The Conglomerate- One Piece SI Ch.14

Chapter 14

CAPTAIN BARTOLOMEO-The Cannibal

Seastone cuffs. They were one of the greatest weaknesses for any devil fruit user. Yet despite knowing about them few ever tried to think of a counter to them, but Bartolomeo had known that while Devil Fruit Powers could greatly add to a person’s strength.

In the new world, the power that mattered was Haki, and so for the first few years of his life under Garp-sensei’s tutelage, he had focused entirely on Haki, as he built up a fighting prowess independent from his Devil Fruit.

All that pain, sweat, and blood—for this moment.

“What have you done?” Crocodile growled, his voice laced with fury, as Bartolomeo fought the invading weakness and darkness. His body was littered with wounds, and he had lost too much blood.

It would be a miracle if he could fight for more than a few minutes in his current state, so he had to end this.

“I just busted your plans,” he answered.

“And now I am going to bust you!” and with that, he appeared beside the infamous Pirate, and punched him in the head with a fist coated in Armament Haki.

BOOOOM!

As a Logia user, Crocodile had grown complacent—too used to physical attacks passing harmlessly through him, especially in a place such as this, so he could not shore up his defences in time, as his body was flinging through buildings as he hit the streets.

Bartolomeo did not let him finish, but the man was relentless as he attacked him quickly.

“GRAND DESERT RAPIER!” and a massive blade of sand emerged from the ground, blocking his path, forcing him to jump back as Crocodile pushed his hand to the ground.

“You may have been able to stop the bomb, but you forget who I am you fool,” and his eyes widened, as the bastard activated his attack.

“Wasteland Cataclysm!” The ground cracked and withered as moisture was sucked from the Earth, and all those on it as the land around him transformed into a wasteland.

“Get away!” he screamed to a few people gathered in the streets, as the houses and people all turned to dust, and the people ran away, as he activated his Devil Fruit powers.

“Grand Lift...”and with that, he formed a massive barrier below the ground, and lifted the entire area where they stood into the air, above the city to protect it all from his attacks.

“AHHHH!” and lifting so much weight into the air was not easy, and gave Crocodile an opportunity to close the distance. Still, thankfully he was able to put up a shield to stop his attack as he lifted a portion of the city into the air, hence halting the spread of his Wasteland attack.

CLANK!

“Tch! You and your damned shields!” Crocodile snarled, launching strike after strike, but his barrier held strong as Bartolomeo raised his hand and formed a dozen weapons out of his barriers.

“Babylon’s Treasury!” and all of them rushed towards the crocodile, at once as the bastard backed away.

“You know all of those weapons are useless against me....” But yet he was wrong, as the first sword pushed through his leg, much to his surprise, forcing him to jump back, but it was too late by then.

“AGHHH!” “AGH!” “AHHHHH” He screamed as his body was riddled with swords, spears, staffs, and daggers, as the bastard glared at him.

“How?” he gasped, as blood dripped down his body, as Bartolomeo himself fell to his knees.

“Long ago, I learned a little trick that allowed me to give my barriers certain characteristics and shape,” and to demonstrate it, he formed a small round barrier in his hand, which turned translucent in an instant, and then changed the shape into a cube.

““For you, I simply made them... wet.”
Moisture—the one thing Crocodile couldn’t defend against.

And because of exhaustion, the weapons vanished as Crocodile’s body fell to the ground, as he glared at him.

“You bastard! I will not go down so easily,” and he watched as he raised his hand, as Barto rushed towards him once more.

“Grand....” and he coated his fist in Armament Haki once more as he tried to go for the finishing blow, yet he failed to hit him before the bastard could launch his final attack.

“Sandstorm...!” and a sand tornado rose into the skies from his hand, just as Barto landed his own attack.

“IMPACT!”

BOOOOM!

And the Crocodile’s body was flung into the town as it crashed through nearly a dozen buildings, putting an end to it for some time, as the land he had raised into the air again fell to the ground.

