2 Rescue and Revenge

But what could I do?

This question left me pondering in the dark and dampy tunnel for a good amount of time. I slowly went through all the solutions I conjured up, but all of them were swiftly cut down.

Kill the guards and escape? Wouldn't work, all the guards have guns and It would be impossible to dodge a bullet as I am now, let alone hundreds of them.

Sneak out and escape through a ship? This was very plausible, but the only ships that came here were ships to bring in slaves, which were occupied by guards both inside and outside the ship. I also didn't know when the ship would arrive, so escaping too early or too late would immediately give me a death sentence.

This left me with one other option, and that was to escape the island using my own body(no, I'm not talking about sexual favours). This method primarily involved the Rokushiki and a well trained and built body. The plan was to take turns using Soru and Geppo to cover large amounts of distance until my legs got tired. Once my legs inevitably got tired I would then switch to swimming which primarily involved my arms and muscle strength, giving my legs time to rest. My arms would eventually tire out, and only then would I switch back to the Rokushiki above water. I would also have to be naked, but it was a small price to pay for salvation. This process would then repeat itself until I found some land or a ship or some sorts.

The plan wasn't the best, but it was the only one I could come up with which doesn't involve a bullet in my head. This plan also had many downsides, as it relied on my stamina and strength of my body, meaning I would probably have to wait at least 5 years before my body could perform them.

The hardest part of this plan was Patience, I would have to train on top of work for thousands of days and bide my time until I was strong enough. If I attempted my plan too early then my muscles could get permanently damaged, which was something I didn't want, I needed to learn the Rokushiki without risk of permanent injury.

This brought me onto my next problem, food. The body needed the correct supplements to grow properly, and luckily the slop they provided here did just that, only in very small portions. As much as it hurt to say, I would need to resort to stealing food from other slaves.

I sighed for a second, closing my eyes and letting my brain rest from all that thinking. Now that I had established a plan, I needed to get to work. I picked up the massive pickaxe with a grunt of exertion, and swung.

*CHINK*

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*CHING* *CHING* *CHING*

*CLANK*

I smiled in satisfaction as the ruby I had been prying at finally fell on the floor. I wiped the sweat off my brow, taking deep breaths to slow my heart rate down and recover my breath. It had been roughly one year since the day I had been transferred into the work of one piece, leaving my old body and world behind.

Nothing noteworthy had happened in that time(aside from me fighting for my life 24/7, which is a lot harder than fanfiction makes it out to be). Everyday was the same, we would wake up and work for 16 hours with some breaks for food and drink in between. The rest of our time was spent sleeping, which was something every slave needed after working all day.

Everyone usually kept to themselves, conflicts were counterproductive, and would only waste energy and get you in trouble with the guards, which was something nobody wanted.Everyone knew combining boredom with a position of power was not a good thing, as one minor fuck up from you meant being beat to death by the guards. Just trying to survive everyday was a chore, so nobody made it harder picking pointless fights with each other for food. Everyone was equal here, no racism or discrimination existed because we were all at the bottom of the barrel with no way out.

In addition to my work, I forced my body to train in between breaks and short rest times when I was alone. The beginning was the hardest, everyday I would wake up with aches, pains and dreary eyes(often the result of nightmares), but my body slowly got accustomed to the pain and It slowly got easier.

In fanfiction they mention the training in passing, like it's something that is easy and you get accustomed to and is barely worth mentioning when it's the most tiring and hard experience of your life.

Coupled with my food shortage and my prepubescent body, it took everything out of me to get up and train after a long day of work. I wanted to just fall asleep, but I knew I couldn't let it become a habit so I started to do exercise even when my body protested.

I started slowly, beginning with basic stretches or a short sprint, but I slowly worked my way up, eventually having a good training routine that made me feel satisfied at the end of each day.

This change obviously wasn't visible on my small body, but I let loose a couple of months back and tested my limits, and it was safe to say I was much stronger than an average adult, im guessing 1 year of training in this environment does that to you.

I was very strong, but I still had a couple of years to go before my body was superhuman and I could safely perform the rokushiki without risk of permanent injury.

My train of thought was cut off by the booming sound of the guards' voices. It was currently lunch time, and me and the rest of my comrades were at the entrance of the mine waiting for food. Some of them were sitting down from the grueling task of walking up the stairs, while the rest already had their hands together in front of them, desperate for food.

