Chapter 127: Round One (2)

Within a day, nature witnessed the burst of black sparks countless times.

The sea below wildly churned. The sky above revealed nothing but a clear blue, with clouds having completely been demolished from the impact alone. The buildings and constructs on Dressrosa crumbled down, unable to withstand the incoming force.

The black spark rose as Kaidou's kanabo, Hassaikai, and Smoker's smoke-made white bat clashed yet again. It was unknown for how long they had been fighting, but one thing was for sure: none of the two were yet exhausted or injured.

"WORORORO!!"

Kaidou spun kanabo in his grip as he landed on Dressrosa with his feet. Laughing boisterously, his eyes were swirling in a thick lust for blood.

Then, Smoker dropped directly onto Kaidou, and the flash of black spark arose once more.

Dressrosa's earth quaked. The remnants of fallen buildings bounced, cracked, and were reduced to dust as the strong wind blew off from the center of the island.

And finally, the clash ended with Smoker and Kaidou getting knocked back from one another's strike. As they stood far away from each other, Kaidou tightened his grip over kanabo in excitement.

"It doesn't take long for me to know... that you are a warrior like I am, White Hunter. Though you try not to admit it, in your heart, fighting is what makes you more excited than anything else—just like me!"

Smoker, who stood too far away from Kaidou to listen to what the latter was saying, readied himself for his next attack.

'There is no guarantee that Beast Pirates will stay still as I continue fighting Kaidou. The kingdoms of Prodence, Meliana, and Vastrode may experience a second invasion. Though Maynard is in Meliana, the safety of the other two kingdoms cannot be guaranteed. Time isn't on my side.'

Seeing Smoker's movement, Kaidou too lowered his form, about to blast himself from the ground he was standing on top of.

"Fear. Fear of dying a worthless death haunted my mind. However, standing in front of you..."

Kaidou grinned as he blasted himself toward Smoker,

"I came to think... of how trivial those thoughts were!!!"

Smoker and Kaidou's eyes read the future. Their Observation Haki was on par, and they knew that an attempt to evade each other's attack through the use of Observation Haki wouldn't work.

Kaidou, as he towered over Smoker with his gigantic height, swung his kanabo downward.

The weapons clashed, which generated a flash of black lightning.

"Kundali..."

The clash was just the beginning. Kaidou's kanabo moved at an incredible speed, bombarding Smoker with Conqueror's Haki-infused strikes from all directions.

"Dragon Swarm!!"

The surroundings seemed to slow down in Smoker's view as countless strikes came flying in from all sides. In this state, Smoker's entire body was wrapped around by his Armament Haki.

"Black Out."

Then occurred, the sudden swarm of black smoke with Smoker in the center. Kaidou was momentarily caught off guard by the abrupt darkness before the entirety of the black smoke was set on fire and exploded magnificently—which effectively repelled Kaidou's attacks away from Smoker.

Kaidou, whose entire body was now encased in Armament Haki, grinned as he twisted his body to swing kanabo at his back.

Along with the explosive noise, Smoker's fist and Kaidou's kanabo found themselves in a power struggle—though they weren't in direct contact.

Once more, the black sparks zapped throughout the area. From the sheer force alone, the entire body of smoke that surrounded them swirled wildly.

Somehow, Kaidou seemed to be capable of neglecting the smoke that surrounded him. The scarce air that remained was enough for him to function; he truly was the Strongest Creature in the World.

As the clash came to an end, Kaidou's body instantly morphed into a gigantic azure dragon and soared out of the smoke.

"Let's see if you can handle this..."

Under Smoker's watch, Kaidou in his dragon form spun rapidly.

"Dragon Twister!"

The wind began to pick up, and eventually, several tornados were generated at Dressrosa, destroying whatever it lied in their paths.

In response, the mass of smoke transformed into similar-sized tornados of smoke that swirled around Smoker.

"Black Storm."

Then, said smoke tornadoes simultaneously caught on fire. In their blazing state, they directly clashed against Kaidou's tornadoes and exploded altogether.

During this occasion, Kaidou was flying at a sky high above Smoker. His mouth opened, and a scorching-hot fire began to concentrate in front of it.

"Blast Breath!!"

Smoker already had a swirling ball of white smoke prepared on his hand. He, in response to the incoming blast of fire, proceeded to throw the ball.

"White Blast."

The blast of fire met the blast of smoke in the middle. This smoke, possessing the characteristic that was closer to 'steam' than smoke, didn't combust into the fire, but rather, combatted the fire as if it was the fire extinguishing agent.

The specks of fire and smoke splattered everywhere as the collision continued. The sky was filled with red and grey, which showcased an unreal view that was sufficient enough to be called a calamity.

From the mix of fire and smoke, Smoker captured Kaidou's silhouette as both his 'White Blast' and Kaidou's 'Blast Breath' came to an end.

Then, said silhouette began to get larger and larger, which indicated that Kaidou was descending right on where Smoker stood—before the silhouette abruptly disappeared.

"Conqueror of Three Worlds,"

From the smoke, Kaidou, whose human-like body was now covered in the blue scales of the azure dragon, laughed as he slammed his kanabo straight on where Smoker stood.

'Seimei Kikan: Steampunk.'

