Chapter 11: Chapter 11
The pressure between the two kept building, and Whitebeard was surprised that the stranger could last this long. He kept increasing the pressure from his haki, making sure to keep it away from his family. The man kept staring back, and White beard was beginning to seriously consider the man's proposition. If he could last this long, he had to be strong. Finally, he released his pressure and bellowed out a laugh "Gurarararara! How interesting that you could withstand my pressure! I welcome your partnership, but first, what is your name?"
James let out a sigh in relief as his best way into marineford relented. What he said in his agreement was true, but he would only help until he located his book. Once he did that, he would abandon them, get his book back, and return to the tower. After all, the last time he stayed past when he got the book, the tower had seemed angry, almost as if he had neglected his duty. However, none of the pirates had to know that. "My name is James, I am pleased that you have allowed our temporary partnership. If I may ask, when do you plan to sail to Marineford?" Whitebeard let out another one of his odd laughs and responded, "Well my boy, we're already on the way. After all, Ace's execution is quite soon. Make yourself at home, someone will show you a room."
An hour later, James was lying on a bed in the heart of the Moby Dick. It was quite smart actually, putting him in a place that was the hardest to escape from. He was honestly surprised when his proposal was accepted. He knew he was being monitored the second he entered the room, but he didn't mind. After all, he wouldn't be doing much. And he knew Whitebeard didn't trust him. It was only natural, an unknown person wants passage on your ship to marineford. Seems odd right? Well, it didn't matter. He would allow Whitebeard to do all the spying he wanted as long as it got him to Marineford. He released another sigh, deciding to go to bed.
When he awoke the next morning, he followed the route he had taken down here back to the deck, intending to ask Whitebeard what he wanted in return for getting him into marineford. As he walked up, the sun glared down at him and water glistened around the ship. People were talking,having fun, just doing normal stuff. It didn't really seem like a crew of pirates, more like a family. And there was Whitebeard, in all his glory, watching them with a smile on his face. He approached the yonko and watched his eyes lock onto his form. "Whitebeard, I have come here intending to know what it is you want in return for getting me into Marineford." Whitebeard stared down at him for a solid minute, that smirk never leaving his face, before he responded. "Well James, I only need one thing from you, should the need arise, defend my crew. After all, it isn't much of a hassle to bring someone somewhere you're already going."
James was surprised, he had expected something a bit more… extreme? He didn't know what he expected, but this wasn't it. However, he wouldn't turn it away. "Thankyou Whitebeard, for your kindness. I will do my best to fulfill your request." The large man just let out another bellowing laugh as James turned around and went back to his room. He had no intention of interacting with the pirates more than needed. After all, that would just make it more painful for them when he abandoned them.
He entered his room and sat on the floor, getting into a meditative pose and entering his mindscape. Nothing had changed, except for some more constellations that represented recent memories. One was a dragon, another a group of friends around a table. He smiled as he reviewed his memories. Moments like these he never wanted to forget. He shook his head, he hadn't come here to reminisce, he had come here to develop mental shields. His first priority was to guard his core memories. So he set out down the spiral staircase. According to the book he had read on the subject, he just had to focus on what defense he wanted and it would appear. As he reached the bottom of the staircase he breathed in, 'Anyone besides me who attempts to reach the bottom of the staircase will find that it never ends, and increases every time they come close.'
While there was no physical change, James could feel that something had changed. He sighed in relief, it seemed it really was that easy. However, that was not the only defense he wanted to make. After all, someone skilled enough could probably break through. 'Anyone besides me who opens this door will find an exact copy of the door behind it. It will be an endless cycle of the same door over and over again.' Again, he felt the change but didn't see it. Now, his final layer of protection. He was going to create a duplicate of the library with false memories. They would still be the same, but any tampering wouldn't matter since they are fake. It was easy to do, and he was done with his core memories. He returned to the surface and put in a simple defense for the constellation memories. To view them, one needed to utter the password. "Books." It was stupid, he knew, but it was so simple that people wouldn't think of it. At least, he hoped that was the case.