My hands merely stayed at my side, I was a slave, the lowest of the low, I refused to degrade myself any further by acting desperate for food when it wasn't needed. The guards didn't care, at the end of the day everyone got the same amount of food and no amount of begging or pleading could change that, something the slaves seemed oblivious to.

"Ok, listen up scum! We've done this a million times already, but for those of you who are new or have memory issues listen up! Form a single file line, when you reach the front of the line place your hands together and your food will be given to you. Anyone who makes any issues means no food for the day, any more issues and you will be shot, got it!"

The guard seemed pleased at the chorus of tired nods and mumbles, so he gave the get go and nodded towards the front of the line.

One by one the slaves slowly shuffled to get their food. A pile of mush was dumped on their hands, and they were forced to eat it in 10 minutes, after that they would get their bottle of water and go off to work again.

It was a seemingly normal process, but so degrading towards the slaves, treating them like they weren't even human. This process was obviously done on purpose, as being treated like this everyday further worsened their mental state, making them feel worthless.

A couple of minutes later I was near the front of the line. I heard some speaking at the front, so I peaked out the edge of the line in interest.

I looked towards the front of the line, eyes widening in recognition as I saw the person who was holding it up.

'Isn't that...Jonathan?'

Jonathan was a recently arrived slave, his main distinguishable feature being that he was...fat. Apart from that there was nothing noteworthy about him.

"Please! I'm starving, I can't do this anymore" Jonathan pleaded.

"Everyone gets the same amount, deal with it"

"Please!" The slave pleaded once more, desperately grabbing onto the guards shoulders.

Bad Idea.

"Get...Your...Filthy...Hands...OFF ME" The guard swiftly pulled out his gun, aiming it towards Jonthans face and shooting him without a moment's hesitation.

*THUD*

Jonothans body drops to the floor, motionless, his face a mangled mess with a whole in the center, an all too familiar sight. I smile sadly at his dead body. I guessed his life before being made a slave was full of privilege, he must have constantly begged his parents for food and possessions, and it worked. I'm guessing he believed it would work on the guards. I could tell he wasn't going to last the moment he arrived, nearly anyone who paid attention could.

'Looks like I'm having porridge with brain guts again...' I thought grimly, thinking back to the first time something similar happened and I had to eat red porridge.

My eyes focused back to Jonothan, I noticed he still had small clunks of porridge on his hands.

Jackpot! Looks like I'm eating well tonight, I just need to eat it before they remove the body at nightfall.

"Let that serve as an example to anyone who touches us with your filthy hands!" The guard said, bringing me back into focus with my eyes staring straight in front. Even a moment of eye contact could be the death of you, as they believed that you were being defiant and challenging their authority. It's shown that even giving authority to a normal person makes them very violent and power drunk, making them unpredictable and prone to lash out.

They wanted to break you... make sure you didn't even think about hurting them. Their tactic worked quite often, but not with me. After I escaped, I would come back here when I was strong enough and kill all the guards. They were only as powerful as their weapons, nothing compared to the future threats I might face.

[A/N: look up stanford prison experiment]

"Now, let's get back to it, we don't have all da-"

*BANG*

A loud bang shook the interior of the mine, shaking it to its core. The walls and floors shook violently, making nearly everyone fall to the ground. I managed to stay on my feet despite the explosion, but many other slaves were on the ground and stuck there in fear.

My ears ringing due to the loud bang, book I looked towards the source of the noise, above. All I saw was a large gaping hole, meaning someone had done this, but who?

Silhouettes surrounded the edges of the hole as smoke filled the room and panic settled in. Loud screams and gunshots were heard as the Guards tried to maintain order but ultimately failed. Despite initially being closer to the guards, I managed to scramble away, making my way towards one of the tunnels.

I paid the slaves no mind as I ran past them. Some were frozen in fear, while others were pissing themselves, whereas a few were hyperventilating, different people had different reactions. I managed to slip past the gunshots and fighting as I slipped into one of the tunnels.

'What the fuck is going on? Is this Island being attacked? But who? It obviously isn't the Navy, and a Pirate would never find this island and attack it with the security it has, so who could it be?'

I pondered the question for a moment, letting it simmer in my mind for a moment until I finally figured out the answer.

'Ah! It must be the Revolutionary Army! I forgot about them. They're the only ones who have a reason for attacking here, and Dragon probably had an intelligence network to figure out where this Island was.' I concluded.

I walked further and further into the tunnel, eventually finding what I was looking for, a pickaxe. I obviously wasnt going to stay back like a coward and let the Revolutionary army do all the fighting for me, fuck that. I picked up the rusty and worn pickaxe, testing the weight in my hands for a second.

