Having transferred back over to his own ship, Bill and several of his disguised men watched as they neared Merveille and the thoughts running through each of their minds was that calling this place the ‘Hidden Land in the Clouds’ was a great understatement.
‘More like the hidden continent in the clouds…’ Bill thought with a grimace, and though his confidence in himself never wavered, he did reassess how powerful Shiki must be in order to exert his ability over such a vast stretch of territory.
The islands in the sky ahead of them were absolutely beautiful. Many of them had floating seas with the bluest blue water that Bill had ever seen in either of his lives.
This spectacular shimmering blue spectacle was equaled in beauty to the vast waterfalls coming off other islands that created vibrant kilometers-spanning rainbows, tall snowy mountain peaks, and lively jungles that could be seen at even a far distance away.
“When I was little.” Bill started to talk, and despite the incredible scene in front of them, the men turned to look at him: “I had a very good teacher, and she told me and my little friends that in the South Blue there existed an island that spawned every kind of food you could possibly imagine. Rolls of bread, steaks of all kinds, filleted fish, chocolate candies, you name the food, and she claimed that the island produced it.”
Still looking at the island, Bill paused for a moment so long that had he waited another second he would have lost his audience.
“She told us, that this island produced such wonderful foods for one simple reason.” And pausing again, but not as long this time, Bill continued: “Because that island was a predator.”
Now turning to his crew, Bill spoke: “It’s known as [Boin Archipelago], it’s a real place, but that’s not the point.” Then looking back at the floating islands, he declared: “The point that she made to us kids back then was that the more fantastic the island, the more spectacular the ritual, the more that something stirs the human mind, then the more dangerous that something likely is.”
Lifting his arm and gesturing to the paradise in front of them, Bill finished by saying: “I’ve seen many wonderful things in my time, yet maybe nothing as wonderful as this… but don’t forget what is happening in the East Blue, or where those monsters come from.
These islands hold secrets as evil as they are beautiful. Do not forget it.”
Getting nods from all the men on the deck, they still looked at the floating islands in wonder, but it was now measured with a stern realization about what their duty here was.
After a while, the Island Ship and Amigo Submarine began to ascend higher and higher above the archipelago and towards the largest of floating islands. Secretly sending messages to his people in the hold, Bill waited on the submarine’s deck and continued to look down.
They were dangerously high up, even for his nigh-indestructible body a fall from this height would pose a serious risk.
Running various scenarios through his mind as they crossed over several islands, Bill was suddenly aware of two small objects flying in their direction, and upon closer inspection he saw who it was.
‘Shiki!’
And flying beside the older pirate was a blue haired clown, one who Bill immediately remembered seeing years ago during the shipwreck incident with Captain Hina.
Due to the assumption that he was still undercover, Bill waited for the two pirates to land and was further satisfied when he used [Thought Reading] and discovered they were only thinking about Boss.
“Aye, Senor!” he said, sounding exactly like Largo.
Of course, Bill looked nothing like the Amigo Pirate captain, but he had gambled that Shiki – who was known for not caring much for his subordinates – would have only recognized the man from Snail communications.
If by using [Thought Reading] Bill learned Shiki had recognized him as an imposter when they met, he would have just immediately attacked the former rival of Gold Roger.
Though he believed he would subdue Shiki, he was thankful that wasn’t the case since what Bill wanted was to trap the bulk of the flying pirates pirate armada before they started to take part in the attacks across the East Blue.
“Jihahahaha!”
Starting his reply with a laugh, Shiki said what Bill knew he was thinking about: “Captain! Bring out the EvoBeetle! Dr. Indigo wishes to examine it right away!”
Answering with another ‘Aye!’, Bill ordered his men to stand on either side of the submarine deck, where an outwards-facing hatch opened slowly, revealing Boss within. The blue beetle had grown twice in size since Bill had met it years ago. If before it was the same size as its namesake vehicle, now he was as large as a big truck.
“How Quaint! Outstanding! Fascinating! piro piro piro piro!"
As Dr. Indigo started to inspect Boss, he claimed that this was a never-before-seen direction in ‘Flame Beetle’ evolution. Nodding along to this, Bill interrupted by saying: “Senor, you’s given us a task, and me and my amigos see it done.”
After he said this, Dr. Indigo took a vial from his coat sleeve and Shiki answered: “Yes, you did good bringing us back our specimen, thank you for the help, Marine!”
Suddenly reading different thoughts than what he had come with, before Bill could react, Dr. Indigo splashed Boss with the liquid and Boss’s eyes turned red.
