Notice: Starting next week I'll post 4 chapters a week, Monday - Thursday
Chapter 9: Pants, Blockmen and Flying Lizards
"Your father?"
"Yup, I remember our training sessions and me shitting my pants whenever he unleashed his haki on me. I don't remember a lot about him. Hell, I don't even remember what he looked like. I know he is no more, but I don't remember how he died." Cancel answered with a sad smile.
"I'm sorry for your loss." Augustus replied.
"It was a long time ago. So general, what is the real reason for your visit?"
Augustus sighed. "I'll cut to the chase then. Mr. Cancel, I get that you harbor a deep seated hatred for pirates and slavers, but I want you to work with us on this. I know you got at least some information from the Buzzer Pirates. You are a smart man, but as we already saw from your impulsive actions against the pirates, you are also as reckless as anyone else your age. You are planning something, aren't you?"
Cancel took a sip of his tea, neither accepting nor denying. Augustus continued, "Sorbet and its allies have been working on an Anti-Crime team for a few years now. It's kind of an open secret among the upper echelons of South Blue. We have an information network, we have combatants and we have strategists. We are just lacking in the resource department. A lot of pirates and criminals have roots that go far deeper than we can handle."
Cancel took a minute to think, taking another sip of his tea. Augustus leaned back in his chair and gazed outside his window, allowing him some quiet. "Why are you telling me all this? Aren't you afraid I might leak this to the wrong people?" Cancel asked after a while.
"Mr. Cancel we saw how you handled those pirates." Augustus smiled. "We have every reason to believe that you will want to work together with us, rather than against us. As for the why, well, we have seen your talents for ourselves. You took care of that group of filth like they were nothing. You also built not only the prosthetics, but also the production line for them in less than a day. We think-"
"What about the Marines?" Cancel interrupted. "Aren't they the official 'Anti-Crime' organization of the world?"
"Bwahahahahaha!" Augustus laughed as if he had heard the greatest joke ever. The old man then immediately choked on his saliva, and went into a coughing fit. He spoke between coughs, "You're a funny guy Cancel. You know as well as I do that the Marines are a joke. They are nothing but chained dogs of the Celestial Dragons." He spat. "Didn't you get any info from the Buzzers? You must have noticed that the Marines were always late in arriving at the places they last robbed."
Cancel nodded. "I noticed. I was just testing you. Not many people would dare talk trash about the marines, let alone those Celestial Insects." He smiled. "Since we are on the topic, what are your thoughts on the World Government?"
Augustus looked outside. "Oh it looks like the sun has already gone down. I think I should leave now, lest my granddaughter get worried about me." He looked back at Cancel with a jovial smile and extended his hand. "It was nice talking to you, Mr. Cancel. Do hit me up in my snail if you are interested in working with us."
Cancel shook hands with the man again, not at all surprised at the sudden change in subjects. "It was nice meeting you, General Augustus. You too, whoever you are." He nodded towards the window, where a shadowy figure suddenly appeared.
Augustus laughed again. "Bwahahahaha! To think you noticed him. You really are interesting. I look forward to seeing you again, young man."
Cancel just smiled as Augustus left, the shadowy figure already nowhere to be seen. "Anti-crime huh…" he muttered to himself. He couldn't help but think back to the time Bruno and Crocus had explained him about the current world.
…
"So you're telling me this organization controls the entire world?" Cancel asked, face full of disbelief.
"Yes." Bruno answered.
"And it's basically owned by a bunch of slavers?"
"Yes."
"How come no one has killed them?"
Bruno just shrugged. "Many have tried, obviously. They were all killed and erased from history."
"And people believe that these Celestial Dragons are descendants of the gods?"
"Hey you can't really blame them there. The WG has been a thing for centuries. Do you have any idea how well you can brainwash the world when you have so much power for so long?" Crocus chimed in.
"I do, actually." Cancel muttered under his breath. "So these Revolutionaries. They want to take down the WG?"
