Chapter 8

Bonney curiously watched Markus. She'd never seen him look so serious, not even when he killed Blackbeard and the others or when fighting Aokiji. Well, it wasn't like she'd known him for very long either. She was curious about his claims about sensing the island and hearing people talking on it. She'd never heard of something like that. Another ability of his? The more she learned about him the more interesting he became and the more mysteries that appeared. She wanted to unravel every last one of them. To do that, she continued to watch him as he drove the boat directly to the island as if he knew exactly where he needed to go.

As they drew closer, she spotted a large pirate ship sporting a skull and crossbones with dog features. She wasn't familiar with the kind of dog but it had triangular ears sticking straight up while it's muzzle was soft brown on the sides and black on top. When they arrived at the dock, it appeared that the ship was empty. Not surprising. The men, and possibly women, onboard were likely on the island relaxing. Was that what upset him? It's not like pirates docking on an island to blow off steam was uncommon. Hell, it was more common than the Marines visiting on some islands.

After tying the boat to the dock, Markus went straight into the town. Bonney quietly followed behind him. She might be loud and rude to him most of the time but she would drop her attitude in a serious situation. It wouldn't be funny if she ended up dead or captured because she distracted him. Together, they went directly to the local bar. Just the loud racket coming from the bar was enough for anyone to know that rowdy pirates were in town.

Markus stepped up to the door and opened it without any hesitation. He could easily tell that no one inside of the bar was a match for him. He was pretty certain that even Bonney could take out everyone inside, except possibly the captain. Going from what he could sense, the captain likely held power from a Devil Fruit.

When the door opened, silence reigned. Every eye in the place locked onto Markus for a moment before they shifted to Bonney on his right. She was instantly subjected to looks of greed and desire. She frowned but didn't say anything. She was used to such looks, though it didn't mean she enjoyed them. Markus swept his eyes over the group of pirates calmly. There were at least thirty of them but none stood out or were worth mentioning.

When he was done observing the rabble, his gaze settled on the strongest man, their captain. He was a tall man, at least eight and a half feet tall. He wore a black leather jacket over a brown tank top, brown pants with black stripes running down the outside, and a captain's hat. The captain's beady black eyes locked onto Markus as they stared at each other. The captain was the first to speak, "You got some good taste, kid. Thanks for bringing us such a tasty treat. Rosco, kill him."

A short fat man let out a sigh as he climbed to his feet, "Aye aye, captain."

As the fatty walked over to Markus, he gave Markus a pitying look, "You should have just stayed home with your momma, kid. Or at least keep the beauty hidden!"

Markus's eyes shifted to Rosco to take a quick look at him. His entire body seemed to be round. Round stomach, round bald head, round ears, even his arms and legs looked rounded. He sort of reminded Markus of Lucky Roux, one of Shanks men. Especially when he pulled out a flintlock and aimed it at Markus. To them, Markus looked unarmed since he hadn't bothered putting on Shodai or the Devil. The difference between them was Lucky Roux looked jolly while this guy looked more like a pig.

Rosco aimed the flintlock at Markus while sporting a nasty grin. In his mind, Markus was frozen with fear from seeing the flintlock aimed in his direction. Bonney quietly watched and wondered what drew Markus to these losers. In her estimation, they were average at best. For obvious reasons, she wasn't the least bit worried about anything happening to Markus. If weaklings like this could threaten him then what did that make the Marines?

Markus sported a flat look on his face as Rosco slowly cocked the flintlock while the other pirates chuckled darkly. It seemed like he wanted to 'intimidate' Markus more while the others enjoyed the show, "See ya, kid."

Oh, how right he was. Markus flicked his finger and used Gravity Push to send Rosco flying across the bar. The fat man's body slammed into the thick wooden walls causing them to crack. Markus only needed minimal power to deal with such weaklings. Done dealing with Rosco, Markus turned his head back to face the still-unnamed captain while silence once again fell.

The captain looked a little surprised but soon his confidence was back. He spoke as if he was revealing some deep secret, "A power holder huh? No wonder you have the confidence to walk in here unarmed. But, kid, you should know you're not the only one to have a power!"

When he finished speaking, his body started to grow even larger. His muscles inflated while he took on a more animalistic appearance. Sharp triangular ears appeared on his head while his nose grew into a dog's muzzle. Black and brown fur covered his exposed arms, and likely the rest of his body. As his transformation finished, Markus recognized the breed of dog he'd changed into. The captain stood tall, "You should be proud, kid. You get to die at the hands of 'Mad Dog' Ruff, a man with a bounty of over fifty-five million Belly!"

Bonney wasn't impressed. Just a dog model Zoan and he was acting big? Yet, she became concerned when she noticed Markus's body begin to shake. Wait, was he afraid? He couldn't be afraid! Oh god. Did he have a fear of dogs or something stupid like that?! Why did powerful men have to have some sort of stupid quirk like that?! To her horror, Markus fell to the ground on his hands and knees while his body began to shake even more violently.