Laughing with a ‘Jihahaha!’ Shiki continued to say: “To be so close to your goal, and to realize you’ve failed, how much despair!”
Lifting his hand up, Dr. Indigo floated off the deck followed obediently by Boss, and Shiki looked at Bill savagely: “Did you really think I couldn’t tell what happened to Largo, that fool?!
Oh, but how did you buy it hook, line, and sinker! Jihahaha”
Seeing Boss flying away, Yoko, who must had been watching from inside ran on the deck calling for him to come back followed by dozens of Mink Marines.
“Oh, there are more of you?! Well, no matter! All you’ll offer is a good feast for the beasts below!” Lifting his other hand, Shiki caused the floating submarine to come to a stop and point upward.
For Bill, this was already more than enough and kicking off the air he instinctively yelled: “SEISMIC PUNCH!”
But with some of his attention on his men who were falling, with some of his attention on the others barely holding on, with some of his attention on the men still left inside the submarine, and Shiki’s incredible agility, Bill’s powerful fist just barely missed.
With the punch landing on nothing but open air, Shiki naturally disregarded Bill by delivering two quick slashes on the Marines side and used his power to make the submarine spin like a top before completely cutting his power away.
‘You motherless!’ cursing Shiki under his breath, Bill ignored it as the two slashes bit into him and cartwheeled in midair, delivering a kick to Shiki’s midsection strong enough to fling the surprised flying pirate in the distance and then turned to see scores of his people flying off in different directions.
With his mind racing, this scenario was the exact one he feared most as he rushed towards the men that he knew wouldn’t survive the fall.
Due to personnel limitations, though each person he had brought was a trained Special Operator, Bill hadn’t enough of his elite Beetleborgs at hand to bring with him. The weaker individuals were one drawback to this, but far more concerning was that the Special Operators were not equipped with Pulse equipment.
Because they couldn’t slow down their fall, Bill zig zagged through the air tossing one person after another towards the falling submarine. Yoko, Masterson, Toma, the Minks, and several others were directly ignored since Bill knew that if nothing else, they could survive until he found them.
It was a hard choice to make, but it was made in a split second and there was no time to reconsider when after throwing the 30th Marine towards the submarines deck, Bill made way to get underneath the falling vessel.
Stabilizing it in one second, he began using Moon Step to his greatest extent, and would have cleanly saved the ship had Shiki not made his way back at the worst possible time.
“Jihahaha! You think you’ve saved them!? You damn Marines are pathetic!”
Moving at a speed that would have been hard to follow for Bill even at his best, Shiki sent a flurry of slashes through the air – cutting his Amigo disguise into nothing but tatters and disrupting his technique enough that Bill no longer had the position to carry the submarines he was lifting over his shoulders.
Falling at a pace too quick to do anything else, Bill trusted his body and gave one final kick before he hit the ground – with the submarine landing directly on top of him.
Seeing no movement coming from the surprising Marine and thinking that the Marine leader must be dead from such a fall, Shiki gave another cynical laugh as he watched the Special Operators crawl onto the ground before flying away with Dr. Indigo and a red-eyed Boss in tow.
While Bill had been doing everything that he could to save the others, Masterson had prioritized the survival of himself and those directly near him.
Flung far off to the side, he first oriented himself and saw that reasonably he could only make it to a few people who happened to be flung in his direction.
Having been an Instructor for years, he was more or less familiar with each of the Marine 6 Powers and despite not having mastered a single one, he could use Moon Step well enough to grab Toma, Rapanui, and Carrot and slow their fall enough before they hit snowy covered mountain slope.
Far on the other side of the expanse where they had been thrown, Yoko watched Boss fly away as she dropped.
The sixteen-year-old girl had spent most of her life with the beetle, who along with Bill was her only family left since her father had been killed.
Swearing that she’d go rescue him, she looked around and saw two dozen of her crew nearby. Inspired by Bill all those years ago, Yoko had long since practiced Moon Step to an experience level.
Though obviously not to extent of Bill, who had probably mastered Moon Step beyond anyone in the world, she skipped through the air and grabbed one monkey Mink after another until eventually she was struggling to pull up 32 of her subordinates.
Looking like a long chain, each Mink held the next with their long arms and they fell in a more or less controlled manner into a jungle canopy. To the credit of her crew, the girl never hit the ground as the bottom most Mink grabbed a branch and the chain of black and brown fur reversed itself.
