Chapter 66: World Of Pirates: Part 04

Chapter 66: World Of Pirates: Part 04

Disclaimer: I own nothing. This story has no interest in offending any party. Having the sole objective of only entertaining the readers. Enjoy~

.....

"Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other."

-Eric Burdon

...

Recap: In the last chapter, Hector copied discreetly many powers, took Law under his tutelage and went on a little questo to meet the Strawhats.

.....

A little note to clarify some things:

Some people mistakenly believe that Hector knows nothing about Wano. Nope, he stopped a little before the "rooftop battle". So he knows about Oden... I will make a little list.

He doesn't know:

- Nika Nika no mi

- The Seraphim

- Admiral Rokugyou

- King being a Lunarian(But he can guess)

- He wouldn't know about Advanced Conqueror's Haki either, but he assimilated Roger and Oden, so he learned from them.

- Vegapunk

- Sanji upgrade(If not he would go to Germa earlier)

- The fact that the Dragon fruit that Momonosuke ate is not defective(If not he would go retrieve it)

And everything after that like Mother Flame, Nefertari D. Lily etc.

Now to the chapter, enjoy.

......

Third Person P.O.V.

" "That's what we do with a drunken sailor

Early in the morning! " "

Hector and Brook end their duet with a big laugh

Hector takes a breath and stands up "Well, the company is good, but I have things to do, Brook. By the way, what are your thoughts on going to see Laboon right now?" Hector eyes the skeleton.

Brook pauses his fingers that are playing on the chords of the guitar

"I can make it happen and bring you back here..." Hector adds.

"I'm grateful for the offer, Hector-san." Brook says seriously after a long pause "But I promised that I would meet him after going around the world..."

"..."

"If you asked me while I was alone in the Florian Triangle, I would have accepted." Another pause, and then Brook looks up at Hector and says with a tone that shows that he is smiling even if his skull face has no lips "But now I have good friends that will help me accomplish my promise."

"...Heh. I expected that much..." Hector chuckles "Don't worry that I plan to visit the Twin Cape, so I will pass the news that you're alive to Laboon and Crocus. I will check Laboon's health too... So don't worry and focus on your travel." Hector gives Brook a thumbs-up

"Yohohoho! I would appreciate it very much, Hector-san!" Brook laughs happily.

Hector then turns to the other three people close by.

"I hope you all take good care of my pal here. Are we understood?" Hector glares at the three members of the Long Arm tribe.

They are the ones that helped Brook become the famous singer Soul King, but are only after profit, after all, so Hector needs to put them in their places

After they all shakily nod while hugging each other, too scared of his reputation to even speak, Hector relaxes and gives them a disarming smile

"Now, the start of anything is always the hardest part, so let me fund you guys a little..." He pulls a sack of gold from his storage and drops it in front of them.

The three long-armed people's eyes go wide seeing that development.

Hector remembers in some cover story from the manga, Brook singing in the rain as a street performer. This much money can afford some good clothes and travel. Maybe even the recording of a disc if they are smart. He doesn't want Brook to go hungry.

'Hm... Are discs here? Maybe vinyl...' Hector thinks

After one last thank you from Brook, Hector goes away.

......

Sea Floor

'Finally found you...' Hector thinks when he finally spots the last Strawhat to visit...

...Going Merry.

He needed to calculate the ocean currents to find Merry's sheep figurehead.

'Your spirit should be on the Sunny, but let me preserve your a little." Hector says in his mind.

Using his powers he creates a makeshift shrine where Merry can rest, he even uses [Crazy Diamond] power to restore any damage on the figurehead.

With effort, maybe he can even restore the ship from cinders.

But now he knows that some endings shouldn't be touched.

"..." Hector gives Merry a last complicated look before going away.

......

Baltigo, Revolutionary Army Base

"I wish I could trust people like you trust this top..." Hector comments on Bello Betty's attire.

Right now the situation in the Revolutionary Army hideout is a little tense.

Hector, who is now disputing with Monkey D Dragon the title of most dangerous man in the world, and Cassandra are sitting lazily and relaxed at a table in this office. Around him, Dragon, Sabo, Koala, Belo Betty, and many other people from the Revolutionary Army are looking at him cautiously.

"Iva told me that you would come." Dragon is the one that broke the silence from the other party

Hector eyes the man, he has a non-friendly face, very different from Garp and Luffy.

'But he is not antagonizing me, he is just like that normally...' Hector thinks while trying to feel if Dragon has a Devil Fruit.

Hector raises his hand and throws something, a green marble that shines, and suddenly Bartholomew Kuma is there, kneeling on the ground. Tied by some metal bindings in a way that gives him no free movement.

"Kuma-san!!" Sabo, Koala, and some others shout and approach the huge guy.

Dragon, different from the others, doesn't move from his spot. Instead, he frowns and looks at Hector

"You just put us at great risk..."

Hector once again raises his hand "I'm the last person that you need to talk about this..." He lets the broken pieces of a tracker fall on the ground "I'm very cautious."

Obviously, he checked Kuma through and through before.