He figured this was enough for now, and returned to the real world. When he walked up to the deck, he was surprised to see that it was night. Despite only a few minutes passing in his mind, a full day had passed in the real world. "Huh, you actually came out. Y'know, when I came to your room, you were on the ground sitting in some weird pose. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't wake you. You missed both meals." The man speaking to him was Marco, second in command of the Whitebeard pirates. "Ahh, sorry for the trouble. I was just thinking. What about you, why are you up so late?" Marco's answer was simple, "Thinking." "Well then Marco, I'll have to go to sleep for now. After all, the battle begins tomorrow." Marco nodded, and he returned to his room, falling asleep in preparation for tomorrow.
When he awoke the next day, it was already noon and the ship was already coated and they were under the water, approaching Marineford silently. Everyone was gathered, and there was a tense silence. None of the usual chatter was going on. The commanders were assembled at the front behind Whitebeard with the rest of the crew behind them. He was leaning on the main mast, his spear in hand, his eyes closed. Currently, his plan was to see if any of the marines had the book on their person. If they did, then he was lucky. If not, then he would ransack sengoku's office. However, he had no more time to think as the ship suddenly rose, appearing in the bay of marineford.
Sengoku gave his "world shattering" speech about how Ace had the blood of the pirate king running through his veins, and Whitebeard started the party. It was truly an impressive thing to watch, cracks appearing in the air from his fists and causing monumental tidal waves to appear. Then, Aokiji froze both the waves and the bay, locking all the ships in place. While all this was happening, he had enhanced his eyes with magic and was scanning all the marines. None of the lower level marines had it based on his base sweep, so he switched to the high ranking ones.
None of the three admirals had it, however, tucked under Sengoku's arm was a small blue book with the marine symbol on it. Bingo. He only felt slightly bad about his next action. He channeled mana into his legs and let out a burst of wind from his palms, sending him hurling up towards the fleet admiral at supersonic speeds. The deck cracked under his feet as he launched himself forward. Appearing in front of Sengoku in an instant, he swung the spear downward, intending to cut the man in two. However, Sengoku proved that he wasn't the fleet admiral for nothing and blocked the strike with a black arm, forcing James to jump away and face him.
There were sounds of shock from almost everyone in the bay. After all, someone nobody had ever seen before had taken a chance at the fleet admiral's life. James sighed, he had wanted to get this whole ordeal over with using a preemptive strike. It seemed that the old man was stronger than expected. "This can all be avoided if you hand me that book, Sengoku." The fleet admiral narrowed his eyes and made a symbol with his hands. Apparently, that was cue for "focus on the pirates I'll deal with this" as the admirals soon ignored them. "Hmph, this book contains military secrets. I don't know why you want it but I refuse to let it be released." Ugh. This guy was annoying. "I have no intention of releasing it. I plan to return home with it and keep it safe. Now, give it to me." He held out a hand, prompting sengoku to let out a grunt. "Over my dead body." "Fine by me."
Without warning, James stamped his foot, causing pillars of earth to burst from the ground and snake towards Sengoku. At the same time, James rushed forward, his spear sparking with lightning. The fleet admiral met his charge, breaking apart the pillars with his haki and ducked under James's swipe. Sengoku's arm shot forward and nailed Jame's in the gut, sending him flying backwards into the air. He flipped, landing on his feet and sliding backwards. Rising up, he coated his spear in electricity once more and threw it forward. Sngoku ducked backwards, but was then hit in the stomach by an axe kick from James, sending him straight into the floor.
Sengoku then kicked upwards, hitting James face and allowing him to stand up. However, mid air James suddenly extended his arm and the spear came flying back, the pole hitting the back of Sengoku's head in the process. Now, they stood across from each other, staring. "Why would you go so far for a book?" "Because, it is mine, and therefore it is my duty to return it to its home, my library." "You would keep a book as valuable as this kept in a library? And if I gave it to you, would you leave?" James simply nodded. Sengoku hmphed and threw the book towards his feet. He let out a relieved sigh, Sengoku was a good man, one he didn't want to kill. He picked up the book, flipping through it monetarily to make sure it was real. Nodding in thanks, he disappeared. He didn't know it, but almost the whole world had heard of him now. And he had a bounty. 900 Million Berries.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone