88 [88] Face to Face
[2100 Words]
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The Grand Line, Skypiea.
In a hidden village in the clouds.
"What?!" Braham exclaimed in shock upon hearing what Aisa said, as the rest looked at her in astonishment.
"Are you sure about this, you mischievous girl?" Kamakiri asked skeptically.
"Defeating three priests so easily... Who could do such a thing? Perhaps that old man Gan Fall? No, even he wouldn't be able to do this!" Raki looked at Aisa, not doubting the little girl like the others; she knew Aisa wouldn't lie about this, at least not to her.
"I'm sure! I couldn't 'sense' the three priests anymore, and using my mantra, I saw what happened! Three women defeated the priests easily!"
"Women?!" Braham scoffed, but knowing Aisa's mantra and its usefulness, he knew the little girl had no reason to lie.
"Are you kidding us? How can there be women with such power!" Genbo exclaimed, deepening his skepticism.
"Nonsense," Kamakiri snorted, not wanting to admit that there might be someone stronger than him, especially women!
Raki looked at the three men with disdain, believing Aisa's words because she knew when she was telling the truth and when she was lying. But what bothered her was the tribe's disdain for women.
You should know that the males of the Shandia tribe have been isolated from the world for 400 years, and all the warriors they produced were males, except for rare cases like Raki.
And like the traditions of any other uncivilized tribe, that was their way of thinking.
Raki suppressed her annoyance in her heart and said to Aisa, "Do you recognize them? Are they from Angel Island?"
"I was just about to say that; these women didn't have wings, just like Enel!"
Aisa didn't stop there and said, "I felt it using my mantra... I felt the danger coming from them. There were a total of 8 women, but three of them were exceptionally strong! And they were the ones who defeated the priests."
As Aisa spoke about what she observed with her mantra, the four characters in the meeting room listened with expressions of seriousness and shock.
The more Aisa spoke, describing the fight between them, the Shandia warriors became convinced she wasn't lying, except for Raki, who believed her from the start. The arrogance in the hearts of the three men disappeared, replaced by shock, awe, and... hope!
This was the perfect opportunity! The perfect opportunity to kill Enel.
Three of his strongest subordinates were lost! As long as they united with Wyper, they would be able to kill him! Killing the god.
But... where is Wyper?
Their attention was quickly drawn again when Aisa's voice trembled and fear was evident on her face as she described a certain person, "There was a man... and he seems to be the leader of that group of women. The sensation I felt using my mantra was..."
Aisa paused for a moment to tease them, but this provoked Kamakiri, who growled at her to continue.
"I felt fear... an unparalleled fear. Even Enel didn't give me this feeling. That person... is stronger than Enel!"
As her words entered the ears of the four characters, they widened their eyes in shock and disbelief.
If the previous news of three priests being defeated easily by a group of strangers shocked them, this news shocked them even more!
Someone stronger than Enel? Is there really such a person?
"Could they possibly be residents of the Blue Sea?" Raki said, diverting the others' attention to her words.
"Perhaps they are, we need to know whether they are enemies or not!" Braham said with a serious expression.
"By the way, Aisa, use your mantra to sense Wyper; we don't know why he's late."
Suddenly, Raki said, and it seemed that the others remembered the matter of Wiper.
The previous information revealed by Aisa was so shocking that they forgot about Wyper's disappearance.
Aisa seemed to remember something, her face paled suddenly, and she began to mutter, "How could I forget this... he disappeared..."
"What's wrong, Aisa?" Raki said with concern.
"Tell us what happened to Wyper, you little mischief!" Kamakiri shouted, but some concern could be heard in his voice.
"Nothing could happen to Wyper! Surely not! He's strong," Genbo said confidently.
But Aisa's next words made his face pale and his expression froze.
"I haven't sensed Wiper since... he... he's dead!" Aisa exclaimed in fear.
"!!!!"
"This can't be true!" Braham said in disbelief.
"Are you sure?! Make sure again!" Genbo was shocked and completely incredulous, but since Aisa couldn't 'sense' Wyper anymore, it meant he really died!
"He's dead?! So suddenly?! Don't joke!" Kamakiri couldn't accept it; in his opinion, Wyper was strong and a wonderful leader. He was the best hope for their tribe after 400 years! If Wyper was in a fierce battle trying to liberate their land and "Restore Shandora's Light," he wouldn't be sad; he would be proud of Wyper and tell his stories to future generations.
He couldn't accept Wyper's sudden and mysterious death like this!
"Aisa was afraid of the three men shouting at her, but she quickly found Raki standing in front of her, calming the angry warriors.
"Calm down and let's use reason to understand what happened!"
In fact, she herself was extremely shocked by how Wyper ddied so suddenly like that.
But her reaction wasn't as exaggerated as the others; she didn't have the same good relationship with Wyper. On the contrary, she was upset with him because he always mocked and belittled her.
When Aisa saw that the meeting tent had calmed down again, she quickly spoke: "I felt Wyper's feelings before I lost 'sensing' him. It was fear and disbelief... Maybe Enel attacked him!"
In reality, her connection with Wyper was fragile because he wasn't inside Skypiea, but was 2000 meters away from her, where Wyper rashly attacked Elsama and was killed by Ren.
Her mantra ability also had its limits; she couldn't even see what happened to Wyper and only felt his "presence" disappearing, so she concluded that he died.
This happened when she was gathering soil from the upper Yard, and she quickly ran towards the tribe to tell them what happened. But she felt once again some unfamiliar entities, and the horror coming from that entity, that person with blue hair, made her forget about Wyper!