"I couldn't help but notice that his... transformation into a cyborg was very unusual." Hector stares at Dragon's eyes "Do you guys know or have ties with Vegapunk?" He asks

"..." Dragon keeps his silence

Hector snorts "Sorry if I messed with some of your plans... And it appears Kuma will stay as a cyborg with no free will for some time." He comments more to himself.

'I will visit Vegapunk sooner than later...' Hector decided before turning to Sabo "Did you recover your memories?"

"Hm?" The blonde in question turns to him confused

"Oh, so you needed the trauma of Ace dying? Makes sense... Ace was famous before after all and it didn't trigger you..." Hector smiles predatorily "Do you want the manual or the wi-fi recovery?" He asks out of the blue

"What?"

"The wi-fi then...I will not be stabbing my finger in your limbic system." Hector's eyes then glare hard at Sabo. Telepathy used.

"Aargh!!" Sabo clutches his head in pain and falls to his knees.

"Sabo-kun!!

"Sabo!"

"What did you do?"

Hector ignores everyone and doesn't move or explain.

'In the past, I was always annoyed by people that pulls this shit. Why not explain beforehand? For drama? Now I know that is more convenient and fast... And fun too.' He smirks

"What did you do to him?" Hack, a fishman, shouts at him while holding the, now in shock, Sabo.

"Just recovering his memories. Relax... He will explain it to you all later. I'm lazy." Hector says dismissively with a shooing hand motion "So, Belo Betty... Did you use your power in me? I can feel my 'spirit' rising with your presence." Hector gives her a half-flirtatious smile.

"..." Belo Betty pauses "You're weird, you bastard." She says rudely, his flirting with her while Sabo has a breakdown is really weird "But I don't dislike it." She smiles back

"Oho~"

........

"So you're the sworn brother of Ace and Luffy? Dragon-san's son??" Koala asks, shocked by the twist.

Not only her, but pretty much everyone on this base is surprised by the revelation.

Sabo is sitting with a somewhat lost expression, his elbows supported on his knees "I almost lost my brother... I would have done nothing..." He says while burying his face in his hands, shoulders trembling

"You didn't know, Sabo-kun." Koala tries to comfort him while giving pats on his shoulder.

"That's right, you can't blame yourself. If you knew, you would be there. We too." Hack confirms on his side.

Sabo takes a deep breath and raises his head to look at Hector "Thank you... Thank you for helping me now and saving my brothers in Marineford." He says seriously and, like Ace, bows his head.

"...so what would be my reward if I bring the head of one of the Five Elders to you- Eh? No need... I was doing what I wanted..." Hector who was flirting with Belo Betty while holding her hand turns him disinterestedly "Luffy will train with Rayleigh for some years, so no use looking for him. But you can go reunite with Ace." Hector says

"Heh~ I think that I don't need to search for him. We will meet eventually." Sabo says with a smile

"..." Hector gives him a look before shrugging "Maybe. Destiny works in mysterious ways here after all." Then he suddenly stands up and talks to Sabo and Koala "We need to go, but what about you two spar with my sidekick here." Hector pulls Cassandra by the back of her neck like a cat "I'm very curious about your Dragon Fist Style and the Fishman Karate..." He smiles

The two have no problem in sparing. Hector observed the two fighting styles from the sidelines with great attention, easily engraving them in his mind.

It's a spar with only techniques, Cassandra is equalizing her speed.

Cassandra won relatively easily against Koala. And against Sabo was a draw, because Hector interrupted. If not, the two would go for a long time learning from each other.

Then Hector gives his goodbyes promising to visit his dear Belo Betty and promising retribution if they hurt Robin in some way while she was in their care.

'A little friendship to visit them in the future and copy the rest of the Devil Fruits...' Hector plans before disappearing.

He still needs to confirm if Dragon really has something like the Storm Fruit.

"Belo Betty's Devil Fruit is very similar to that quirk of that guy on the Meta Liberation Army in the Hero Academia World..." He thinks out loud, remembering the guy who can hype people with his voice "But better. It's a trend apparently... I need to work in fusions later."

........

"..." Right now Cassandra is observing a strange scene.

After Hector visited Laboon and Crocus at the entrance of the Grand Line he coincidentally met an interesting Character crossing the Reverse Mountain.

So right now he and Cassandra are embarking on their ship.

But... The strange situation is...

"Pfft! You?! Their biggest fan? Keep dreaming!" Hector rolls around the deck, Fighting multiple people in a storm of limbs and attacks

"Shut Up, you bastard!! Don't look down on me!!" Bartolomeo, the Strawhats fanboy and user of the Barrier fruits answers while he fights against Hector.

"..." Cassandra is starting to get used to it. And she doesn't know if is a good thing.

"You shut up! I carry on my back the Inherited Will of millions of fans... You simply can't compare!" Hector continues to fight Bartolomeo's crew through the deck.

He is not only fooling around. He is copying Bartolomeo's power too.

"I will eternally thank you for helping Luffy-senpai and Ace-senpai in Marineford!! But on this, I will not step back!" Bartolomeo shouts while delivering a storm of punches.

"Enough!" Hector stops the fight and makes all of them move away with a telekinetic blast "It appears that I need to get serious..." Hector looks down on the Barto's Club crew

"Bring it on, you bastard!" Bartolomeo shouts while putting on a fight stance

Hector smirks. A smirk full of superiority. The smugness is palpable. To Bartolomeo, his face is very punchable right now.