Being dropped a few feet off the ground, Yoko landed on her feet. Legs sore but otherwise fine, looking around as her troop fell beside her one by one, she pulled the spear off her back and said without looking back: “You all heard Bill before, this is where the monsters attacking the East Blue come from.
We’ll start here and hunt our way back up, we’ll show the- “Wa-hu!”
Cut off mid-sentence, Yoko watched as one red faced baboon after another landed on the trees surrounding her and the Marine [Howler Monkey Minks] behind her.
They were tall, stood on two legs, and carried an assortment of martial weapons ranging from nunchakus to sickles.
Whereas before she looked grim, still thinking about Boss, seeing the display in front of her touched a cord that she didn’t know she had. Her irritation was pushed over the limit as one golden striped baboon stepped forward and started shouting ‘wa-hu’ and ‘oh-wah’.
Listening to the baboon for several seconds, Yoko showed her teeth for the first time in years, sneering: “You, a King?! How arrogant! And you call these your Monkey Troopers? Hohahaha!” so offended that she started laughing, the Minks behind her were no different, and to answer the challenge, 32 Howler Monkeys bellowed a war cry – starting a battle that would rage until only [Sovereign] remained.
This dramatic scene was only one of dozens happening at that very moment as the [Hidden Land in the Clouds] continuously evolved.
For every change in the local hegemony, more beasts were being born and changing in ways to counter or become more powerful than the last.
This was Shiki’s dream, his brutal desire to create a [Strong World].
After nearly 15 minutes of when the submarine crashed beside a giant lake, the ground underneath shifted, and a large human hand burst through.
UberNuber If you enjoy the fanfic,hit the heart icon and consider leaving a rating!
Also, I hope this isn't confusing but although Bill is suppressing Yoko's devil fruit he isn't completely negating it (if he negated her soul, she would physically alive but mentally dead). He's making sure there is balance between her Soul and her Ego. This means that while she can't use her full array of abilities, naturally, the Monkey King fruit does affect her in some way. One of those ways, as seen here, she can understand monkey language.
Merveille
Spoiler [collapse] Spoiler [collapse]Normal Flame Beetle vs Boss
Spoiler [collapse] Spoiler [collapse]Monkey Trooper
Spoiler [collapse]
Having transferred back over to his own ship, Bill and several of his disguised men watched as they neared Merveille and the thoughts running through each of their minds was that calling this place the ‘Hidden Land in the Clouds’ was a great understatement.
‘More like the hidden continent in the clouds…’ Bill thought with a grimace, and though his confidence in himself never wavered, he did reassess how powerful Shiki must be in order to exert his ability over such a vast stretch of territory.
The islands in the sky ahead of them were absolutely beautiful. Many of them had floating seas with the bluest blue water that Bill had ever seen in either of his lives.
This spectacular shimmering blue spectacle was equaled in beauty to the vast waterfalls coming off other islands that created vibrant kilometers-spanning rainbows, tall snowy mountain peaks, and lively jungles that could be seen at even a far distance away.
“When I was little.” Bill started to talk, and despite the incredible scene in front of them, the men turned to look at him: “I had a very good teacher, and she told me and my little friends that in the South Blue there existed an island that spawned every kind of food you could possibly imagine. Rolls of bread, steaks of all kinds, filleted fish, chocolate candies, you name the food, and she claimed that the island produced it.”
Still looking at the island, Bill paused for a moment so long that had he waited another second he would have lost his audience.
“She told us, that this island produced such wonderful foods for one simple reason.” And pausing again, but not as long this time, Bill continued: “Because that island was a predator.”
Now turning to his crew, Bill spoke: “It’s known as [Boin Archipelago], it’s a real place, but that’s not the point.” Then looking back at the floating islands, he declared: “The point that she made to us kids back then was that the more fantastic the island, the more spectacular the ritual, the more that something stirs the human mind, then the more dangerous that something likely is.”
Lifting his arm and gesturing to the paradise in front of them, Bill finished by saying: “I’ve seen many wonderful things in my time, yet maybe nothing as wonderful as this… but don’t forget what is happening in the East Blue, or where those monsters come from.
These islands hold secrets as evil as they are beautiful. Do not forget it.”
Getting nods from all the men on the deck, they still looked at the floating islands in wonder, but it was now measured with a stern realization about what their duty here was.
After a while, the Island Ship and Amigo Submarine began to ascend higher and higher above the archipelago and towards the largest of floating islands. Secretly sending messages to his people in the hold, Bill waited on the submarine’s deck and continued to look down.