Ruff smirked as he looked down at the kneeling Markus. Seeing the once cocky kid on the ground cowering made him feel superior. This is how the whole world should treat him! His smirk grew when Markus placed his forehead on the floor and used his arms to hold his stomach. The kid was probably about to throw up from the fear he felt. Well, too bad! He was going to kill the kid and take the woman anyway! It didn't matter how much he groveled and begged for forgiveness!

Seeing Markus pressing his head to the floor gave Bonney a sinking feeling. She could handle the majority of the pirates with relative ease. She could also handle their captain, as long as she could get her hands on him. Zoan holders could be hard to deal with. Their powers gave them enhanced strength and speed which only grew stronger when they transformed. If he took her out before she could touch him she would be at the mercy of a pirate once more. She quickly began to formulate a plan to get out of the situation. Her mind worked rapidly until she heard a sound that brought it to a screeching halt.

Markus was... laughing.

Markus let go and laughed his ass off. Now, the captain 'Mad Dog' Ruff was clearly not a threat to him so even remotely thinking he was afraid was folly. As for his overreaction, and it was, he just couldn't take it. Ruff was so SERIOUS and PROUD about being called 'Mad Dog' while having the name Ruff and having a model of the Inu Inu no Mi. It was just too much when all put together. Hence, his current overreaction and laughter.

Ruff was instantly pissed off. His men paled seeing their captain angry. In their experience, nothing good happened when he got mad. It was how he earned his moniker, after all. They slowly and quietly moved further from there captain and made sure they wouldn't be in his path when he went on a rampage.

Matters didn't get better for Markus as Ruff literally growled at him. The deep rumbling sound sent Markus into a deeper fit of giggles. Even Bonney chuckled a little at the growling dog-man. All that did was infuriate Ruff even more. What was left of his human face turned bright red while veins bulged on his forehead, "I'm going to rip you two to shreds! Piss on your corpses! And feed you to the dogs!"

Markus couldn't handle the irony of a dog wanting to feed them to dogs. His laughter reached new heights while he slammed his hand into the floor of the bar. The entire building shook with every hit from his hand, over six hundred strength was no joke. While the other pirates noticed the oddity of the building shaking with each hit from Markus, Ruff was too far gone in his rage to notice anything.

Ruff charged at Markus using his full speed. He was intent on killing the laughing insect before him. Things didn't go as he expected though. Just as his claws were about to rip into him, the little twerp casually raised his hand. The next moment, Ruff's back slammed into the thick wall of the bar. The whole building shook while dust fell from the ceiling. Ruff groaned from the impact while Markus climbed back to his feet. After wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, Markus addressed Ruff, "Man, thanks for that. I really needed a good laugh. But, I'm not the one who isn't leaving here alive. It's all of you."

Without another word, the gravity around every member of Ruff's crew increased drastically. All of them collapsed to the floor and began groaning in pain. Their pain didn't last long. The gravity crushed their bones and organs, killing every last one of them. Ruff looked at Markus from his spot on the floor in horror. He wanted to escape, to run away, but his body wouldn't listen to him. All he managed to do was ask one question, "Why?"

"It's simple. I heard you talking about taking the prettiest women, strongest men, and cutest children captive so you could sell them as slaves in Sabaody. You crossed my bottom line." Markus glared down at Ruff as his eyes started to glow with electricity cracking at the edges, "If you'd just enjoyed yourselves and left, I wouldn't have bothered. But you just had to plan to perpetuate slavery. That was your crime. This is your punishment."

Markus instantly charged and fired a Lightning Blast at Ruff. The blast burned clear through his chest, destroying his heart, and continued through the wall and out into the wild. Ruff still had a look of indignation on his face as his body fell to the side and lay on the floor. Markus didn't pay any further attention to the people in the bar and left with Bonney right behind him.

They were instantly surrounded by the locals when they stepped out. One glance inside was all it took for the news of the pirates being dead spread like wildfire. Soon every local was happy with some even cheering and profusely thanking Markus for dealing with the 'pirate scum.' Markus originally intended to return to his journey but the clothing of the locals gave him pause.

Every person there was wearing what could only be described as thin clothing. The men all wore regular looking pants and long-sleeved shirts. The women wore either pants or ankle-length skirts and simple blouses. Despite the island being freezing cold, they dressed so lightly? With his curiosity peaked, Markus looked at the man that introduced himself as the mayor, Jacob, "Why is everyone wearing such thin clothing?"