But at the same time, a feeling of uneasiness creeps into Bartolomeo's heart.

Hector starts talking "You accompanied the Strawhat's adventures through the Newspapers... But what about their other adventures???" Hector asks suddenly

"!!!!" It looks like lightning hit every one of the members of the ship

"You... you... You are lying! It can't be... You can't possibly know..." Bartolomeo shouts, full of uncertainty,

"Heeeh~" Hector crosses his arms and the smug smile widens "So you guys don't know about Skypiea and the Florian Triangle? Well, well... And you guys call yourselves fans... Tsk tsk."

"Skypiea?"

"Florian Triangle?"

The crew look at each other

"Could it be...?" One asks with doubt

"The Florian Triangle is said to be very mysterious and no one knows what is inside... If they entered there... Maybe... Not even the government would know what they did." A smarter member says his piece

"~~~~~~" Bartolomeo grits his teeth while looking at Hector's smug expression.

"Skypiea is a sky island...." Hector starts

"An island... In the sky??"

"Something like this really exists??"

Hector chuckles at them "A good part of the people on this part of the Grand Line also doesn't believe in it. So what do you guys think Luffy would do if he caught wind of these News?" Hector asks

"..."

"He would go."

"He would absolutely go."

Bartolomeo looks like he is physically in pain seeing how right Hector can be.

"Well, taking pity you guys let me tell the story..." Hector starts

Everyone on the crew perks their ears with great attention.

"In the Florian triangle there is a Warlord, Gecko Moria..." Hector starts, using some powers to make holo-images of his memories. Showing the most important points.

"He wants to make an army of shadow soldiers..." Hector explains showing images.

"..." Cassandra observes the crew of Bartolomeo sitting on their knees like obedient children while listening. A minute ago they were trying to kill Hector...

"You guys still don't know of the new member of the crew, right? Brook... He is a skeleton because..." And he goes on explaining.

"Had his shadow stolen..."

"Then negatives ghosts... Sogeking..."

"Ancient Giant Oars... Luffy shadow was stolen..."

"They put a lot of shadows in Luffy's body..."

"Big fight... Just before the Dawn!"

Hector told the story like a professional storyteller.

Bartolomeo's crew expression changes with each moment, listening and seeing the scenes without losing anything. Completely transfixed.

"Then Kuma appears! Another warlord just after defeating Moria!!!" Hector pauses dramatically

"!!! No!"

"Then what?"

"How did they escape??"

The crew asks anxiously

"Kuma makes a proposition... 'Deliver Mugiwara and the rest can go' " Hector imitates Kuma's voice

Everyone gasps and shows outraged expressions

"But at that moment, instead of even considering it, the crew shows resolve and stands in the way to protect Luffy!"

"Buuuaaahhh!" They cry loudly

"Best crew in the world!!"

"This is what means to be a Strawhat!"

Hector can see their apprehension while he explains how Kuma easily defeats the Strawhats.

At this moment he pauses. The next is one of the best scenes scenes of One Piece, but is something personal to Zoro.

"I need you guys to promise to never tell anyone about what happened next..." Hector looks at them seriously

All of them nod like chickens pecking the ground.

Hector slowly and dramatically explains everything... The Damage on Luffy... Zoro certain demise... The tension in the air is palpable

"...nothing happened." Hector finishes the story

Silence falls on them before is broken by their boiled emotions

"Wuaaahhh! Zoro-senpai!!!!"

"You're the coolest!!!"

They cry to the sky and in each other's arms

Hector also explains Brook's backstory to the,

"So that Whale!!"

"That's why she has those scars and that drawing of the strawhats jolly roger!!"

"Brook-senpai had it rough too!"

At this moment Bartolomeo fell on his knees. Tears and snot streaming down his face.

"I... I admit..." He starts saying but a hand stops him.

He looks up to see Hector on one knee close to him

"Barto-kun... Stop it. We are wrong from the start. Fandom fights are awful and unnecessary. No need to Petty squabbles..." Hector says with a smile while extending his hand.

The sun on his back gives him a holy halo, Barto's crew's view of him it's like of a merciful Buddha.

"Let's enjoy their adventures together... Like friends." Hector says to them, touching their hearts.

They can't contain their tears.

"Hector-senpai!!!!" Their eyes blur with tears, they almost can't look at his brilliance directly

In the next moment, they are hugging each other and celebrating.

"Skypiea is even more epic... Wait till I tell you guys of MontBlanc Noland. He is like a Roger that comes too early." Hector says while his ar mis wrapped around Bartolomeo's shoulder;

Everyone cheers together.

"..." Cassandra continues to stare at them confused. Her arms crossed around her chest and her head tilted, thinking "...boys are weird." She nods to herself like she just realized something big.

........

Somewhere on the Calm Bet

A fleet of Marines ships slowly drifted on the still sea.

"I should've been already in the New World, helping to quench the chaos there... But here I am!" Not for the first time, Commodore Smoker complains about his situation. Grumbling and pursing his lips that are holding three cigars.