They were dangerously high up, even for his nigh-indestructible body a fall from this height would pose a serious risk.
Running various scenarios through his mind as they crossed over several islands, Bill was suddenly aware of two small objects flying in their direction, and upon closer inspection he saw who it was.
‘Shiki!’
And flying beside the older pirate was a blue haired clown, one who Bill immediately remembered seeing years ago during the shipwreck incident with Captain Hina.
Due to the assumption that he was still undercover, Bill waited for the two pirates to land and was further satisfied when he used [Thought Reading] and discovered they were only thinking about Boss.
“Aye, Senor!” he said, sounding exactly like Largo.
Of course, Bill looked nothing like the Amigo Pirate captain, but he had gambled that Shiki – who was known for not caring much for his subordinates – would have only recognized the man from Snail communications.
If by using [Thought Reading] Bill learned Shiki had recognized him as an imposter when they met, he would have just immediately attacked the former rival of Gold Roger.
Though he believed he would subdue Shiki, he was thankful that wasn’t the case since what Bill wanted was to trap the bulk of the flying pirates pirate armada before they started to take part in the attacks across the East Blue.
“Jihahahaha!”
Starting his reply with a laugh, Shiki said what Bill knew he was thinking about: “Captain! Bring out the EvoBeetle! Dr. Indigo wishes to examine it right away!”
Answering with another ‘Aye!’, Bill ordered his men to stand on either side of the submarine deck, where an outwards-facing hatch opened slowly, revealing Boss within. The blue beetle had grown twice in size since Bill had met it years ago. If before it was the same size as its namesake vehicle, now he was as large as a big truck.
“How Quaint! Outstanding! Fascinating! piro piro piro piro!"
As Dr. Indigo started to inspect Boss, he claimed that this was a never-before-seen direction in ‘Flame Beetle’ evolution. Nodding along to this, Bill interrupted by saying: “Senor, you’s given us a task, and me and my amigos see it done.”
After he said this, Dr. Indigo took a vial from his coat sleeve and Shiki answered: “Yes, you did good bringing us back our specimen, thank you for the help, Marine!”
Suddenly reading different thoughts than what he had come with, before Bill could react, Dr. Indigo splashed Boss with the liquid and Boss’s eyes turned red.
Laughing with a ‘Jihahaha!’ Shiki continued to say: “To be so close to your goal, and to realize you’ve failed, how much despair!”
Lifting his hand up, Dr. Indigo floated off the deck followed obediently by Boss, and Shiki looked at Bill savagely: “Did you really think I couldn’t tell what happened to Largo, that fool?!
Oh, but how did you buy it hook, line, and sinker! Jihahaha”
Seeing Boss flying away, Yoko, who must had been watching from inside ran on the deck calling for him to come back followed by dozens of Mink Marines.
“Oh, there are more of you?! Well, no matter! All you’ll offer is a good feast for the beasts below!” Lifting his other hand, Shiki caused the floating submarine to come to a stop and point upward.
For Bill, this was already more than enough and kicking off the air he instinctively yelled: “SEISMIC PUNCH!”
But with some of his attention on his men who were falling, with some of his attention on the others barely holding on, with some of his attention on the men still left inside the submarine, and Shiki’s incredible agility, Bill’s powerful fist just barely missed.
With the punch landing on nothing but open air, Shiki naturally disregarded Bill by delivering two quick slashes on the Marines side and used his power to make the submarine spin like a top before completely cutting his power away.
‘You motherless!’ cursing Shiki under his breath, Bill ignored it as the two slashes bit into him and cartwheeled in midair, delivering a kick to Shiki’s midsection strong enough to fling the surprised flying pirate in the distance and then turned to see scores of his people flying off in different directions.
With his mind racing, this scenario was the exact one he feared most as he rushed towards the men that he knew wouldn’t survive the fall.
Due to personnel limitations, though each person he had brought was a trained Special Operator, Bill hadn’t enough of his elite Beetleborgs at hand to bring with him. The weaker individuals were one drawback to this, but far more concerning was that the Special Operators were not equipped with Pulse equipment.
Because they couldn’t slow down their fall, Bill zig zagged through the air tossing one person after another towards the falling submarine. Yoko, Masterson, Toma, the Minks, and several others were directly ignored since Bill knew that if nothing else, they could survive until he found them.
It was a hard choice to make, but it was made in a split second and there was no time to reconsider when after throwing the 30th Marine towards the submarines deck, Bill made way to get underneath the falling vessel.