With all the chaos going on I was confident enough to fight them, the guards were scattered, distracted, and too busy fighting other people to worry about the possibility of a slave attacking them.

I silently made my way out of the tunnel, ducking low while holding a tight grip on the pickaxe. My keen eye spotted one of the guards running away from the fighting. What a Pussy.

I began following him, my silent footsteps arching closer and closer towards him. I ducked low, making myself as small as possible as I picked up speed, now right behind him.

"Hey!" I shouted from behind him, and he frantically turned around only for me to thrust a pickaxe into his head. It slid through his jaw, all the way through the head and exited out the top of his skull. It was an instant death, something I was mildly annoyed about despite the situation.

I kneeled down, looming over his dead body and went through his pockets. I eventually managed to find what I was looking for, a gun. I inspected the pistol, and seeing it was just a basic one made me slightly chuckle.

'Just a basic pistol, but so much power over all of us' I thought while inspecting it.

I pulled the chamber, silently counting the amount of bullets.

'3 bullets, gotta make them count'

I made sure the safety was off(thank you movies) and advanced into the smoke, feeling it get thicker as I advanced further. I narrowed my eyes and sharpened my senses making sure to be careful of my surroundings, 1 wrong move and I could end up dead with a bullet in my brain and it would be game over.

I still needed to pay a debt to this poor kid and live my second life, actually see the sun, have a proper bed, eat proper food, Those were all things I wanted to experience again.

Even through the thick smoke, I finally managed to spot my next target. Like the previous scenario, I was right behind him, the only difference was that the guard was actually fighting someone.

The guard swung his empty rifle, connecting with a green dotted palm. I looked up, and it was then I saw a green fishman in a white karate suit, which confirmed my suspicions.

'So I was right, this is the revolutionary army'

I slowly creeped behind the guard, every so often glancing in the other direction in case of a sneak attack. I closed one eye, holding my gun forward with my finger to the trigger, waiting like a predator to devour its prey.

He was moving too much fighting Hack, and I wouldn't want to risk wasting any bullets that could miss or hit Hack, so I stayed in the midst of the smoke waiting. My biggest strength was my stealth due to my height, and with a basic gun my attack stat was maxed out against normal humans. A minute later, and the guard finally stopped moving around so much, allowing me to take the shot.

*BANG*

A small hole pierced the guard's head, making his body slump to the ground. I felt a small sense of satisfaction seeing his dead body, but it quickly went away. I was in a battlefield and had much bigger issues to worry about.

My eyes met Hacks, who seemed to be eyeing me with a curious gaze.

"Than- wait kid, who are you, I haven't seen you before?"

"I'm a slave idiot, I live here. Not all of us are powerless people who won't fight back! I gotta go, I only have 2 bullets left!"

"Hey, kid wait!" He held his hand out trying to stop me, but I was already off running before he finished his sentence.

While the sounds of fighting continued around me, I managed to notice one of the guards slip into a tunnel with a limp. I stayed still for a second, and after confirming he wasn't being followed I made my way into the tunnel.

The guard continued limping down the tunnel, his loud breath masking my footsteps that grew louder and louder with each breath.

50 metres

30 metres

10 metres

After crossing the 10 metre threshold, he seemed to have finally heard me, quickly turning around with his gun out. I was obviously prepared and pulled the trigger, the shot travelling upwards and into his neck.

He falls onto the floor, dropping the gun and his hands desperately try to cover up his neck which is gushing blood. His anguished eyes look up as my shadow looms over him, making him whimper in fear. I stared back at him with nothing but the rage of a thousand slaves.

"It pleases me knowing I'll be the last face you see before you die. You were killed by a 'lowly slave', how does that make you feel?" I ask him, my eyes glaring daggers into him.

He stares helplessly into my eyes, unable to answer as his hands still desperately cover his neck trying to stop the bleeding.

"Cat got your tongue?" I ask mockingly, and he doesn't answer as his eyes lose all hope. His head slumps down and his hollow sunken eyes just stare at the floor.

*BOOM*

My last bullet tears through his hands and pierces his neck again. His eyes instrivley open wide, staring at his fingerless hands before his body slumps to the floor.

"Maybe I wasted my last bullet, but I was too in the moment. Silly me"

I dropped the empty gun on the ground, and walked out the tunnel with a little skip in my step and smile on my face. I was satisfied.