Zoro was sent flying into the rear walls. At the same time, a new quest appeared before Markus.

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New Quest!

Fuck the Marines!

The Marines think they're all that. They're not. Justice is just their lame excuse for committing atrocious crimes. Show them what their heinous deeds have wrought. Show them that their 'power' means nothing before you. Show. Them. FEAR.

Objective 1: Make them bleed! Defeat, Cripple, or kill at least 5,000 marines.

Objective 2: Make them tremble! Plant fear into the hearts of any surviving marines.

Objective 3: Make them despair! Prevent the Buster Call from destroying Enies Lobby.

Objective 4: Make them flee! Destroy any trace of morale in the marines and make them flee before your might.

Failure Conditions: Death, Death of a crew member, failure to rescue Nico Robin and/or Franky

Rewards:

Objective 1: 50 Bonus Attribute Points

Objective 2: Skill Book: Aura of Fear

Objective 3: Skill Book: Aura of Despair

Objective 4: Rewards TBD

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Markus looked over the quest with a grin. It was as if the system knew exactly what he planned to do and was going to reward him for it. He had no complaints about that at all. In fact, he was rather excited! Attribute points and skill books were up for grabs! He couldn't miss out on those! He could guess the effects of the skill books just from their names and could see some uses for them. Especially if he could combine them with his Conqueror's Haki.

It took a while but eventually, everyone's own momentum caught up to the Rocket Man's and it wasn't much of an issue anymore. After things calmed down a bit the Galley-La Company stowaway came out of hiding while a few Franky Family members joined everyone else in the only cabin attached to the Rocket Man. Markus ignored them all and stepped into his Image Training for a while. He still wanted to perfect the move he was designing for his plan. The last thing he heard was Luffy claiming that the 'pigeon bastard', Lucci, was his to defeat.

Markus agreed as none of CP9 would take any effort for him to defeat. None of them posed a threat either since they didn't have Haki of any form. Their voices all faded as Markus stepped into an empty street. He needed to push his control over his Devil Fruit, he wanted to be able to create a skill with the system's help, one he wasn't comfortable enough to make himself.

Markus didn't stay in his Image Training for long. He wasn't sure how long it would take for them to arrive at Enies Lobby. So, he only went into his image training, practiced for a few minutes on some weaklings, and left to check before going back in for more training. The train ride and even Enies Lobby didn't really need his interference or help. Everyone on the crew was stronger now than in the canon story. They could handle CP9 without taking nearly as much damage now that they had the motivation. Markus knew his role would be to create a 'miracle' and scare the shit out of the Marines. He was looking forward to it.

On the fourth time that he came out of his Image Training to check their progress with his Haki, he found something interesting. Ahead of them, running on the tracks, was a Marine Captain that he didn't even remember at all. However, he could hear the man's words and they brought a smile to his face. He seemed like one of the good ones. His worries focused on his subordinates and protecting civilians. Markus shook his head and smiled before returning to his training.

The train ride took a couple of hours. By the time they picked up Sanji and 'Sogeking' (Usopp in a poor disguise), the sun of the dawn island Enies Lobby could be seen. Markus called an end to his training there and listened in on the plan. Paulie was giving what information he could, thanks to having visited Enies Lobby for rail repairs in the past. As they spoke, one of the members of Franky's Family spoke, "There are only sixty of us but there may be two or three thousand enemies. Strawhats! You guys should avoid any unnecessary fights and just focus on the CP9 bastards!"

Luffy looked determined, "Yeah! I got it!"

Markus jumped in, "Don't worry about the small fry. I'll handle all of them. That alright with you Captain?"

Luffy grinned, "Just leave that pigeon bastard to me!"

"You got it. They're not worth me making a move anyway."

His last comment drew ire from everyone else present. They didn't know anything about Markus's power and just thought he was being cocky. He let them think whatever they wanted. Soon they would know the truth. After yelling at Markus for a few moments, everyone heard Kokoro speaking, "Hey, guys, come take a look at the sky behind Enies Lobby!"

Everyone got up and looked out the windows. Markus gave a long whistle at what he saw. The island of Enies Lobby wasn't very big or impressive but what was behind it... Behind Enies Lobby was a gigantic double door. It towered into the sky higher than any giant could and stretched for what looked like miles. Kokoro grinned at everyone's awed reactions, "That's the 'Gate of Justice'!"

