True Power of the Army
The next chapter is finally out. In this chapter more information is revealed about the revolutionary army so there are going to be follow up notes to explain. Please read them so that you'll better understand a lot of the things explained in this chapter.
"Drake," called out Doflamingo to his fellow revolutionary commander.
"Yes," replied Drake back.
"Let's finish them," said Doflamingo.
All members of the Straw Hats were in defensive positions ready to fight. The truth about the Shichbukai Bartholomew Kuma had not gotten over them but they could think about that later. Right now they had to focus on the two powerful revolutionary commanders in front of them, one who was a Shichbukai, the other a pirate from the worst generation.
Zoro took out his bandana and tied it around his head. He then finally placed his treasured sword Wado Ichimonji in his mouth showing that he was ready to use Santoryu.
"Oh, finally using Santoryu, Roronoro Zoro," remarked Drake.
"Yeah, and you're going to regret making me use it," said Zoro.
Zoro crossed his three swords across his chest with Wado Ichimonji between them. Wind began moving around him as he was powering up his attack.
"Oni …" said Zoro before charging towards Drake at full speed.
"What …" said Drake in shock at the speed and power of the attack.
"Giri," finished Zoro's attack.
Drake just had time to narrowly dodge the attack.
"Damn, that attack was both stronger and faster than any of the others," thought Drake looking at the demon swordsman.
Said demon swordsman then turned around to look at him.
"I'll have to be careful from now on" thought Drake.
Zoro as if sensing something sent another attack quickly at Doflamingo.
"Hyakuhachi Pound Ho," said Zoro quickly making a circular sweep and sending three air projectiles at Doflamingo.
Doflamingo who was about to shred one of Zoro's nakama with his powers was forced to dodge the three air practices which were compressed into one just as they were about to hit. Doflamingo narrowly evaded it only to come face to face with Sanji.
"Collier," said Sanji who attempted to kick Doflamingo's neck.
Doflamingo evaded by bending backwards only for Sanji who was above him to send another kick at downwards at him.
"Epaule," said Sanji who tried to drive his foot down at Doflamingo.
Doflamingo was able to jump out of the way at the last second.
"Those two are faster than before," said Doflamingo mentally to himself.
"And I could only assume that the other members of the crew are the same," thought Doflamingo.
And Doflamingo was right as he saw that the other members of the crew were now holding their own against Drake much better now than before.
"Maybe it was a mistake telling them about Kuma," thought Doflamingo looking at the two power houses in front of him.
"Either way, we'll still win," thought Doflamingo.
With Drake
Chopper ran towards Drake in heavy point to attack him with a powerful hit.
"Heavy Gong," said Chopper who was about to punch the commander.
However Drake caught Chopper just before he connected and slammed him hard to the ground.
"Chopper!" shouted out Ussop.
Brook was already on him as he leapt into the air at high speed thanks to his lightness from not having any flesh or muscles and attempted to stab him. Drake however quickly swatted Brook aside. Thanks to his enormous strength as a dinosaur man and Brook's lack of weight, Brook was sent flying back a far distance. Just as Brook was about to fall to the ground, many arms formed near him.
"Cien Flieur : Spider Net," said Robin.
All the arms that Robin created formed a net that cushioned Brook's fall.
"Th – th – that wasn't good," stuttered out Brook from shock.
"That's it, I've had it with you bastard," shouted an angry Franky.
"Franky Radical Beam," shouted out Franky.
Franky then sent a powerful destructive light beam towards Drake. Drake would have been seriously wounded if the attack hit. However thanks to his powerful legs granted to him by his dinosaur devil fruit, he was fast enough to dodge it. He was now right in front of Franky towering above him despite his large size but Franky was not intimidated. The two locked hands and were now interlocked attempting to overpower the other.
Franky was gritting his teeth at the sheer power of the commander. He knew he was strong, just from being a cyborg much less from all the powerful upgrades he gave to himself. Yet despite this, Drake was not moving. In fact he did not even look as if he was trying. Drake then smiled with his massive teeth.
"You're quite strong Cyborg Franky," complimented Drake.
"However not strong enough," finished Drake.
Drake then began pushing Franky back with ease.
"Incredible, Franky-san is a cyborg and yet he's being pushed back with such ease," said Brook in amazement.
Drake continued to push back Franky who then all of a sudden smirked at Drake. Drake looked curious as to why Franky was smirking when he was clearly being pushed back.
"What are you smirking at?" questioned Drake.
Franky continued to smirk at the commander before replying.
"Oh I'm smirking at this," said Franky.
"Franky…" said Franky who was about it initiate one of his attacks.
"All right Franky!" shouted both Ussop and Chopper at the same time always happy to see Franky's weapons.
"Nipple Lights," said Franky whose nipples illuminated.
"What the hell?" shouted Ussop and Chopper comically angry.
Franky's nipple lights while not an attack still worked however. The lights were fairly bright but at point blank range and directly in one's eyes, they can temporarily stun an opponent in blindness. Drake immediately let go of Franky and staggered back holding his eyes in pain from the brightness of Franky's attack.