"Calm down, Commodore. This mission is an easy one and merely a formality so that you can be 'promoted' to the Leader of Unit 01 in the G-5." Vice-Admiral Tsuru comments calmly while sipping some tea.

The old lady called Smoker and the other marine partnering up on this mission to a relaxing tea party.

"Hina understands the bureaucracy, but Hina also agrees with Smoker-kun that there are more important things to do in these turbulent times." The third person, Hina, seated at the table comments in her characteristic way of talking.

The pink-haired marine looks calmer than Smoker who lets his grievances get out of his mouth unrestrained, but she is also frowning at the decision of the Headquarters.

"If this mission is so easy, only one of us should be enough to complete it... No need to waste so much Manpower." Hina says.

Around them, subordinates of the three high-rank marines surround the table located on the Tsuru's ship deck. Tashigi, Jango, Fullbody, and the many girls who are under Tsuru's tutelage hear the conversation.

Tsuru sighs, showing a little tiredness in her elderly face. "We all know why so many of us are here..."

"..." Yes, everyone knows.

The reason can be attributed to the existence of a single man

"...Would be a heavy blow on the marines face if something happens to them again." Tsuru completes

"Do you think he was serious?" Hina asks frowning

"Who knows?" Tsuru shrugs "But if we lose more credibility, more people will think that we are ineffective. Pirates scum will grow bold and innocent people will suffer." Tsuru explains

"Fucking World Nobles..." Smoker grumbles again. His dislike of the Tenryuubito is evident in his voice.

"Be careful with your mouth, Commodore. You're not Garp." Tsusu admonishes making the man grumble to himself again.

"Do we have any idea of where he is? The Devil..." Hina asks to change the topic a little

"The last was heard, he was with the Whitebeard Pirates." Tsuru says

"Do you think he will take command of the Whitebeard group?" Smoker asks seriously

"Hina is thinking that maybe Marineford was for nothing..." The pink-haired woman sighs

"..."

"Maybe, maybe not... But he can be in any place around the world. We all saw his flying ship. Hence the reason why we are here." Tsuru says after a sigh

"Is that really Pluton?" Hina asks

"We don't know. There's no recording that says that Pluton can fly, but we don't know much about the Ancient Weapons either... Nonetheless, I don't know what option I would prefer. If he has Pluton or if exists something like that, that still is not Pluton." Tsuru says and takes a sip of her tea.

"Do you know nothing about this guy?" Smoker hits the table with his fist frustrated.

"If you ask nicely, I can answer any doubt... *Sluurp*" Suddenly they hear a voice impossibly close to them.

A voice that they can't forget that easily.

"Speaking of the Devil..." Hector jokes, amusement evident in his eyes as he smirks at their shocked faces.

There he is, sitting at the table with the three marines and already helping himself with some tea. Cassandra standing at his side with her impassive face.

The situation was so absurd to these people, who trust so much in their senses, that they were shocked for a full second. Someone really sneaked so close to them.

Suddenly all marines on deck are in a battle-ready stance, and they instinctively attack the intruder.

"Wait..." Tsuru tries to stop them but is too late.

Hina attacks arrives first, her arm elongated and whips around Hector, locking his arms and torso together.

"Oh..." Hector acts like he didn't even notice the attack and let it happen.

Smoker's fist is already approaching his face at high speed, being launched by his smoke powers.

Hector eyes the incoming fist "Not in the face, please..." And then he sucked some air and blows in the direction of the incoming attack.

Much like Air Cannon, a huge blast of air is exhaled by him, dissipating Smoker's attack into nothingness. Luckily he didn't use Haki, if not Smoker would have lost his arm.

"See, Cassandra? These 'gaseous-type's may look invincible at first glance but wind was their great weakness." Hector turns to instruct his sidekick without caring about the others "Poisonous gas and others, even Isabella's powers that come from mist... All you need is a good blast of wind."

"..." She nods silently

Hector turns again to the Marines, especially to Hina.

"So~~ Kinky, huh? If it's you I can let myself be caught for one night~" He teases her with a smile.

And despite being used to these types of comments in her career, Hina's heart skips a bit, not that she will show in her face. She shakes her head and schools her features even more, frowning at herself and at Hector.

"Hina will take you in. Don't resist." She says

"Hector is not resisting. But Hector can't be captured right now, Hector has things to do. But Hector only wants to talk and not fight." Hector says calmly, he really is not trying to escape from Hina's cuff-like attack

His arms are still locked so he calmly extends his feet from under the table.

His bare feet start to move around with great dexterity, putting more tea to himself and even grabbing a little spoon between his toes and mixing it.

Then he grabs the tea cup and saucer between the toes of his two feet and drinks it like he is using his hands.

"*Slurp* Bloody hell! I'll tell you what tho folks, that's bloody nice! That's really... *Slurp* That's bloody lovely!" Hector exclaims in his best British accent "Where did you get this tea, mate? One of my people likes tea..."

"..."

The Marines don't know if Hector is messing with them or if he is that weird. Strong people tend to have some quirks in this world.

Hector puts the tea set back on the table with his feet, still gracious, and talks.

"I have to praise you two to have the guts to attack at least, very commendable. Even if futile..."

This is not empty praise. If one looks closely at the rest of the ship, one would notice the situation of the other marines.

With a few exceptions, Every other marine couldn't even put a proper battle stance. They're trembling nervously and gulping down in fear at Hector's mere presence.

All this is because they are exposed to his Conqueror's Haki, Ren, and bloodlust during the war in Marineford.

They're traumatized.

And not everyone is a main character that can bounce back from these setbacks stronger. They subconsciously already accepted Hector's superiority, their broken will will never allow them to muster strength or battle intense against the guy.

And that's why Hector praised Smoker and Tashigi.

'A pity the guy became a cannon fodder after the time-skip.' Hector thinks regrettably. He likes Smoker.

"I will cheer on you becoming an Admiral in the future, Smoker-kun. Ganbare!" Hector says

"Don't mess with me." A vein in Smoker's forehead pops and his teeth crush his cigars.

"Believe it or not, I'm not messing with you... Hector is the type of guy that knows how to separate individuals from the group. So Hector can like people like you, Garp, and others and dislike the Navy and the World Government." Hector says lightly, still tied by Hina and imitating her.

Remembering it when he moves a little, he starts to use her way of talking again.

"..." Smoker stays silent at Hector's declaration. It's true that the guy appears to have no intention of attacking them now.

"..." Yeah...

"Will you add this world species to the Noah's Ark?" Cortana asks while she adjusts the lab.

"Hm~ It's a good idea..."

Project Neo Noah's Ark is a little something that I thought of some time ago.

The name gives away what is about... It's just me taking samples of Every species of animal and plant on Earth and keeping them safe on a moon-shaped satellite somewhere in the Solar System. And on my inventory too.

In the case of Earth's destruction

Not only animals and plants. Keep records of our history, copies of books, arts, and many other things. Basically downloaded everything on the internet. There's a lot of porn there, by the way. But I need to protect the R34 art.

Who knows right? Maybe Earth will explode like Krypton.

But seeing that I can travel to other universes, maybe is not a bad idea to create branches of this Project and collect samples of the many species in other worlds.

Maybe one day I will make a Megaworld with them.

"I will make this a sidequest." I decided "I have Oars Jr. Ancient Giant blood. And there are a lot of other interesting species here. Zunesha... Mink... Three-eyed people... Heck, even the plants here may hold the cure to deceases of my world. I will visit Drum Island, Chopper's Home Kingdom, later and learn their knowledge."

I recline on my chair, caressing Rover's head, and sigh

"I fucking need some biokinetic powers." If Power Manipulation can help me with powers, biokinesis will make me capable of acquiring race physiologies.

It's important to a certain Project of mine...

Overhaul, Cell Activation, and other powers are holding on, but they can't be compared with real Biokinesis.

Joshua Fowley(Elixir), Panacea, Alex Mercer, Kerrigan... If I couplet them with Rogue powers and an Osmosian Physiology...

I wanted their power. I need it.

Damn, my power hunger is showing again.

"If I don't gain any of them on the Gacha and Elixir doesn't awaken till the end of the year, I will visit Worm-verse." I say making plans

......

"What ya gon' do wit us???" A filthy man shouts while he and twenty other people are thrown unceremoniously into a white room by me.

By the attire, it's obvious that they're pirates. 23 males and 6 females.

"Hm~ I doubt that you guys would understand even if I explain..." I say while observing them squirm nervously from a glass wall with a high point of view "But you all are guinea pigs. I will poke you guys with needles and stuff like that." I say lightly while pressing a button on the wall.

The ceiling of the white room opens, and water starts showering on the prisoners at high pressure.

They shout in protest, annoyed by the water before noticing something weird.

"Kyaah! My clothes!!" A woman crouches down to hide her body when she notices her clothes falling apart.

"Don't worry, this liquid only compromises the integrity of clothes... And your hair a little." I explain to them

I look at them without pity even while curses fly from the mouths of these guys. I could've gone away and not listened to anything, but I wanted to be there.

"Ya monster! Ya can't do that!!" The leader of this group shouts at me

"I would feel bad if I didn't see you guys pillaging a small town, and you craving your sword in a three-year-old boy that was throwing small rocks at you to defend his mother and sister from being raped." I say emotionless

My eyes should be very scary, because I can see all of them flinching while looking at me. Not even caring about their modesty "You're all cattle now..." I say.

Then some start to cry, some start to beg. All sorts of pathetic actions

Pride is the first thing discarded in these situations.

"Tch! This is giving me Concentration Camp vibes..." I comment in distaste while the sleeping gas acts and my Shadowkhan take the prisoners away "That's fucked up in some way... I'm really evil, huh?" I comment to myself.

If take out the context and other nuances, there's no difference between what I'm doing to what horrible villains do.

The only thing I can say in my defense is that... Everything is relative. And Every case is a different case.

"I do not think you're that bad, Master." Cortana says to me "I think you have a too low opinion of yourself."

"..." She wouldn't understand... But even so... "Cortana... You are probably the one that is closer to understanding me. We share a lot. And maybe you're the one I trust the most." I say seriously

"..."