Jacob looked extremely proud after Markus asked about their clothing, "You like it? There's a special animal on our island called a Wallumpus. It lives on the other side of the island in a large group. Every few years their group gets too large and they become violent in their efforts to expand their territory. To keep them in check we hunt them a bit. Some time ago, one of MY ancestors," He said 'my' with a lot of pride, "Found out that if you treat the thin layer of skin from a Wallumpus, it becomes like cloth but with much better insulating properties!"

Jacob held his arm up toward Markus encouraging him to touch his sleeve. Curious about the whole thing, Markus obliged. The 'cloth' of Jacob's clothing was thicker than normal cloth and had a sort of rubbery spring to it without being too stiff. It really felt like cloth and judging by the variety of outfits the locals wore, it was treated just like cloth as well. While Markus felt the material, Jacob continued, "Actually, it's almost time to hunt the Wallumpus once again. If you'd like, you could join us! We'd really appreciate the help. Though no one dies from the hunts, injuries aren't uncommon. With you around, we could do it and be perfectly safe!"

Markus tilted his head as he thought about it. He honestly just came to this island to take care of the pirates interested in slave trading. He wasn't entirely sure why but, he really despised slavery. Maybe a leftover fragment of morals from his previous life? In his memories, his world had slavery a long time ago but it had been abolished long before his education began. Well, either way, he would eventually put a complete end to slavery in this world. Ostensibly, it was already illegal but the Marines willingly looked the other way because the Celestial Dragons said to. Hypocrites.

After agreeing to help with the hunt tomorrow, the whole group made their way back to the docks. Markus and Bonney planned to stay at a local inn and needed some stuff from his boat. As they arrived, Jacob looked at the no ownerless pirate ship, "I wonder what we should do with the Ruff Riders' ship?"

Markus cackled, "Ruff Riders? So lame! I did the world a favor by getting rid of them!"

Still laughing to himself at the stupid name, Markus walked over to the pirate ship and stored it inside of his inventory with a flashy lightshow. Bonney was used to seeing him using his inventory so she was unsurprised. The townsfolk though, they all had their mouths hanging open. Jacob was the first to recover, "Where'd it go?!"

Markus smiled while shrugging his shoulders, "I made it vanish."

Jacob gave Markus a deadpan look, "Gee, I hadn't noticed that."

Markus didn't bother trying to explain in detail and just said two simple words, "Devil Fruit."

It was clearly enough as looks of understanding dawned on people's faces. If a human being ever did anything weird it was almost always a Devil Fruit power of some sort. People in the four seas might think that a Devil Fruit is a myth or legend, but the people of the Grand Line knew they were real. Too many pirates and Marines owned one for it to not be common knowledge that Devil Fruit's existed.

After Bonney and Markus collected their things, he stored his boat away as well. He didn't think the locals would steal it or do anything to it, but it was possible for someone else to appear. Better safe than sorry. From there, nothing really happened. Though, Markus did get the stink eye from the person running the inn when he provided food for Bonney. To make it up to the old lady, he ordered enough food for three people and ate it all himself. He had to use Semei Kikan to instantly digest it all but the old lady approved.

Bonney seemed rather happy to have a room all to herself. Alone in his room, Markus opened his inventory and browsed through his items. He'd been collecting items for a while and hadn't done anything with them. He had over twenty Pacifita bodies, a marine ship, and other miscellaneous things. While he contemplated what he wanted to do, he fed some greens to his little black Den Den Mushi. He hadn't heard any calls through it and was starting to think it was useless. Still, it was cute and didn't hinder him in any way. Though, he was honestly curious about it being able to transform along with him when he became lightning.

He knew that had nothing to do with his system. Kizaru had a black Den Den Mushi as well and took it with him when he transformed into light. Maybe it was a special feature of the species? Or maybe something about Logia's in general? He wasn't sure but he did find it rather intriguing. Well, it didn't matter. To pass some time and level his Crafting skill, he selected a Pacifista and set it up for deconstruction. He got them for the materials, it was time to collect them. To his surprise, it would take twelve hours to disassemble the Pacifista! He shook his head and set four more into his queue. It would take two and a half days for all five to finish.

He speculated that he would gather some excellent materials from the disassembled Pacifita's. By normal standards, they were pretty powerful. Their bodies were tough and durable while their offensive abilities were on par with Kizaru. Vegapunk really was a genius and someone Markus would have to find and probably destroy. Once the good Doctor learned about how Markus defeated the Pacifista, he would likely design and implement countermeasures into the next models. Not that it would do much good when Markus just crushed them with gravity.

With his crafting queue filled, Markus closed his eyes and entered his image training. He wanted to work on trying to get the last little bit he needed for his Observation and Armament Haki. His Dominator's Haki level was too low, for now, to worry about. He never used it anyway. He had those legendary skill books sitting around and wanted to use them. His lips curled into a smile. He had a tricky plan in mind. Once he mastered the legendary versions, he would pick one and use his Skill Upgrade Token on it. What was beyond the legendary level? He was dying to know!