"Arg my eyes," said Drake still clutching his eyes.
"Alright, I can't believe that lame nipple lights actually worked," said Ussop happily.
"Of course it worked," replied Franky confidently.
"This body built using technology developed by Dr. Vegapunk carries the dreams of men. It is Battle Franky – 37, Armored Me," said Franky with a dramatic pose to the point that even the background changed.
Chopper and Ussop began screaming and running around in excitement despite the fact that they were facing a powerful commander. Nami and Robin didn't look too impressed however.
"Seriously, in the middle of a big battle," said Nami frustrated.
"Now then, Franky …" said Franky.
"Fresh fire," said Franky who shot of a large fireball from his mouth that engulfed Drake.
Drake let out a roar of pain from the fire.
"All right go Franky," shouted out Ussop.
"Followed by Strong right," said Franky.
Franky then delivered a powerful punch to Drake using his massive metal arms. The attack hit and Drake stumbled back both from Franky's hit and from the fire but quickly regained his footing.
"Finally, Franky …" said Franky ready to finish off.
"Yes," shouted out both Ussop and Chopper.
"Cannon," shouted Franky as several cannons came out of his shoulders and began shooting Drake.
Drake roared out in pain from the barrage of attacks. However he quickly recovered and was about to devour Franky when suddenly.
"Joue Shoot," said Sanji who was in the air and sent a powerful kick to Drake's cheek.
The kick was so powerful that it sent Drake flying. Sanji then used Sky Walk to quickly get to Drake's location.
"Sky Walk," said Sanji as he was stepping on the air at high speed.
When Sanji was directly above him Drake he then slammed his foot directly downwards in a drilling motion.
"Brochette," said Sanji as he was spinning.
Drake however grabbed Sanji's leg and through him towards Franky with such might that the two of them were sent flying back a far distance. He then got up while panting but otherwise looked fine.
"No way, he got up after all what Franky and Sanji did," said Chopper in shock.
With Franky and Sanji who were both sent flying, the two recovered from being sent a far distance. They got up with little trouble.
"Oye Sanji you okay?" asked Franky.
"Yeah, I'm fine but that guy," said Sanji.
"What about it?" asked Franky.
"When I used Brochette, it felt like I was kicking steel," said Sanji.
"Steel, then that means …" said Franky as understanding dawned on him.
"Yeah, that guy used the same move as those CP9 guys that makes them hard like steel," finished Sanji.
Back with Drake who recovered from Sanji's attack, he was contemplating.
"That was close, if I didn't use Tekkai, then that attack would have certainly did a lot of damage," he said to himself.
"Black Leg Sanji" called out Drake.
Sanji paid attention to the commander.
"That's some power you have behind your kicks, it would have been very bad if I didn't use Tekkai," said Drake.
"Tekkai, that's one of CP9's moves that makes the user as hard as steel," said Robin.
"Then how does he know it?" asked Nami.
"Rokushiki is the standard fighting style for the world government. CP9 members know all six forms but many high ranking marines know some of the moves as well. And since he was a former rear admiral then it would make sense that he knows some of it as well," explained Robin.
While Drake was looking at the crew he didn't notice a dark thunder cloud form above his head. It's only when the cloud became very huge that its shadow became visible. Looking up he saw the cloud.
"A cloud?" said a confused Drake.
"The weather is cloudy?" said Nami who was ready to send a thunderball inside of it.
"I don't know what she's planning but I should probably move away from this cloud," thought Drake.
Just as he was about to move, many arms bloomed out of him and held him in place preventing him from moving. He looked at Robin to see her smirking.
"Ochenta Fleur," said Robin with a smirk.
"Nice Robin-san, now he can't get away from Nami-san's attack," said Brook.
"No not quite. Even with this many arms, I still can't hold him for long. He should be breaking out soon," said Robin.
"In that case Midori Boshi: Sargasso," said Ussop who using Kuro Kabuto sent a large amount of resilient sea weed that made movement much harder.
"Alright he shouldn't be getting out of this now," said Franky.
"All right then," said Nami who held onto her Socercy Clima-Tact.
"Thunderbolt temp …," said Nami before stopping.
Just as she was about to hurl some lightning balls into the cloud, she was stopped in her tracks.
"What the, oye Nami, why'd you stop?" called out Ussop.
"I can't move, wait this is just like …" said Nami remembering an earlier event in the concentration camp.
"Doflamingo!" shouted Nami out angrily.
"Of course, his devil fruit powers can make him stop or even control other people's movements," said Robin.
"Bastard, let go of Nami-san!" shouted Sanji who rushed towards Doflamingo.
Doflamingo grinned as he saw Sanji rush towards him in anger. He had his finger out and had a devious look on his face. Suddenly however Zoro appeared right infront of the raging cook and suddenly his shoulder was cut open. Sanji seeing the big wound on Zoro stopped in shock.
"What the, oye Zoro, what the hell happened?" questioned Sanji in shock.