Stabilizing it in one second, he began using Moon Step to his greatest extent, and would have cleanly saved the ship had Shiki not made his way back at the worst possible time.
“Jihahaha! You think you’ve saved them!? You damn Marines are pathetic!”
Moving at a speed that would have been hard to follow for Bill even at his best, Shiki sent a flurry of slashes through the air – cutting his Amigo disguise into nothing but tatters and disrupting his technique enough that Bill no longer had the position to carry the submarines he was lifting over his shoulders.
Falling at a pace too quick to do anything else, Bill trusted his body and gave one final kick before he hit the ground – with the submarine landing directly on top of him.
Seeing no movement coming from the surprising Marine and thinking that the Marine leader must be dead from such a fall, Shiki gave another cynical laugh as he watched the Special Operators crawl onto the ground before flying away with Dr. Indigo and a red-eyed Boss in tow.
While Bill had been doing everything that he could to save the others, Masterson had prioritized the survival of himself and those directly near him.
Flung far off to the side, he first oriented himself and saw that reasonably he could only make it to a few people who happened to be flung in his direction.
Having been an Instructor for years, he was more or less familiar with each of the Marine 6 Powers and despite not having mastered a single one, he could use Moon Step well enough to grab Toma, Rapanui, and Carrot and slow their fall enough before they hit snowy covered mountain slope.
Far on the other side of the expanse where they had been thrown, Yoko watched Boss fly away as she dropped.
The sixteen-year-old girl had spent most of her life with the beetle, who along with Bill was her only family left since her father had been killed.
Swearing that she’d go rescue him, she looked around and saw two dozen of her crew nearby. Inspired by Bill all those years ago, Yoko had long since practiced Moon Step to an experience level.
Though obviously not to extent of Bill, who had probably mastered Moon Step beyond anyone in the world, she skipped through the air and grabbed one monkey Mink after another until eventually she was struggling to pull up 32 of her subordinates.
Looking like a long chain, each Mink held the next with their long arms and they fell in a more or less controlled manner into a jungle canopy. To the credit of her crew, the girl never hit the ground as the bottom most Mink grabbed a branch and the chain of black and brown fur reversed itself.
Being dropped a few feet off the ground, Yoko landed on her feet. Legs sore but otherwise fine, looking around as her troop fell beside her one by one, she pulled the spear off her back and said without looking back: “You all heard Bill before, this is where the monsters attacking the East Blue come from.
We’ll start here and hunt our way back up, we’ll show the- “Wa-hu!”
Cut off mid-sentence, Yoko watched as one red faced baboon after another landed on the trees surrounding her and the Marine [Howler Monkey Minks] behind her.
They were tall, stood on two legs, and carried an assortment of martial weapons ranging from nunchakus to sickles.
Whereas before she looked grim, still thinking about Boss, seeing the display in front of her touched a cord that she didn’t know she had. Her irritation was pushed over the limit as one golden striped baboon stepped forward and started shouting ‘wa-hu’ and ‘oh-wah’.
Listening to the baboon for several seconds, Yoko showed her teeth for the first time in years, sneering: “You, a King?! How arrogant! And you call these your Monkey Troopers? Hohahaha!” so offended that she started laughing, the Minks behind her were no different, and to answer the challenge, 32 Howler Monkeys bellowed a war cry – starting a battle that would rage until only [Sovereign] remained.
This dramatic scene was only one of dozens happening at that very moment as the [Hidden Land in the Clouds] continuously evolved.
For every change in the local hegemony, more beasts were being born and changing in ways to counter or become more powerful than the last.
This was Shiki’s dream, his brutal desire to create a [Strong World].
After nearly 15 minutes of when the submarine crashed beside a giant lake, the ground underneath shifted, and a large human hand burst through.
UberNuber If you enjoy the fanfic,hit the heart icon and consider leaving a rating!
Also, I hope this isn't confusing but although Bill is suppressing Yoko's devil fruit he isn't completely negating it (if he negated her soul, she would physically alive but mentally dead). He's making sure there is balance between her Soul and her Ego. This means that while she can't use her full array of abilities, naturally, the Monkey King fruit does affect her in some way. One of those ways, as seen here, she can understand monkey language.
Merveille
Spoiler [collapse] Spoiler [collapse]Normal Flame Beetle vs Boss
Spoiler [collapse] Spoiler [collapse]Monkey Trooper
Spoiler [collapse]