"But even you can't privy in the deepest and darkest corners of my mind... It's not like I enjoy being a ball of angsty. It's just some important self-reflection that I need to do from time to time. Only I know that I can stoop very low... And this can be dangerous."

"It can't be that bad..." She tries to comfort me

I give her a look before opening my mouth again "Once I thought in capturing some thousands of people like that and throwing them in an empty world or universe..." I start

"I would modify their brain and minds so that only their animalistic instincts remain. Giving them powers and letting them breed like cattle so that I can harvest the new, more complex, and stronger powers of their offspring." I say with a deadpan face

"..." Now I can feel that she is shocked "All right, I understand what you're talking about now."

Despite myself, I release a chuckle

"It's on the Black Archives, the plan, if you want to check. I would even transform some people and mindless cyborgs with limited versions of Power Manipulation so that they can harvest the powers for me and keep them in check. Like shepherds."

I shake my head, talking it out loud the absurdity becomes even more evident "In the end I didn't go forward with it for many reasons, but morals and ethics are on the end of the line of these reasons." I confess "It's more like a lack of failsafes in case of something going bad. I'm paranoid after all..."

"..." Cortana keeps her silence for a time before talking again "Well... The fact that you can police yourself is a good sign. You're better than these one-dimensional villains."

"That's the thing! I need to police myself like that. A good person wouldn't even have these thoughts. A true hero like Spider-man, Superman, All Might, and others would do, and be, good naturally. I need to put a a conscious effort for god's sake! For the basics!" I release a sigh after I notice my voice gaining some heat.

" 'Comparison is the thief of joy'..." It's what she says after a pause

Heh, even she is imitating me in quoting people.

"Yeah, yeah... I know. But it's good to admire some people's traits and aim to surpass them." I say "And relax... I'm learning to like my evil side."

She looks at me confused

"During this trip, in truth since some time ago, I reached the conclusion that being a little evil is essential to living a good life. My talk with Blackbeard, experiencing Tsuru's power... It helped me get on terms with it a little."

I continue my explanation "It's obvious, but... A true good person suffers." I declare "If Peter was a little more...Bully Maguire. Heh. Things would go better for him. You would be surprised how much your life could go better if you act a little like a asshole."

"My Brazilian grandfather said that a man needs to have some malice. To not be taken advantage AND take advantage."

"I can impact a lot of people in good and bad ways. But I don't want to sacrifice my own happiness doing that. I can go cracked and help people 24/7, don't sleep, have no social life... But that would be bad for me. And I can prioritize myself, go around stealing the powers that I want, antagonizing everyone to achieve my goals... That would be bad for the world."

"I can't be on the extremes, of prioritizing one over the another."

"There's a thin line that's between the two." I say "I just need to keep an eye open to not go too far... In any of the sides."

"That's my path!"

........

Some days passed, and my other bodies were copying Devil Fruit powers out of the Grand Line, mapping the world and training law. Hehe~

Beyond helping Law, he is also an interesting subject to see if this crazy training method is effective.

........

Law's Hellish Training

"Gah!" Law coughs blood when Hector's arm goes through his heart, his eyes bloodshot.

Hector then unceremoniously takes off his arm and the hole in Law's chest closes.

"*Huff* *Huff*" Law pants loudly while clutching his chest, but he has no time to rest.

Law's eyes widen... He moves a little out of the way, dodging to the side, but not enough.

Hector appeared behind him and chops him down, his arm going through his shoulder till his navel.

"Dead again... But at least you saw this coming a little." Hector says lightly before removing his arm again, the huge wound closes like it never happened.

And this is only him training Observation haki.

......

Back to Hector in his Lab

First Person P.O.V.

Well, you can't say that he doesn't have willpower. He didn't complain one time.

It's fun training people.

Now back to my work... I look at the huge medical capsule in front.

I check the vitals of the body inside and nod to myself "Good enough... Using [Gold experience] really accelerates the process. But with Bonney's Devil Fruit will be even faster..." I comment "Open the capsule Cortana" I order

The golden liquid of the capsule is drained. The capsule moves from its vertical position to a horizontal one, and the body inside is deposited in front of me on a table by robotic arms.

"Hello, handsome." I say to myself.

Yes, myself. This is my clone.

A brain-dead clone of mine to be exact. Alive, but soulless.

I remove the oxygen mask on his face and check him again.

Yep, a perfect clone. The only problem... He is completely normal.

No powers, no mutations, nothing... This is me if I never had the essence. I even removed his meta-gene.

Well... I look at his body.

This is a very fit for me if I never had the Essence. The body is at peak human performance at least.

"This will be a game changer..." I say before taking an item from inventory.

The Stone Mask from Jojo.

I put on my clone face, and make a small cut on my palm before smearing the mask with my blood.

*Kachik*

As expected, spikes protrude from the mask immediately and stab my clone skull.

The body jerks a little on the table, before going still.

I check the vitals on the machines... All normal. Good.

I remove the Stone Mask and put it on my inventory again.

Moving the lips away with my finger I see the fangs of the my now Vampire Clone.

"Good..." I say again and take a step back.

And then I propel my soul out of my body.

Yes... Dark Danny power. It's not my complete soul, I notice. But is enough to possess a weak-willed target.