Zoro was panting and his shoulder was bleeding profusely. It wasn't critical but it was still a deep wound.
"You were charging into him in a blind rage and left yourself wide open," said Zoro in between pants.
Then Zoro smirked.
"It just goes to show how pathetic you are to actually have to be saved," taunted Zoro.
Any concern that Sanji had for his injured nakama immediately went out the window with that taunt. If he could mock him like that then he was definitely fine.
"Che bastard, you shouldn't have done that," said Sanji.
"Of course not, it's just that you were so pathetic that I had to," mocked Zoro once again.
Sanji was about to retort when he suddenly saw Doflamingo with his finger out and knew that whatever Doflamingo did to Zoro, he was about to do it again. He then immediately kicked Zoro out of the way.
"Oye what the hell cook, I just saved your life," said Zoro angrily.
"I just repaid the favor. Doflamingo was about to do that move again that he used to cut you," replied Sanji.
Zoro realized that Sanji was right. While he was mocking Sanji at having to save him, Doflamingo was about to finish him off and Sanji just saved him by kicking him away. He didn't like being saved by Sanji but if he didn't he would have definitely died.
"I guess we're even now," said Sanji.
"Whatever," replied Zoro.
The two were interrupted by a loud scream. Turning their heads to the direction of the scream, they saw Nami being held in the large arms of Drake.
"Teme you …" said Sanji before being interrupted by Zoro.
"Oye cook," called out Zoro.
"What you shitty …" replied Sanji before seeing the look on Zoro's face.
"Okay got it," said Sanji understanding what Zoro was planning.
Zoro jumped high into the air while Sanji lifted his leg up.
"Armee de L'air," said Sanji as Zoro landed gracefully on Sanji's extended foot.
"Power Shoot," said Sanji who kicked his leg hard sending Zoro flying towards the dinosaur man.
"Santoryu," said Zoro ready to initiate his mid air attack.
"Ichi Gorilla," said Zoro whose left bicep became much larger.
"Ni Gorilla," said Zoro whose other bicep became equally as large.
"Nigori-Zake," called out Zoro as he swung his sword ready to decapitate Drake.
Drake who was holding Nami was about to crush her only to see Zoro flying towards him ready to slice his neck off. He just barely missed having his head come off, however he still took a big slash to the chest forcing him to release Nami. Brook was quick with action as he leapt and caught Nami before she fell.
"Damn you Brook, stealing the best part," said Sanji with angry eyes and shark teeth.
Sanji began tapping his leg and then began sprinting after Drake.
"Anti-Manner," said Sanji who began spinning around.
"Kick," said Sanji who was about to hit Drake with one of his strongest kicks.
"Course," called out Sanji as he let out his powerful kick.
All of a sudden Zoro jumped into the pathway of Sanji's kick.
"What the …" said Sanji in surprise seeing Zoro jump into his attack.
Sanji's attack hit Zoro dead on sending him flying into the revolutionary base.
"That baka, what the hell was he doing?" question Sanji confused as to why Zoro would get in the way of his attack.
"Hahahahaha, you must really hate your crewmate to hit him with that kind of attack," the cackling voice of Doflamingo said.
Sanji now understood what happened. Doflamingo controlled Zoro's movements and forced him to intercept his attack.
"Bastard," cursed out Sanji.
Doflamingo would have continued to laugh when all of a sudden several arms bloomed around him. Robin just used Seis Fleur to get a hold of Doflamingo. Robin was about to use clutch and break his spine when a massive fist almost knocked her down.
"Robin-chan!" called out Sanji at seeing one of his beloved women get nearly knocked down.
Even though Sanji saw that Franky almost knocked Robin down, he knew who the true culprit was. Doflamingo just used his powers to control Franky and made him attack Robin thus forcing her to release her hold on the Shichbukai.
Franky then continued to attack Robin who tried to do her best to dodge his attacks. However she used her devil fruit to quickly restrain him. However it was short lived when all of a sudden Chopper who was in heavy point began attacking her.
"Chopper!" cried out Nami at seeing Chopper attack Robin.
Sanji had enough and tried to kick Doflamingo however Doflamingo's natural reflexes allowed him to easily avoid it.
"Hahahaha you see, this is the power of the revolutionary army. The power that is beyond your understanding," said Doflamingo.
"Teme I don't give a shit about you or the revolutionary army. I just want to beat the shit out of you for what you did to Nami-san, Robin-chan and Pellinopee-chan," countered Sanji.
"You beat me, you've been trying to do that for the entire fight but you couldn't, just like how you couldn't the first time we met," replied Doflamingo.
"You caught me off guard that time. I wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. More importantly," said Sanji.
"More importantly," repeated Doflamingo curiously.
"I have my crew with me. You wouldn't get away with all that you did," said Sanji.
"You can't stop me no matter how much you try," said Doflamingo.
Sanji and the crew were not intimidated.
"Even if you did somehow managed to miraculously defeat myself and Drake, you'll have the full might of the revolutionary army after you," said Doflamingo.