As they got closer, Luffy disappeared from everyone else's sight. Markus just shook his head with a smile as the chaos began to unfold. Luffy broke in and began to pummel people while asking where Robin was. The Franky Family's boat crashed over the fence and charged directly for the island's main gate to open it for Rocket Man. Markus chose to remain on the Rocket Man with the rest of his crew.

He watched the absolute chaos of the groups fighting near the gate and smiled. He paid close attention and planned to make a small statement when the time was right. He adjusted Kashu and The Devil's Flintlock on his hips and swapped out his favorite hoody for a lean black leather jacket. He didn't want his hoodie to get dirty or possibly damaged. He rolled his shoulders and grinned as everything was ready. Zoro moved to the top of the train, he was responsible for cutting open the fence for them.

However, things didn't go according to plan. The gates ended up closed so Zoro... improvised. Instead of slashing the fence, he ordered the giant front, Yokozuna, to push down the fence turning it into a ramp. Yokozuna had joined them during one of the time Markus was practicing. The train hit the fence at full speed and flew through the air.

"We're all gonna dieeeeeee!!!"

"Ehhhhhh?! We're going to die?!"

"Nami-swaaaan! Rush to my protective embrace!!"

"IDIOT! There's a huge pit behind that gate!!"

"Zoro did you even consider how we'll land?!"

Zoro crossed his arms over his chest with a very serious face, "Luck."

Markus threw his head back and laughed his ass off. He was the only one enjoying himself. His laughter only increased when Nami leaped at him and wrapped her arms and legs firmly around his body like a koala. This earned him a death-glare from Sanji who grit his teeth in rage. Markus just laughed harder while the train gave in to gravity and began to fall. Before the train could fly off the edge of the entrance, it crashed into the back of one of the giants meant to protect the island from intruders.

Markus pat Nami's back and peeled her off of himself before joining Zoro and Sanji outside of the train. Their appearance led to thunderous cheers from their allies. As the three of them stood their a nameless (not really but Markus didn't care) minion shouted, "Hey! I've heard of that swordsman! He's the Straw Hat's underling, 'Pirate Hunter Zoro'!!"

"Hehehe, they called you an 'underling'."

"That's still better than being nameless."

Markus interrupted them before they could get into a big fight, "Remember guys, the small fry are mine. Save your strength for the real enemies."

The two looked at Markus before slowly walking away to get out of the way. Markus had a vicious grin on his face as electricity began to spark off of his body. His sparkly show caught the attention of everyone nearby and drew focus away from the train where Nami and the others still were. Nami, from nearby the train, was using her updated Clima Tact and slowly building up a small cloud, "When heat bubbles mix with cool bubbles the water vapor in the air turns into a cloud! This Perfect Clima Tact is amazing! Both it's speed and power are totally different from before!" She turned to look at the marines, "Let's try it out on you guys with the power of thunder!"

Markus arched an eyebrow as he small cloud suddenly turned violent and unleashed indiscriminate bolts of yellow lightning on everyone nearby, friend or foe. Even herself. Markus just stood there and let the lightning bolts hit him. He tilted his head, "What a weird sensation."

He kept his sparks going while the rest recovered from Nami's friendly fire. Zoro was the first to speak, "I wonder where that idiot who rushed in first is?"

Nami looked concerned, "Dunno. This island isn't small. So, if we have to search..."

She was interrupted by a large explosion not too far away. Everyone looked in that direction, "We should start there!"

Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, and 'Sogeking' all took off in that direction. Markus didn't follow them and instead turned his attention to the Marines, "Time to play."

He took a deep breath before amping up the lightning coming off of his body. He spread his feet shoulder-width apart while raising his hands into the air. From the palms of his hands, lightning bolts emerged. He fired them over and over like a machine gun. Each bolt would fly into the air before curling into an arc and coming back down on the head of a marine. He focused on his Observation Haki and took out all of the marines near any of his allies. He wanted to free them from combat before he started using more indiscriminate attacks.