My own soulless clone then...

I delve into him without a problem.

....

I blink...

I'm staring at the ceiling.

Hm~ Yes... This is not my body. Well, it is... But not exactly.

My senses are different. It's weird to not have that many powers.

I sit on the steel bed. I looked at my side and saw my true body resting with his eyes closed. I can feel the connection still... Good.

[Your soul is inhabiting a new body. Do you want to transfer the Character Assimilations to this new body?

Obs.: The assimilation process will restart. You will lose the assimilation progression in any other body.]

Interesting...

I click "No". I will look into it in more detail in the future.

But apparently, if my body was completely destroyed with only my soul surviving, I could recreate my body again.

It's like a game "Continue". But losing my progress... I'm playing a Souls game.

I have Brook Devil Fruit power too... Heh~

I will not die when if I am killed.

"How are you feeling, master?" Cortana hologram appears and looks at me worriedly

"Weak..." I say and hop off the metal bed.

Ugh... So weak. My legs are wobbling a little. I'm not used to this body.

"It will take time to get used to it." I say

"But it's a success." Cortana smiles

"Yes. Now I can create other personas without a problem..." I say

I then move my arm, and make some tests. Haki covers my arm without a problem.

So even if I lose my physical powers, I keep my spiritual ones...

Well, when Sanji changed bodies with Nami he could've used Haki.

This is good too.

"Now... The last test. Light up." I say to Cortana

"Are you sure, Master?" She asks unsure

"Go for it... Full force." I say and prepare myself

A wall opens and a robotic arm moves close to me. In its edge... A UV lantern.

"Starting..." Cortana warns me.

The next second, The UV lights hit my full body.

Immese pain... To my credit, I didn't scream even while my body was disintegrated.

.....

"Master! Master!"

I open my arms again, I'm back to my body.

"I'm okay." I say, a little out of it by the death experience but otherwise completely fine.

I can hear Cortana sighing in relief while I check my body and spirit.

Yep, no damage to my spirit or soul. My stand, Haki, magic... All of it is working at 100%.

Yone's [Soul Anchoring] works just fine

"Heh~ Hehehe. Hahahahaaha" I allow myself to have a full-blown laugh.

I'm becoming even more of a monster.

........

Time for some training.

I sat down in the training room, I acquired too many powers recently and didn't test them appropriately.

For the first time in a long time, my control is lacking.

I always had flawless control over my body and powers. So good that even if I gained a new power, would not impact me too much and I would be capable of using said power expertly right away.

But right now... It slipped.

Time to fix that.

My projects are moving nicely. I had a lot of "Blank Slate" bodies ready to receive a certain set of powers and become another persona.

Now I can make a street-level antihero person without a problem.

I can also create bodies of different races. I still had Thor blood... I will not clone him, but maybe I can make Aesir!Hector and see how it goes.

Put different "Builds" of powers in different bodies.

And there's no need for the body to look like me.

Right now, in the capsules, there are bodies with different powersets being developed. A spider-man, a ninja that with luck will have mokuton(After I try to isolate the Senju genes of Tsunade. Trying to force Atavism), a totally "normal human" body but having the Hanma bloodline and developed by the Hercules Method of Luther Strode.

And this is only the beginning...Even without the Essence, I will create the Ultimate Lifeform!

One day... Kars from Jojo, Cell from Dragon Ball, Meruem from Hunter x Hunter. I will have all!

I will start small... I didn't choose the One Piece world casually and only to have fun.

I chose this world because is full of strong races too. A Lunarian!Hector can be cool too.

Haah~ I really fucking need Biokinesis.

Well, let's forget about physiologies for now and focus on powers.

I close my eyes to take a look at my inner world.

As always, I can see the huge pillar of light on the Horizon. The sky is full of stars, in different shapes, sizes, and colors. Each one represents a power.

My focus is on the new additions.

The many stand powers and the many Devil Fruits powers.

I will revise each one of them thoroughly and... Hm?

A certain star attracts my attention. I willed so, and a purple star floats to my front.

"Why the Gomu Gomu no Mi is so big?"

And is pulsing strangely.

Every power has different characteristics that only a Power Manipulator like me could tell.

It's a feeling you know? The taste, how it shines, how it feels when I Touch it... I can say the category of a power this way. The disgustingly slimy feeling of the Master powers, the strong way that brute powers perpetually Shine and others...

This rubber power is weird. It's pulsing, like it's a purple egg and there's a living thing inside, ready to burst out... I can hear it heartbeat.

I saw powers like that... I look around, most of the transformation powers are like that. With the feeling of something alive. Beast Boy's Animal Transformation, Zoan Devil Fruits and animal mutations in Marvel and Hero Academia.

So Luffy really has a Hidden trump card...

I inspect the Gomu Gomu no Mi powers, but it's like it has some lock on it. There are conditions to activation... Like Nen.

This feeling is a little similar to... I pull a golden star to my hand. Sengoku Buddha Devil Fruit.

Yep... I pull an azure flame too. Yes...

The Gomu Gomu no Mi gives the same "vibe" of the Buddha and the Phoenix powers.

It's a fucking Mythical Zoan. Oda kept this a secret for all this time?