"You'll be facing the commanders, all of whom are on par with the Shichbukai. They are distinguished from their blue cloaks" explained Doflamingo.
The Straw Hats all continued looking at the Shichbukai turned commander seriously.
"However that is only just the beginning of your troubles, for you'll soon experience the ultimate fighting force of the revolutionary army," continued Doflamingo.
"The elite subordinates of Lord Dragon, the pinnacle of the revolutionary army, the Knights of D," said Doflamingo.
"Knights of D," repeated Robin who was shocked at hearing the mention of D.
"That's right, thirteen of the strongest fighters in the world each of whom have strength paralleling that of a marine admiral and all of whom answer only to Lord Dragon," said Doflamingo.
"You said Knights of D, does that mean that …" asked Robin who didn't want to finish the question.
"Yes, they are all D's" responded Doflamingo.
"All – all – all Ds" stuttered Nami.
Zoro who got back to the fight after being sent flying by Sanji's anti manner kick course couldn't help but sweat a bit in fear as did all of the Straw Hats.
The Straw Hats all felt a chill run down their spine. They have fought many strong enemies, the Shichbukai, CP9, an underground criminal organization and even two admirals though they lost badly. However the one thing they never fought before was a D. They didn't know much about the Ds except one thing. When it came to battle, they were all unstoppable. Monkey D Luffy, their own beloved captain who defeated every foe they ever came across. Portgas D Ace, the brother of Luffy and a man with a 500 000 000 beli bounty whom was the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and whom was an extremely powerful fighter. Monkey D Garp, a legendary marine hero who was one of the most powerful and respected marines in existence and whom was most famous for cornering the legendary Pirate King himself. Gol D Roger, the King of the Pirates, said to be the most powerful pirate ever, the father of the extremely powerful pirate Portgas D Ace and whom Luffy, the strongest person they ever knew aspired to be like. Marshall D Teach, a member of the Yonkou, the four strongest pirates in the world, someone capable of defeating Portgas D Ace all of whom they knew was a super powerhouse and the only person to possess more than one devil fruit. Finally the most dangerous of them all, Monkey D Dragon, the powerful father of Luffy, the leader of the revolutionary army and now perhaps the ruler of the world.
Each of these men shared the middle initial D. Each of these men had such extraordinary strength and willpower that they were almost believed to be blessed by the heavens. Everywhere they went, incredible events happened. The Straw Hats have faced a lot but they never faced any being like this. Now they find out that they may have to face not one, but thirteen such heavenly warriors. According to Doflamingo, each of these thirteen men with such incredible bloodlines had power on par with an admiral. Just what kind of individual was Dragon to have guys like these under his command? What kind of deity like power did he have to keep such guys in line? The Straw Hats felt fear grip them.
"T – t – thirteen guys," stuttered a very frightened Ussop.
"A – a -all with power of par with an admiral," stuttered Chopper.
"And are all Ds" stuttered Franky.
Sanji and Zoro both had grave looks on their faces knowing if what Doflamingo said was true, then it meant one thing. The revolutionary army was indeed unstoppable. Just one admiral alone was big problems for them, but these Knights would be like facing thirteen of them. The mere thought sent fear through each member of the Straw Hats, such that some of them thought that Doflamingo was bluffing.
"N – n – no way, you're bluffing. I'm a liar and I know a lie when I hear it," said Ussop trying to believe that Doflamingo really was bluffing to make himself feel better.
"Y – yeah that's right. There's no way that you could possibly have thirteen guys like that in the army," stuttered Chopper who too wanted to believe that Doflamingo was just lieing to them.
Doflamingo seeing the fear pounced on it.
"Oh am I , I see that you don't believe me," said Doflamingo with his joker like grin.
The Straw Hats all looked at him with expressions showing that they really didn't believe him or more specifically, didn't want to believe him.
"If you don't believe me then perhaps the events of the invasion should clear any doubts," said Doflamingo.
All the Straw Hats looked at Doflamingo while remembering what they read about in the papers.
"As you know, the world government has many extremely strong fighters in their ranks. Seven admiral class fighters, those being Kizaru, Akainu and the Gorosei. Furthermore they have many vice admirals among them, along with hundreds of other marines and world government officials. Not to mention Pacifista units. Naturally an incredible fighting force would be needed to take down these men. A force such as thirteen bearers of D who each have power comparable to an admiral can do this," explained Doflamingo.
The Straw Hats didn't want to believe it but knew Doflamingo was right. To take down so many strong guys at once, the revolutionary army would indeed need to have a group of mega powerhouses in their forces. And as much as they didn't want to believe it, these Knights of D definitely wielded that kind of power.
"Th – then it's true," said Nami with her hands on her mouth.
"It appears so," said Robin who had worry present in her voice, unusual for her but given the revelation couldn't blame her.
"Furthermore, Monkey D Luffy is one of these thirteen Knights," said Doflamingo.
"Luffy is one of them," said Nami.