Aisa was born with a power known as Mantra, or Observation Haki, which gave her a sixth sense about the world around her. She mastered this ability much better than most of the other Shandia warriors, so she could feel when people died, as well as various other emotions.
Luckily, Ren didn't kill Wyper in Skypiea.
If he did, Aisa would have been able to pick up details of what happened.
Well, that wouldn't have been a big problem; he would have become an enemy of the Shandia tribe, but does that matter? If they want to do something stupid, just kill them.
Suddenly , Aisa voice came.
"That's... Gedatsu! He was defeated too! That person defeated him in one second!!" Aisa shouted and watched the terrified expressions of the four characters.
A deadly silence fell in the tent, even the noisy Abraham didn't speak this time.
Raki broke the silence and said, "Just who is this..."
The others didn't respond; they seemed lost in their own thoughts. Then, after a few seconds, Raki spoke again: "There's no time to mourn Wyper! It's our chance to reclaim our ancestors' land... We have to take the gamble this time, that this person is not an enemy!"
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"My priests... How could this happen?!"
*Squawk!*
*Boom!*
Eneel screamed in disbelief while observing the brief battles unfolding.
He couldn't watch anymore as Gedatsu fell to the ground with just one strike from the figure emerging from the blue sea.
"It seems I underestimated you a little... But, an ant remains an ant!"
Eneel roared in anger then rose from his throne and transformed into lightning, incredibly swift.
His target was clear----- Ren!
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"What happened here!" Gan fall exclaimed in shock as he looked at the scene when Ren struck Gedatsu and knocked him down in one blow.
Although he didn't possess Mantra, he was skilled in sneaking and aerial surveillance. His horse, which ate a Devil Fruit, also enabled him to see the entire scene earlier.
Gan fall didn't know that Ren and the other girls who possessed Observation Haki had already spotted him, but they didn't take any action at Ren's command.
"Can this person really defeat Enel?!" With this thought in his mind, a thread of small hope emerged in Gan fall's heart.
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"We've gathered again~" Mikita looked at her captain and smiled happily.
"Fufufu~ I missed you, Captain~" Nojiko was bolder and went to kiss Ren lightly on the lips, earning her some different looks from all the girls.
Nami, Kaya, and Mikita were jealous. Mikita didn't know why, but she was jealous too.
While Vivi, Loreena, and Zala felt embarrassed, Conis's face was as red as a tomato.
*Cough.*
Ren cleared his throat and broke the awkward silence then said, "Show me the loot."
"Here~," Nami pointed to the conscious priest, tied up with iron chains they obtained from Ren.
"That man was an easy match." Mikita threw her defeated enemy to the ground and smiled.
Ren ignored the system notifications he received; it had been a while since he opened them.
Since becoming a warlord, he received a notification about completing a mission, but he didn't have time to check it.
So he would take a good look at all the rewards after he finished this.
Suddenly, the atmosphere changed, and with it, the expressions of the girls with Ren.
There, the girls managed to see a shirtless man floating in the air with the help of a green ball. His earlobe was too long, and the drums behind his back gave him a strange appearance.
"This..."
"It's Enel."
"He's the owner of the Goro Goro no Mi ability."
Ren looked at Enel, who stared at him angrily with the intent to kill. He didn't show any panic and then said, "Step back a little; things are going to get chaotic here."
"Roger, Captain!"
The girls complied and vacated the area, retreating hundreds of meters to observe the battle. There were no expressions of worry, as they were confident that Ren would emerge victorious!
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The Grand Line, the New World.
In the area of the Whitebeard.
Whitebeard held a newspaper in his giant hand and read it with a grim expression.
[The Sin Pirates, led by Black Death, attack Jaya.]
That was the title of the newspaper. The events were detailed by the survivors, but there was no mention of an airship, so it seems the magnetic hypnosis was successful.
After a short while, Whitebeard tossed the newspaper into the sky, then gravity took its course, and the newspaper began to fall towards him.
*Crack!!*
*Boom!!*
*Rip!!*
Several cracks appeared in the air, and the newspaper quickly collapsed into an unrecognizable heap of paper.
Whitebeard returned to his place and sat down to calm himself.
"Oyaji..."
Marco looked at this scene with deep sorrow, regretting showing the newspaper to the Whitebeard, but he knew such big news couldn't be hidden.
The world government was very pleased; the value of the new warlord was finally showing!
In Moby Dick, many wanted posters of Ren were seen hanging on the walls and wood, all torn or stabbed with a knife through Ren's face in the picture.
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While the Marines and the world government were pleased with what happened to the pirates in Jaya, a certain warlord wasn't.
A tall figure sat lazily on a chair, reading the newspaper. After a few minutes, he let out a subdued laugh and smiled with terror.
"Fufufufu... he dared to destroy my toys..."
He said in a deep voice that echoed in the empty royal garden.
"Black Death, huh? Interesting."
____
In the treacherous waters of the Grand Line, a naval ship continued its journey.
Garp sat on the ship's deck, reading the newspaper with a serious expression.
"That Bastard... made a deal with me and went off to hunt pirates?!" He shouted in anger.
He sighed deeply...
*Rip!*
He tore the newspaper and threw it into the sea.
"How much longer until we reach Alabasta?!" He yelled at the navigator, who quickly answered in fear, "At most, two days..."
"Make it a day and a half!"
"Y-Yes sir!"
The navigator hurried away, not wanting to deal with Garp's volatile mood.
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Author's gossiping.
Finally.
I'm A little sick..
900 PS = Bonus chapter.
1400 PS = Bonus chapter.
2000 PS = Bonus chapter.