I sent Sengoku and Marco's power to the sky again and kept holding Luffy's power.

A Mythical Zoan, huh? The worst part is that makes sense...

Luffy Rubber power doesn't work like how rubber or elastic power should work. Anyone with a little knowledge of physics must understand that Luffy throwing his arm back to Punch forward is useless.

If in a line, someone made of rubber is at point Zero, and throws his arm to the point -10 to hit the point +10, it will not add any force doing that... When the arm passes by the point Zero will lose any momentum again.

That's why Elastigirl and Reed only punch forward. Without Luffy's theatrics...

I always ignored it, attributing that to Oda's lack of knowledge and because is cool.

But Luffy's power is never rubber. So it should be... Some sort of body transformation from the Mythical Zoan.

And I have a guess of what type of Mythical Zoan is... Would be cool if is the Hito Hito no mi, Model: Sun Wukong

Everything would make sense.

His body stretches like the staff of Sun Wukong.

The gear fourth is like animal transformations... Snakeman, Kong... Sun Wukong can transform himself.

MONKEY D. Luffy... Oda also was a fan of Dragon Ball. The clear similarities with Goku.

Sun Wukong was sealed by Buddha's five fingers. Five Elders suppressing the world. He made a Journey around the world...

The more I think about it, the more makes sense.

And damn, that would be cool... Sun Wukong in all media is a menace. There's a Sun Wukong in Marvel? Should be scary.

I stop guessing and focus on the power in my hands. It should reach its potential in an awakening. But my Power Manipulation allows me to notice that there are conditions to it...

And if I force... I can force, by the way. Would be a loss and maybe the power will not work properly.

What is the condition? The anime cliche says that should be a moment of pure rage. It's a classic... Luffy's rage should be a cool moment to watch.

Haah~ So let it be. It's like my Nen power... I can't force it.

If I really need it in the future, it should awaken on its own. No problem.

I allow the purple power to go back to its place on the night sky, now I need to focus.

There's a little problem with Devil Fruit's powers.

The curses, the limitations...

Weakness to the sea, to seastone and the limitation to only one person.

It's not a problem for me.

My stronger-than-most body and soul, coupled with Power Manipulation allows me to bypass these restrictions.

But the same can't be said about others, about my subordinates.

So now... Time for some modifications.

My [Power Manipulation] can do much more than steal, copy, and give powers.

I can modificate to a certain extent and cultivate these powers.

As an example is Bakugou's Explosion quirk. It was fairly easy for me to modify a little so that the explosions could be emitted by the sole of my feet too.

The idea that I will apply now came when I compared Devil Fruits powers with Quirks.

Quirks are basic... Most of them are very uni-directional power. Todoroki and Kaminari can create their respective elements, but only that. They can't control it.

Let's use Ace's Fire Fruit as an example... If I would "dissect" the power, would be like that.

Fire Fruit:

- Fire Generation

- Fire Control

- Fire Immunity

- Fire Vody Transformation

- Fire Constructs

- Weakness To the Sea

- Weakness to Seastone

- One Power Limitation

That would be a very simplified version...

Any of these could be a Quirk on its own.

So, I would "break" this power... Unravel it in smaller powers. Like quirks.

Remove the weakness and the one Devil fruit limitation. (That's more of a curse, by the way...) and reassemble it.

If I accomplish it, I will finally be capable of fusion powers of the same type. Till now, I was just using them together. This is an increase in quality.

I could Stack Jean's, Emma's, Xavier's, and many other people's Telepathy and create an even stronger power. (It's possible because every telepathy has a certain frequency and signature. I can't Stack two "Jean's" to double the power that easily)

I could isolate the "power" [Weakness to the Sea] and curse people by giving to them.

Heh~ Imagining myself giving it to Namor makes me chuckle.

Now, time to put in some work... I already made many repeated copies of the Devil Fruits because I can predict that I will destroy a lot of them practicing.

This will be an arduous process.

But what I don't do for my cute subordinates, right?

........

Marine Headquarters

"So Big Mom finally made her move?" Garp asks Sengoku

"Her children did, but they wouldn't move without her orders." Sengoku massages the bridge of his nose

"How it is going?" Garps asks while eating

"The Whitebeard pirates are still fending off their attacks. But Big Mom hasn't made a move personally yet... If she did..." Sengoku says

"They have no chance unless..." Garp trails off.

"Ugh... The Devil Steps in..." Sengoku groans "We are seeing the beginning of a second war like Marineford. And I don't know if the world is ready yet..."

........

A.N.: Ahoy

Hector is smart enough to figure out some things about the Gomu Gomu no Mi, too bad he lacks knowledge. He is wrong in two things... It's not Sun Wukong, but a inside world myth and it does not need a "rage moment".

Too bad. Meta knowledge is such a cheat.

If the last chapters there a lot about the world around Hector(You guys can notice a certain lack of his P.O.V.s), now this chapter we focused on his progress.

The Multiple body is a big thing and his increased mastery with Power Manipulation too.

I believe this chapter can be enjoyed even if you don't watch One Piece.

I will not say much more, there will be even more growth on his means and character on this arc.

Till next time.