"That's right. He is one of the Knights who took part in the invasion of Mariejois as you are aware of. The dark green cloak that you saw him wear in the papers is the signature look of the Knights. Furthermore he was the one responsible for slaying Fleet Admiral Akainu," stated Doflamingo.
The Straw Hats despite missing Luffy dearly couldn't help but feel proud of him. He killed the fleet admiral, the leader of the marines and one of the strongest members of the entire world government as a whole. Furthermore he was able to kill the man that murdered his brother. They all missed him, Nami and Robin more so but they were glad that he was able to avenge his brother. Nami and Robin despite finding out how uphill the battle truly was, were at least happy to hear that much about him.
"Luffy, you did, you really did it," said Nami thinking about her incredible captain.
"Luffy, I so happy for you," said Robin also thinking about the young boy captain.
"Luffy actually killed Akainu," said Ussop who was happy about it.
"Just how did he get so strong?" asked Zoro.
The crew all turned to Zoro.
"I know Luffy is strong especially after training with Rayliegh for two years. But not even he could take on someone like Akainu so soon," said Zoro.
"So how did he get so much stronger in only a month?" asked Zoro.
The Straw Hats looked at Doflamingo for an answer. It was a good and legitimate question. It was true that Luffy was invincible but against the fleet admiral, they doubted his invincibility could be that great.
"Well it's a great power, a power exclusive only to the bearers of D, it is the Will of D, the power of D," stated Doflamingo.
"In the Grand Line, there are two main sources of power. The first is the devil fruit which is common in the entire Grand Line. Secondly is the power of haki which is more prevalent in the New World. But there is also a third power, a power exclusive only to those with the name D. It is this power that made Luffy so much more powerful," said Doflamingo.
"So what is this power of D?" asked Zoro.
Doflamingo grinned at the question.
"It is the power of the gods," replied Doflamingo.
The Straw Hats looked at Doflamingo like he was insane when Doflamingo had to explain.
"I'm sure that you have heard many stories about legendary warriors with incredible strength. Even though these stories are just legends, all legends come from some truth. And the truth that inspired these legends was the warriors who possessed this great power, the power of D," explained Doflamingo.
The Straws Hats looked at Doflamingo with mixed expressions. These Knights of D that Doflamingo spoke of had the power of legends, the power of the gods. Even though they knew that it may have been an exaggeration, given the D's track record of victories and making the impossible possible, there may have been truth to what he just said and that these guys may have been the real stuff of legends.
"We – we –we're going to have to fight thirteen guys that have the power of Gods," stuttered a scared Ussop.
Franky gritted in teeth at what Doflamingo said.
"I guess we have no choice," said Franky gritting his teeth.
"Looks like these are going to be by far our strongest enemies," said Sanji.
"So I believe that these Knights were the ones took down the emperors," deduced Robin.
"If these guys are as strong as you say they are, then they definitely have the power to defeat them all," concluded Robin.
"Well you're mostly right," replied Doflamingo.
"Mostly?" asked Robin.
"Yes. The Knights took down Kaido and Big Mam. Red Hair Shanks was however killed by Blackbeard as I said earlier," said Doflamingo.
The Straw Hats all couldn't help but flinch at hearing Luffy's idol murdered.
"Last but not least is the third group of powerful revolutionaries that serve Dragon-sama," said Doflamingo.
"Another group of strong guys," said a scared Chopper.
"Great as if the commanders and those Knights weren't bad enough," commented Sanji.
The rest of the Straw Hats listened as Doflamingo explained the third great power of the revolutionary army.
"They are a group of powerful revolutionaries who have unique powers, powers that make them extremely powerful and dangerous. They are the Special Weapons," said Doflamingo.
"The Special Weapons are all strong fighters who posses powers that are on par with that of the Knights. The Knights have more raw power, the Special Weapons have unique powers that make them equally has powerful and as dangerous as the Knights. They all wear red cloaks signifying them," said Doflamingo.
"The revolutionary commanders, the Knights of D and the Special Weapons, these are the three great powers of the revolutionary army. The bulk of the army's powers are concentrated in the hands of these three forces. All of them answer to Lord Dragon," finished Doflamingo.
"Now do you see how futile your efforts are? Even if you defeated myself and Drake, you'll be crushed by the fury of the army. You insects should just know your place," mocked Doflamingo.
Each of the Straw Hats had shadowed looks on their faces which to Doflamingo looked almost like defeated and submissive looks.
"Are you finished Doflamingo?" asked Zoro.
"What?" asked Doflamingo.
"I said are you finished your explanation?" asked Zoro again.
"Because if you are then we'll give you our response," said Zoro.
"All that you've been talking about. We've heard it all in the past. Crocodile and Moriah told us something similar about us being nothing to the Shichbukai and we beat them. The world government didn't scare us which was why we burnt down their flag. So you are you're army, your commanders, Knights, Special Weapons and whatnot, we'll take them. We'll take them all if it means saving Luffy, saving our nakama," explained Zoro.
"I'm going to admit that those guys do sound way too strong for us, and I'll admit that we may actually die if we face them, but that's fine. We'll die trying if it's for our nakama," explained Zoro.
