Fear Out of Fear of Loss

"Kairoseki? How is that possible? I haven't lost my stamina at all..." said Adkin without thinking, suddenly stiffened, "I can't use my powers, but why do I retain my physical strength?"

As the words fell out, the Marine and a few of the remaining royal family's abilities user spoke up, "No good. I can't use my abilities, either!"

"Hehe! That's the strange effect of the Kairoseki powder. It won't be able to cripple the power user while disabling the abilities like a Kairoseki stone." Felix's ambitious voice came from underneath the mask, which was specially made to prevent Kairoseki dust from being inhaled.

"But for people who rely on their abilities, what can they do with all that physical energy they retain after losing their abilities? This feature, in turn, adds a hint of secrecy to its ability to be effective."

"I'm a little surprised, to say the least, but Kairoseki is a substance harder than diamonds, and the Kingdom of Alabasta has a process of grinding it into powder..."

"That will disappoint you. We do not have that kind of craft in our kingdom; this is merely a treasure handed down from the royal family." King Alabasta looked at Felix with hatred etched in his bones and mocked him.

Felix also doesn't care, "Whatever, anyway, all I need is those Kairoseki powders from your collection, with this treasure, even if I encounter those unbeatable monsters after marching into the New World, I still have the cards to fight back from defeat."

Longinus said in his mind, "The memories of that foreign soul mentioned that the Wano Country was the country with the world's top craft of processing Kairoseki into a fine creation like a nail, and the Kozuki clan was even able to inscribe Poneglyph on indestructible stone tablets."

"And in connection with the identity of the Ancient Twenty Kings of the Nefertari clan, and the stone tablet in the royal tomb that records Poneglyph, perhaps these Kairoseki powders were the treasures given to the Nefertari clan by the Kozuki clan at that time?"

The atmosphere in the palace was somewhat grave for a moment, Felix then spoke out: "Originally I did not want to damage your marine face, but unfortunately your marine bullying too much, destroyed my slave trade not to mention, even killed all of my subordinates without leaving a single one behind, making the power of my Dark Night Arbiter Felix become a laughing stock in this sea, you tell me, what should I do? What about disposing of these arrogant marines?"

"Hang them, hang them!" The pirates who followed Felix made a stir.

"I do have an idea, didn't they ruin my slave trade? Then let them have a taste of slavery themselves, and let these high royals and marines become lowly slaves, and is there anything more exciting in the world than that?"

The Marines and the three royal families were all pale, and becoming a slave was crueller than death to them.

And King Azka screamed at the top of his lungs, "Captain Felix, they must not be allowed to leave alive, and if they reveal what happened tonight, I'll be all screwed!"

"Are you telling me how to do my job?" Felix said in an offended tone.

"No...no, that's not what I meant..."

"Hahahahaha! You didn't think karma would come so soon, did you? I told you before, these vile pirates..." the King of Alabasta laughed maniacally, and then a glance from Felix showed that his body exploded like a bomb, splitting apart and bursting with blood.

"Ah! A dead man!"

Although the situation in the palace was deadlocked, there had been no deaths, giving the illusion of false peace. Still, King Alabasta's horrific death opened the shackle of fear in the hearts of the people, causing instant turmoil and even spreading the smells of bloody dryness in the palace.

"Father, Father..." the Cobra's mind wandered as he murmured, then looked at Felix in the corner of his eyes, "I'll kill you, you damned pirate!"

Alabasta's nobleman hurriedly held Cobra down, "Your Highness, don't be impulsive, the enemy is a Great Sea Pirate that we can't fight if you rush in... who else will come to save Alabasta?"

Felix gave Cobra a disdainful glance and said without a care in the world, "The bark of a defeated dog!"

"Is that what you're capable? Fear?" Longinus stood up and asked.

Felix looked stunned, then narrowed his eyes and said, "You're the Marine who sabotaged my slave trade? How dare you have the courage to stand in front of me..."

"Are you trying to change the subject?" Longinus asked with a gentle smile on his lips.

Felix's eyes glazed over, "I don't know what you're talking about, as the Arbiter of the Night, I can magnify my abilities infinitely at fear. my every word and every glance can be the judge of the Law, do you want to taste death now?"

"I don't have any fear in my heart right now, are you sure you want to try? It will then be a small matter to break the image of invincibility in the hearts of your men. If you destroy the seeds of fear that you have deliberately planted in everyone's minds, it will make the series of actions you have taken since you came in useless."

Felix took a deep breath and stopped talking.

Longinus, on the other hand, continued, "You have been creating an image of yourself as powerful and mysterious from the very beginning. You have been doing so since you went to the sea. Even going so far as to hide in the darkness all day long. The auctioning of slaves and eye killings you mentioned just now are also meant to amplify..."

"Enough! Shut the fuck up!"

Felix stretched his abilities to the limit while exploding. However, Longinus was unimpressed, as if a breeze was blowing across the heights.

"How is it possible that as long as we are human, we have fear, fear of power, fear of failure, fear of death, why do you have even a hint of fear?" Felix shouted incredulously, like that King of Alabasta who had induced his heart to burst with fear only because of his fear of power loss, but he couldn't even perceive half a bit of Fear in that Marine, was this guy human?

The words were also heard in the palace, and there was an uproar.

"Surprisingly, it is an ability related to fear. Ensign Longinus is worthy of being a marine hero; he can maintain extreme calm in such a situation!"

"Are you kidding me, the ability to die if there's fear is too baffling, right? I can't be as fearless as Ensign Longinus, and I'm going to die later?"

"Idiot, this perverted ability must have horrible limitations or consumption, that Felix doesn't have the leisure to deal with little people like you."

"Without any fear, is this the real Marines?"

"Is there a certain similarity fruit ability with BIG-MOM?" Longinus's mind speculated while his body took a step closer to Felix, "Fear, because of the fear of losing, but I never think I will fail, and if I always stand victorious...I will never lose."

Published in Qidian, February 28, 2019