Chapter 142 - Chapter 144

In the middle of the New World sailed an ordinary-looking Marine warship. But any Marine or powerful pirate would immediately recognize the spiral symbol in the shape of an eye that was painted on the sails of this ship. That symbol was famous mostly in the New World, and among the pirates, only emperors would have the confidence of fighting on equal ground with the man that controlled this ship.

"Admiral Bradely! We are approaching ground zero, should we dock directly at the island?" Rear-Admiral Catacombo asked the legendary Admiral respectfully. Reverence was seen in his eyes as he gazed upon Bradely that stood by the ships railing and staring at the island.

"hm, no need. If the information is valid then our job is to try and not start a war but to prevent it." Bradely spoke with the dignity of a king. It was only one person in the universe that he wouldn't ever talk down to, and that was obviously Amell, his father. Bradely had on multiple occasions forced to listen to Sengoku yell in his face for talking to the five elders with a condescending tone of voice.

"Are you sure that we can prevent it? If Jack's fleet arrives here, wouldn't that be enough as a trigger for war? Kaido is not really known for his great patience, Admiral." Catacombo said.

"I can't guarantee that we will prevent a war from happening. In my opinion, I say we let them go to war against each other. But that Sengoku was adamant about not letting that happen, so if we can stop it then we will." Bradely let out a small, barely noticeable sigh.

Catacombo watched the Marine elite soldiers running around this ship. An Admiral's ship was always filled with only elite Marines for they sail primarily in the most dangerous sea in the world. New World sea. "The risk of such a war spreading to more than one island is too great to let happen." He said strongly, believing every word he said.

"Bold words, Rear-Admiral. Only someone with sufficient strength can talk about preventing such a thing." Bradely glanced back and Catacombo tensed up as the atmosphere suddenly got very chilly.

"I apologize, Admiral. I didn't mean to sound presumptuous or ignorant. But, I must say I stand by my beliefes of us Marines having the ability to stop this war. After all, we have you, Admiral. You drove back Alucard by yourself, and you are the only one that even Kaido's All-Stars fears." Catacombo said proudly.

"Ass kissing won't get you anywhere with me, but I appreciate the analysis, Catacombo," Bradely said before letting out another sigh.

Catacombo smiled awkwardly before asking concerningly, "Something bothering you, Admiral?" He said after noting that even a single sigh from the Admiral was strange, but two? Something had to be weighing on him since Bradely never used to show even hints of exhaustion, tiredness or even emotions.

"He's late!" Bradely said while watching the island carefully.

"Jack? I don't think the information specified any certainty that he would even show up." Catacombo placed his hand on his chin, trying to recall any additional information.

Bradely glanced back towards the centre of the deck and shook his head, "You're late!" He said suddenly, greatly confusing Catacombo. Suddenly there was a small thud sound and an overly flamboyant voice rang out in the ears of all the Marines here. "I don't remember setting a specific time for this meeting, and I am never late, I arrive exactly when I'm needed." The man with very strange clothes and a creepy smile on his face said out loud.

"HISOKA!" Catacombo yelled and drew his sword. He and the rest of the crew were too shocked about his appearance to notice what Bradely had said. "This is nice! A full course meal just for me!" Hisoka said and looked around, and at the same time, he made sure to make eye contact with every Marine surrounding him.

"Imagine my surprise when I saw a Marine ship approaching our island. And more then that, you guys interrupted my sweet lone time with Lubbock, you guys will have to help me release some stress." Hisoka smiled viciously and some of the Marines took half a step backwards out of pure instinct. The aura Hisoka was releasing would make you believe that you stood in front of the grim reaper.

"Clearly you know nothing, you crazy clown! Do you know who's ship you just stepped onto?" Catacombo said with a smile on his face. He and the rest of the Marines reminded themselves that they stood in the presence of Bradely, someone that stood equal to Garp and Sengoku.

"What need I fear? I'm the one here that's the less likely to die!" Hisoka raised his voice and did a quick spin with his arms stretched outwards and five or six Marines immediately fell down on the ground with a deep cut on the throats.