"We wouldn't let your leader get away with what he has done. Taking our captain away from us, making Pellinopee-chan suffer, everything. We may be in over our heads, but even the so called might of the revolutionary army and the power of D or whatever cannot overcome our bonds," explained Sanji.
"He made the two lovely ladies of our crew fuss over one of our nakama and hurt another one because of what he did to her kingdom. We'll not just let him get away with this," said Sanji.
"I don't know the full story of why Luffy joined Dragon or became one of these Knights, but he didn't know the full story about me when he asked me to join. I don't need to know the story because it doesn't matter. What matters is that we'll get him back no matter what. And he'll beat up your commanders, Knights and Special Weapons before taking down your leader himself," said Nami.
"This crew didn't in anyway shape or form back down when the might of the world government came down on them. So they wouldn't do so with the revolutionary army. They were willing to take on the world for me and they'll certainly take on the world for him as well," said Robin.
"I may be a liar and a coward but I'll never leave a nakama behind no matter what. Count on it," said Ussop.
"You have Knights and Special Weapons. We'll we have monsters in the crew that will beat up all your Knights and Special Weapons. And when we get Luffy back he'll show you all a thing or two," said Chopper.
"You shouldn't underestimate us, because bad things happen to people who do that. We always prove them wrong and we'll do so now," said Franky.
"I've seen death and been through death. But it's okay to die if you don't have regrets. But if I was to let this continue, that would be one of the biggest regrets of my life. I died once and had so many regrets. This time it would be different," said Brook.
Doflamingo was extremely shocked at the crew's strength. He knew that they were very strong when he had that conversation with them when most of them were captured. But he figured that if he revealed the true power of the army then it would make them think otherwise. It didn't. In fact it seemed to have made them stronger. This crew was certainly the most dangerous crew in the world and probably the biggest threat to the revolutionary army.
They had to be eliminated at all costs.
Finally done. Hope you enjoy this chapter like the others. Since there are things that might need clarification, there are end of chapter notes. Please read them and review the story everyone.
Straw Hats becoming more aggressive: The Straw Hats after hearing the truth about Kuma are now fighting more aggressively and more focused than before. Hearing that Kuma gave up so much to stop Dragon sparked something in them that is making them want to win more than ever. And as a result, Doflamingo and Drake are having a harder time to the point that Doflamingo thought that perhaps it was a mistake telling them the truth about Kuma. In fact part of the reason that Doflamingo told the Straw Hats about the commanders, Knights and Special Weapons was to intimidate them since they were now fighting differently than before.
Drake using tekkai : Many vice admirals are seen using some of the rokushiki techniques. Since Drake was a former rear admiral then it would make sense that he would know some of the rokushiki techniques. However he left the marines as a rear admiral so he didn't get a chance to learn how to use more rokushiki techniques. Since he didn't learn much about the rokushiki having left early, he doesn't use it much. He only uses it when he has no choice such as when he is unable to block or dodge an attack. Even then he doesn't use tekkai since his raw power and armament haki is so powerful that he is capable of taking most attacks and shrugging them off as he did with most of the Straw Hats, even Franky who himself possesses a lot of raw power. However because Sanji's kick for example is not only extremely powerful but he uses haki to make it much stronger, Drake chose to use tekkai in order to block it. Sanji's kick would have done a lot of damage more than even a lot of Franky's attacks if he didn't use tekkai. Franky's most powerful attack, the Franky Radical Beam while even stronger than most of Sanji's strongest kicks is an easy thing to dodge since it requires time to charge and Franky doesn't have observation haki while Drake does. So rather than use tekkai to block the Franky Radical Beam, he would dodge it instead. Sanji though is not only much faster but also has observation haki so blocking or dodging his attacks is significantly harder (though not impossible) so Drake would have to use tekkai instead. Even then he'll only use tekkai when he can't block, dodge or take the attack.
Drake doesn't possess much mastery over rokushiki : Rokushiki seems to be something that is really embraced by vice admirals and above. So only vice admirals and above truly use rokushiki properly. Even then vice admirals only seem to use a few of the techniques mostly soru and geppou, though Vergo also uses shigan as well. Since vice admirals only use a few of the rokushiki techniques, it is likely that those below vice admiral don't use rokushiki at all or only have mastery over one technique at most. Since Drake left the marines as a rear admiral, he only uses one rokushiki technique, tekkai which even then he doesn't use too much. Coby however even though he is far below vice admiral seems fairly adept at a few of their moves. That is because his teacher is Garp who is rather insane when it comes to training as proof with what he did to Luffy (throwing him off a cliff, leaving him in a jungle full of wild animals etc). So Garp taught Coby how to use rokushiki much earlier than he normally would teach his students. Furthermore Garp taught Coby how to use rokushiki because of Coby's friendship with Luffy and that Coby is the marine that Garp always dreamt of training. Remember Garp wanted Luffy and Ace to be marines but since they are pirates, he focused on Coby instead and Coby seems to be making Garp proud hence why he is being trained so much.