Smoker's body began to release white steam as he breathed in and out. The physical capability of his body increased by several folds, and the muscles on his body seemed to have inflated slightly.

Locking his eyes onto Kaidou, Smoker raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist.

"White,"

All smoke in the surroundings, within a split second, swirled into his fist. This happened way too quick, such that it appeared as if the space itself was being distorted around his fist.

His fist itself glowed in bright light as the incredibly dense smoke from within collided and generated an incomprehensible amount of energy.

In that state, Smoker jumped up and met Kaidou's kanabo with his fist.

"RAGNARAKU!!" / "Galaxy!"

There was an explosion unlike any other. Huge enough to consume half of Dressrosa, the clash between two unfathomable strikes generated destruction that not only ground the land into a plain but also generated a huge recoil that caused two conquerors to be blasted away in the opposite direction.

A dome of bright explosions consumed the island. Then, there was rumbling, followed by giant waves of the sea that rippled out centering Dressrosa.

As for Smoker, he found his body being flown out of Dressrosa before he could control himself. By the time he registered, he found his body embedded deep in the ground.

Spitting blood out of his mouth, Smoker stood up without an ounce of pain and jumped his way out of the crater he generated.

"...Where am I?"

Smoker, looking around his surroundings plainly, blinked his eyes.

"How the fuck—"

Without concluding the fight against Kaidou, Smoker found himself flown all the way to... a mysterious island he'd never come across.

Simply put, he was lost.

...

Smoker wasn't the only one who was lost in the middle of nowhere. 

"WHITE HUNTER!!! SHOW YOURSELF!!!"

Kaidou, flying in the middle of the sky where nothing but a vast sea was seen, screamed Smoker's title over and over.

__________

"Xebec."

Standing outside the flagship of Blackbeard Pirates, Ochoku spoke.

"So far, everything has gone smoothly. Starting from your 'acting' as Marshall D. Teach, joining Whitebeard Pirates, attaining Dark Dark fruit, and finding us once more to restore the Rocks Pirates. Newgate has been defeated, and now, it's Linlin. If we were to gain control of the three-eye tribe member, as well as gain the final Road Poneglyph, we truly would be ready to sail for One Piece."

Behind Ochoku was Blackbeard who drank endlessly as he looked at the setting sun.

"I wanted to ask... was everything planned from the very start?"

"Plan everything? Zehahaha... you speak as if I'm a god, Ochoku."

"Are you not?"

Blackbeard grinned.

"Not yet."

Lifting his mug filled with alcohol, Blackbeard completely emptied it.

"Why do you believe I let Newgate and Linlin in my crew, Ochoku, when I knew that their loyalties don't belong to me?"

"I simply thought that you recruited them because of their strength."

"Zehahaha! If that was all they had to offer, I would've fought them instead. Rather, the true reason why I had them in my crew... was to have them under my grasp at all times. It was because... their devil fruits, Tremor Tremor fruit and Soul Soul fruit, were far too valuable."

Ochoku's eyes sharpened as he understood Blackbeard's intention.

"Then, our travel to Tottoland is..."

'Not only to snatch that three-eyed man from Linlin, but also...'

Ochoku felt himself grinning madly in anticipation.

This was, and is Rocks D. Xebec, the one and only captain whom he would serve. Xebec, the man full of ambition, the man who will lead them into the new world—the world that all pirates have been dreaming of.

The sun disappeared behind the horizon, and the sky has darkened substantially. Blackbeard's eyes seemed to glow in crimson as his grin became wilder.

"Those who carry D in their name don't understand the true meaning of it. Dawn? Destiny? Devil? Those words aren't enough to convey the symbolism behind D. No, D is the symbol of our dream, the idea that the Ancient Kingdom of the past sought to achieve.

The Absolute Freedom that is, zehahaha!"

The freedom that was to be bestowed unto the entire world... for the sake of one man's ambition: the king of the Ancient Kingdom, Rocks D. Zachs.

Ochoku found his hands shaking in excitement. Gulping, he asked one final question.

"Then... just what is One Piece...? Just what is it that you require it for the achievement of your dream?"

"One Piece, eh."

Blackbeard, no, Rocks D. Xebec, chuckled as he stared at his palm.

"Wealth, fame, and power—all will be attained if you were to find One Piece, the treasure that no one knows if it exists even... with the exclusion of the remaining members of Roger Pirates, and me, that is."

Xebec clenched his hand tight as if trying to snatch something greedily.

"There is a saying that was passed down within those who carry the surname of Rocks. One Piece... it is the key. The final piece that is required to activate Joyboy's plan that was placed to a halt because of one mistake by an idiotic elephant.

That elephant's mission was simple; to deliver one of the three Ancient Weapons, Uranus, to the Kingdom of black-feathered tribe. However, the elephant's forgotten that their old land was taken over by 20 opposing Kingdoms, and ended up giving Uranus to the enemies.

This, was the reason why Joyboy's plan was unable to proceed."

Xebec re-opened his palm. Letting his arm drop by the side, he saw that a moon was now rising.

"Thus, One Piece is something, something that activates the Ancient Weapons. The Ancient Weapons, with the exclusion of Poseidon, are the machine constructs that have high demands for energy to function. Then, isn't the answer simple?"

Xebec's eyes gleamed in certitude.

"One Piece... is a source of energy!"