"Yes."
"And they are being led by a man named Dragon?"
"Yes."
"That is probably the most ironic thing I have ever heard. Imagine the headlines – 'DRAGON TAKES DOWN THE CELESTIAL DRAGONS!'" Cancel laughed. Laughing was all he could do, really. Gas Port had fought so hard back then to end slavery, and now he found himself in a world ruled by slavers. Life really had a way of punching you in the nuts. "Seeing how you guys have no problem slandering the supposed descendants of the gods, I'm guessing you are Revolutionaries?"
Bruno looked like he wanted to say something, but he held himself back. Crocus however, nodded for him to continue.
"Not exactly. Our group is on friendly terms with Dragon's little gang, but we aren't a part of them. Yes, we want nothing more than to just go up to Mariejois and shred those bubbleheads apart with our bare hands, but we realize that the World Government has become a necessary evil. Dragon wants to destroy the intuition. We, on the other hand, think it's best to take it over from the inside and slowly change the course of the world." Bruno said.
"And who is 'we'?" Cancel asked.
This time it was Crocoid who spoke, "I'm sorry Cancel, but we aren't at liberty to tell you that. Bruno and I are actually no longer a part of them. If you are a hundred percent sure that you cannot live in a world where the Celestial Dragons can go unpunished for their deeds, I'm sure they'll eventually try to recruit you. Provided you have the ability to not be squashed like a bug by the Marines, of course. Massacring those pirates in broad daylight was a bad move."
Cancel shrugged. "I don't give two shits about what the Marines have to say. I may be weakened, but I think I can handle some idiots who let borrowed power get to their heads."
"Cancel I have been in your position before. You may think -" Bruno was interrupted before he could finish.
"Have you though? When was the last time you were flung centuries into the future with nothing but fragments of your memories?" Cancel was suddenly angry.
"Cancel, we're not saying those pirates didn't deserve to be punished. It's just that your actions were a bit rash." Crocoid said, trying to calm him down.
"Rash? Doctor, they were about to rape her! What else was I supposed to do?!" The building shook as Cancel's telekinesis started going haywire in his anger. Bruno gulped, while Crocoid just sighed.
"You're right. There wasn't really a better way to deal with the situation." He admitted.
Cancel sighed as well, calming down. "No, there was. I could have just knocked them all out."
"You have Conqueror's?" Bruno asked in surprise.
"Nope. But I can easily knock some weaklings out with my telekinesis. It is surprisingly easy to rattle people's brains. I … seeing what they had done to the captives, I lost control." Cancel looked down at his hands. There was a time where they used to shake by the mere thought of blood. Now, his body count was well over a hundred, and that was without counting the pirates.
"I would like to know though, why do you hold so much hatred against slavers?" Bruno asked.
"It's a long story, and I'm not sure I remember it in its entirety. Are you sure you want to know?"
Crocus and Bruno shared a look, and then nodded their heads.
"Alright. Take a seat then. I should probably start with a brief history of Gas Port. But first, how much do you guys know about people?" Cancel asked.
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean." Crocus had a questioning look on his face.
"I mean, do you know about the non-human folks like fish-men and minks?" He paused, only continuing after seeing the men nod. "Well, about a hundred years before I was born, Gas Port was home to a race of people known as Blockmen. Like the name suggests, they looked like they were made of blocks, with square heads, cuboid torsos and long rectangular limbs. They were a peaceful folk, albeit with some eccentricities. For one, they loved cubes, building their houses and other structures out of bricks molded into cubes. There were debates on their origin, but the most popular theory was that they were humans that somehow all mutated into that shape. Anyway, they lived in Gas Port, though it wasn't called that at the time, and had their own civilization there…"
The men, and Shirley, who had joined them at some point, took a seat as they listened with rapt attention to Cancel talking about the history of his hometown. None of them gave heed to the swallow that was sitting on the windowsill.