The revolutionary commanders: The revolutionary commanders are pretty much the generals and front line soldiers of the revolutionary army, the ones who take command of the armies. They all wear blue cloaks unless circumstance makes them remove it. Ivankov for example was in Impel Down so they confiscated his cloak. Doflamingo was a Shichbukai so he didn't wear the cloak or else everyone would know his true allegiance to Dragon. The same thing applies to Drake and Law since they were posing as pirates, though Law is no longer a revolutionary. Furthermore each revolutionary commander is on par with a Shichbukai, as shown that Kuma and Doflamingo are actual Shichbukai and Ivankov was able to hold his own against Kuma. That essentially meant that the Straw Hats had to fight two Shichbukai level fighters on Kaien Kingdom. The revolutionary commanders are very famous and Robin pretty much knows a lot of them. However she obviously didn't meet all of them and the ones she did meet are the good ones. The more ruthless ones, Robin only knows them by name and the fact that they are very strong. She doesn't know that these revolutionary commanders are ruthless or brutal since Dragon made sure that Robin didn't meet these commanders.
The Straw Hats never fought a D before: The Straw Hats have faced a lot. They faced Baroque Works, an entire underground criminal organization led by the Shichbukai Crocodile. They faced Enel, a self proclaimed god who had the power to back up his claim since it was only because of Luffy's rubber body that he was able to win. They faced CP9, the top assassins of the world government and not just any CP9, but the strongest generation of CP9 in history. They faced Oz one of the biggest giants in the world who couldn't feel pain due to being a zombie and who had his power severely increased by Luffy's shadow and Moriah's power, along with Moriah himself who was a Shichbukai. They faced so many powerful foes but the one thing they have never fought before, ever was a D. Furthermore every D they know was not only undoubtedly extremely powerful, but massive events followed them. Luffy himself is a prime example. Ace was the second division commander of the Whitebeard pirates and had a 500 000 000 beli bounty on his head. Garp is a legendary marine hero who cornered the Pirate King many times in the past. Gol D Roger himself was the pirate king. Marshall D Teach is a member of the Yonko and Monkey D Dragon is the leader of the revolutionary army. As you can see every D is not only extremely strong but also a powerful figure. The Straw Hats never fought a D before and now they have to fight thirteen of them. Even the Straw Hats can't help but feel some fear at this prospect.
Straw Hats feeling fear at Doflamingo's description: The Straw Hats are not fearless, they do feel fear at Doflamingo's description of the revolutionary army. However the Straw Hats can overcome that fear. Right now the will to get Luffy back and stop Dragon is greater than their fear of the army. So even though they initially reacted in fear, they were able to fight it and conquer it. They are afraid of the Knights but they understand that if they don't fight them, they'll never get Luffy back. The same thing applied with the Straw Hats when they went to Ennies Lobby to save Robin. Hell even Luffy can feel fear though briefly because he gets over it quickly. When he saw Moriah absorb a thousand shadows, he did initially show fear but he quickly got over it realizing that if he didn't do anything, everyone would die. Likewise when he saw Whitebeard tilt Marineford he did react with fear but he didn't have time to be afraid since he had to save Ace. The Straw Hats are not fearless, but they overcome their fear with their bonds.
Straw Hats having trouble with just one admiral class enemy: If you remember just one admiral was able to completely dominate the crew. Aokiji and Kizaru both nearly crushed the crew and the only reason they escaped both times was because of circumstance. Aokiji let them escape to repay Luffy for defeating Crocodile and Kuma saved the crew from Kizaru at Sabody Archipelago. Even though the crew is now much stronger, just one admiral can still give them an extremely hard time, especially now that Luffy isn't here anymore. Not only have they lost their strongest fighter, but the one who really gave them the strength to fight the admirals. With him gone, the chances of the crew defeating just one admiral class fighter went down a lot. Now they have to fight thirteen of them, one of whom is Luffy, the same Luffy whom they all thought of as unstoppable and now whom in stronger than ever before. They really have an uphill battle against them.
Robin's losing her composure: Robin does not usually lose her cool under any circumstances except for one, and that is when they are fighting an admiral. When the Straw Hats encountered Aokiji, she had a panic attack and she once again lost her cool when Kizaru arrived. So if she can lose her cool against one admiral, then she definitely would against the prospect of facing thirteen equally powerful guys.
Zoro questioning how is Luffy strong enough to kill Akainu: Zoro truly believes that Luffy wouldn't lose. But he is also a realist. He believes that Luffy could defeat Akainu but he doesn't believe that Luffy can do so now. Maybe 6 months to a year from now, but not now. Even he knows that the fleet admiral would be too much for him at the present moment. That is why he questioned Doflamingo on how Luffy got so strong. Again I want to stress that Zoro knows that Luffy can kill Akainu, just that he can't do it right now. He'll have to get much stronger, which he did with the power of D.