"YOU MADMAN!" Catacombo yelled and made an emotional and impulsive decision to attack. He used Soru and traversed the short distance between them in an instant, and his sword buried itself deep into Hisoka's chest. The Marines let out a victorious warcry at the Rear-Admiral's success.

'Can't believe I did it!' Catacombo thought and he felt his hands shaking from the fear he built up before attacking this monster. But without warning, ten additional soldiers fell down dead on the ground, and Hisoka's head, much like an owl, turned around 180 degree's and stared straight into the Rear-Admiral's eyes, "Disappointing! You're nothing like Lubbock, I'm getting that wonderful tingly sensation from just imagining those long and hard strings cutting and leaving scars all over my body!" He yelled in pure extasy!

"FREAK!" Catacombo pulled out his sword, earning a pleasure moan from Hisoka. And with all his strength he swung his sword and cut the head of Hisoka, killing him once and for all. Or that's what everyone thought as Hisoka's head hit the deck and his body fell down lifeless.

"I-Is he dead?" One of Bradley's men asked while looking at the Admiral with a hopeful gaze.

"Hahahahaha, FANTASTIC! WONDERFUL! AMAZING FACE!" Hisoka's head rolled to an upright position and stared at the Marine that was talking to Bradely. "Show me more of that!" Hisoka yelled and the Marine's face together with everyone else's turned green. They were looking at a floating head and it wasn't as pretty as one might think.

"Admiral! Kill him! Your men are dying!" Catacombo skipped all the formalities and respect, he angerly yelled towards the man he knew could kill Hisoka but wasn't doing anything about his soldiers dying one after another.

"I can see that they are dying, but that is the consequence of coming here. I told Sengoku to let me come here alone, but he was the one that insisted that I should sail with a crew here, so you can only blame him that you are about to die." He said without even a shred of emotion. His tone was ice cold and for every word he spoke, the paler the faces of the Marine's became.

"A-Admiral, don't tell me!?" A thought rose inside Catacombo's mind, but he didn't wanna believe it.

Bradely finally moved, he walked up to the nearest Marine and slowly drew his sword, "Haven't you ever wondered why none could ever locate Gotei's last commander." Bradely possessed conqueror's haki and when he had drawn his sword it exploded out of him, so all the Marines, including Catacombs, were being forced down on their knees by the pressure of his soul's will.

He looked at the random kneeling Marine, "That's because he was placed right in front of your nose. The one place very few people ever expect an enemy to be." Bradely with his sword raised, pierced the Marine's heart, killing him immediately.

"I am the thirteenth commander of the Gotei Empire! And I thank you for being just another forgettable, unimportant stepping stone for my father." Bradely swiped his sword in a 360-degree circle around him and all Marines except the Rear-Admiral himself got their throats cut.

"BRADLEY!! YOU DISGUSTING TRAITOR! HOW DARE YOU SULLY THE MARINES NAME!" Catacombo's emotions twisted and turned and all at ones, they exploded out in a loud and emotion-filled warcry.

"Rule number one when stepping onto my ship." Bradely took out a cloth from inside his suit pocket and wiped the blade clean, "No yelling!" He threw the bloody clothe overboard and turned to face the struggling Marine. "The Gotei will rule supreme in whatever world my father set's his eyes on. I am the sword of the Empire. Tasked with removing any and all obstacles standing in the way of the emperor. Your death will be quick so be thankful, Read-Admiral." Bradely disappeared, and a second later Catacombo's head separated from his shoulders. He was not granted any last words. He was granted only the knowledge of who killed him.

"Your son is much more fun to be around. He lets me play with them for days or weeks. You are just no fun at all, simply killing them when you can do so much more." Hisoka sat on the railing and spoke to Bradely in a bored tone.

"I am not here to please you, Hisoka. I am here to follow the orders of the emperor and I suggest you do the same if you want to truly keep that head on your shoulders." Bradely sheathed his blade and looked towards the island.

"Let's go, we are still not done here." He took a step and with just a single leap he traversed the sizable distance between the ship and the island.

"Bully! But how I wouldn't love to fight that man." Hisoka said with a cruel and sadistic smile on his face. And he stood up, did a spin and his body disappeared like a poof and just some lingering smoke was left in his place.

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End