It took less than a minute for him to disable over two hundred marines and clear space between them and his allies. He slowly started to walk into the gap he'd created while the weaker marines were looking at him in fear. He decided to push that fear even higher. His eyes started to glow purple while small constant streams of electricity cracked at the corners of his eyes. No one moved as he walked into the gap and faced the small army of marines. Slowly, very slowly, his lips curled into a condescending smile, "Smallfry."

The comment seemed to infuriate the marines who could hear him, but none of them tried to charge at him. Markus spread his legs once more to shoulder width. He placed his arms so that his elbows were near his hips with his arms were at a 90-degree angle. He opened his fists so that his palms were facing up. Within his palms, he began to build power rapidly. What were small sparks at first rapidly became powerful bolts of lightning that struck the ground and ripped it up, "Try not to die little ones."

As the marines opened their mouths to yell at him, Markus threw both of his arms forward. From each hand, massive waves of electricity erupted in fan-shaped arcs that covered a wide area in front of him out to a hundred feet. The electricity started as thick streams at his palms but quickly branched out into hundreds of bolts that slammed into the marines. The bolts burned and electrocuted them. Some of the weaker marines died instantly but even the stronger ones fell down and wouldn't be able to get up for a long time.

The wave of electricity wasn't large enough to hit every marine but it cut a huge swath in them and took out at least half of the marines nearby. The remaining marines were shivering in fear. Even if they didn't know the name of his Devil Fruit, they knew he was using a Devil Fruit and that it was a powerful one. None of them knew how to deal with this new threat and Markus didn't plan to give them time to think about it.

He activated his footwork and dashed into the crowd seeming to disappear from their sight. Soon, peels of thunder rang out as lightning bolts began to rain down on the marines. Screams of pain and fear rang out as the bolts blasted through them. None of them could see where Markus was and none of them could tell who would be next to get hit. All they knew was fear and eventual pain. Markus didn't deliberately try to kill anyone but at the same time, he didn't hold back the strength of his blasts so plenty of people died to his lightning.

Within two minutes the entire crowd was defeated. Every marine that had come out to stop them from invading was laying on the ground either dead or severely wounded. Whichever group they happened to be in, all of them were scorched black with frizzy hair while covered in electrical burns. Markus didn't keep count but he felt like he'd already taken out at least a thousand marines in just a few short minutes. Honestly, him versus regular marines was just plain unfair, for them.

He looked over his shoulder at the people from the Franky Family and Galley-La, "I'll be moving on and taking out as many marines as I can find. Do whatever you want."

All of them stared at him as if he was some sort of demon. Markus just grinned brightly and started walking deeper into Enies Lobby. His Observation haki could cover the entire place, even in passive mode. As he walked, bolts of lightning would leap off of his body, fly through the air, and strike down marines. He didn't even need to see them. This whole place was now his domain and not one of the marines could escape his sight... Okay, one could but only him. Blueno and his Doa Doa no Mi could avoid his gaze by entering his pocket dimension.

He walked calmly for a while but his attitude soon changed. His eyes narrowed and he looked directly at where Spandam was. Currently, he was hurting Robin and Franky by kicking them repeatedly.

Rage.

His lightning suddenly started blasting faster, slamming into unsuspecting marines and killing most of them. If he didn't require Spandam to be alive to request the Buster Call, he would have moved to his location and killed him then and there. Honestly, if all of this wasn't necessary, he would have killed all of CP9 back on Water 7 and prevented any of this from happening. Just because he let it happen didn't mean he had to enjoy it. He buried his rage deep inside. He could unleash it all on Spandam later. He was the worst kind of human being. It had nothing to do with being a Marine or not. He was just pure scum. Scum that would soon be purged from the world.

Markus continued his walk and struck down any marines not taken out by the passage of Luffy and the others. His inability to completely hold back resulted in the deaths of many marines and the constant ringing of notifications in his ears. He ignored all of the notifications, even the ones about him leveling up. He could look all of that over later. Though having his Willpower refilled completely after those large attacks was a wonderful bonus.

He continued to grin, as long as he got a bit of experience from everyone he defeated, he would continue to level up and refill his Willpower. His system really was broken when it came to mass fights like this. He just wondered if it would be any use for the coming war. Who knew what level he would be at that point. Well, it didn't matter. Only death could keep him from growing stronger.