The Knights of D: They are the strongest warriors of the revolutionary army, thirteen fighters all of whom posses the power of D. A bit of the power of D is explained below and more will be revealed later in the story. The Knights all wear dark green cloaks similar to what Dragon wears. Each of them has power on par with a marine admiral.
A bit about the Will of D is explained: Doflamingo has revealed some of it though not much and albeit cryptically. It is a power exclusively only to the D. But it is also described as the power of the gods. In the world there are two sources of power. The first is the devil fruit which becomes common in Paradise, the first half of the Grand Line. The second is haki which is common in the New World and is arguably greater than the devil fruit. However there is a third secret power. This is the greatest power of all, exceeding even that of the devil fruits and haki. Furthermore it is also extremely unknown and extremely rare. It is the power of D. The power of D is described as the power of the gods. In One Piece there are many legends. However all legends come from some kind of truth. In the Blues, the devil fruit is believed to be only a myth but it was proven true in the Grand Line. Skypia was believed to be only a legend but it was proven to be real. In history there are so many extraordinarily powerful beings that as so strong that they are believed to be gods. In fact many people believe that these gods are only a legend. However like all legends there is some truth behind these myths. And the truth was that the stories, myths and legends of these gods and god like fighters were inspired by the powerful warriors who awakened the Will of D.
Special Weapons: They are the third and final group of extremely powerful warriors of the revolutionary army. They wear red cloaks to distinguish themselves. The Special Weapons are beings who have unique powers and when I say unique, I mean unique even by New World standards which is known for freakish stuff. The Special Weapons may not have the raw power of the Knights but have unique powers that make them equally as powerful and as dangerous as the Knights.
The revolutionary army's strongest warriors: The revolutionary commanders, the Knights of D and the Special Weapons. They make up the true power of the revolutionary army. The commanders lead the army masses, the Knights have the raw power and the Special Weapons contribute unique abilities. To put them all into perspective, think of it like this. The revolutionary commanders are like generals leading the masses. The Knights of D are like the secret super soldier project where the soldiers are made much stronger by extremely powerful drugs, in the case of the Knights, the power of D. The Special Weapons are like psychics or mutants who may not have the raw power of the super soldier or Knights in this case, but have unique powers that make them equally as dangerous.
Doflamingo did not mention the Blackbeard Pirates in his explanation of the power of the revolutionary army: Doflamingo mentioned the commanders, the Knights and the Special Weapons. But he didn't include the Blackbeard Pirates which has a Yonkou and several of the most dangerous Level 6 Impel Down Inmates. That is because he is still trying to keep up the illusion that Blackbeard is merely an ally of Dragon, not a subordinate. You can understand why because if he tells the Straw Hats that Blackbeard is one of the Knights, they would tell Luffy who himself despises Blackbeard. That would result in Luffy leaving the army and Luffy is one of the three most important men, the other two are Ren and Blackbeard. If Luffy leaves, the Dragon would have a much harder time becoming the ruler of the world since Luffy is both a D and Tenryuubito. Furthermore Robin might deduce the truth about Dragon's manipulation of the War of the Best which would make things even worse for the army and make an even bigger enemy of Luffy. Also they knowing the truth about Blackbeard, they would tell other people about Dragon's role in the war and it would encourage more people to rebel against him. It would also allow the Straw Hats to gain more allies since many people suffered during the war. The Blackbeard Pirates can be thought of as the forth group of warriors under Dragon though they are not technically revolutionaries since they serve Blackbeard, not Dragon but they are still extremely strong and serve Dragon indirectly through Blackbeard himself. But since they are not revolutionaries as far as the Straw Hats are concerned, then he didn't include them in his description. To the Straw Hats, the Blackbeard Pirates are allies to the revolutionary army, not actual revolutionaries, so no reason to mention them as part of the army.
Doflamingo's philosophy: Doflamingo seemed to have a might is right mindset believing that the strong are the ones who make the rules and the weak follows them. So if Doflamingo was to follow this philosophy, then naturally Doflamingo himself would have to be on the side of the strongest. And what out there is stronger than the revolutionary army? The answer no one, nothing. The revolutionary army has the commanders, the Knights of D and the Special Weapons. Finally they have the strongest being in the world Dragon himself. As you can see there is no force greater than the revolutionary army which is why he joined them in the first place. Given Doflamingo's might is right philosophy, then it would make sense that he side with the strongest, which in this story is Dragon and the revolutionary army.
I didn't want to reveal the commanders or the Special Weapons which is why I didn't include them in the profile of the Knights of D. I conveniently made sure to avoid mentioning the Special Weapons or making any references to them since I didn't want to reveal too much. However this was the perfect time to mention them. Doflamingo mentioned them to scare the Straw Hats and break them though it didn't work.
Profile of the revolutionary army: Since I mentioned the commanders, Knights and Special Weapons, later I would take down the profile of the Knights of D and replace it with a profile of the revolutionary army which describes the members of the commanders, Knights and Special Weapons. That list is still tentative, as even though I have a good idea of what they are in my mind, I might be making changes to their abilities or backgrounds. But it would give you an idea of what to expect in the future.
Review as always people.