BAAAAAAA!

The people cheered, but not before many began to realise that this was not over just yet.

“What the hell is that?” they screamed as they saw the massive sandstorm in the distance, growing larger and larger by the second.

And this was Crocodile’s doing, the attack had given rise to a sandstorm that needed no input from him and was growing larger and larger by the second, threatening to swallow the entire city.

“Everyone!” Suddenly, he heard the familiar voice of the Princess from behind him, and saw her running together with the Kohza, the Leader of the Rebellion.

“Evacuate the city—now!” Vivi shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos, as Barto fell to his knees and began to be dizzy.

“But, Princess, it is too late! The storm it will destroy the entire city!” and the people around him were scared, afraid, and panicking as the storm tore through houses and buildings like they were nothing.

“Run! Leave the town!” another voice cut in, and he looked to the side and saw that it was the King of the Alabasta Kingdom standing there, and many still doubted him.

“Is this the imposter agai...”

“No,” the Princess cut in, and he was not alone, and was joined by the Straw Hats crew.

“This is my father,” Vivi assured the people as the King turned towards the palace which stood in the storm’s way and would be swallowed any second.

“Leave the city! These buildings and houses are not the true Alabasta Kingdom! It is you people who are the true treasure of this country! Leave and save yourselves!” and so many began to run, but others still stood.

“But we will die! We have nowhere to go! The desert will kil...”

Amidst all that, Bartolomeo took a deep breath and pushed himself off the ground.

“Hey Princess,” he called out to the blue-haired girl as he brought together his hands.

“You wouldn’t mind if I rough up that palace of yours, right?” he asked, and it was the King who answered.

“Do what you must, Captain, but please stop this storm,” and so he closed his eyes as he tried to use one of the techniques he had been working on for years.

“BANKAI!” A crushing pressure radiated from him as a skeletal titan began to form above him.

“Susanooo!” and it was formed by over a thousand barriers, As the skeletal figure took form—built from over a thousand barriers—Bartolomeo screamed.

“AGHHHHHH!”

The Susanoo reached out and grabbed the sword, and raised it into the air, as Bartolomeo felt his world spin, yet he used what little energy he had, as the skeletal monster brought it down on the massive sandstorm.

“WORLD CLEAVER!”
A thunderous shockwave split the skies as the blade descended—
BOOOOOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

00000

PRINCESS VIVI

Princess Vivi watched as the massive Sandstorm threatening to decimate her home vanished as the very skies were cut into two, as the Sun once more showed, through not before the clouds began to drop rain.

The skies wept for the fallen, but also for the rebirth of a kingdom long parched by war.

“It’s raining!” The crowd erupted in joy behind her as the first drops fell, as she felt a few water drops trickle down, ending the year-long drought, and relief filled her heart.

“What the hell was that?” Kohza gasped from the side, and he was looking at the Marine captain in front of them, as the giant skeletal structure erected around her began to shimmer away, and Vivi herself could still not believe the power that she had witnessed.

“I did not know marines were so strong,” Kohza continued, and neither did she know that, but as they were reeling from surprise, suddenly the green-haired marine’s body fell to the side, as Vivi realised that he had pushed himself to the edge.

“We need to help him!” She ran towards him, and saw that he was pale, his body uniform, or what little remained of it, was covered in blood.

“He needs a doctor—now!” Vivi cried, rushing to his side, as the Straw Hats stepped forward.

“Let me see!” and it was Chopper-kun who stepped forward, and began to examine him.

“I am going to need medical supplies and blood donors,” Chopper announced.

“You can use the one’s at the palace,” her father announced as the rain began to fall in full. They rushed his body to the palace, and as she neared it, she finally understood the meaning of his words and gasped as they saw the palace—cleaved cleanly in two

In the end, they reached the palace, and the rest of the Marine force arrived. As Crocodile and all his associates were put into cuffs and prison, Chopper-kun treated Captain Bartolomeo’s injuries.

She and Kohza stood near one of the windows overlooking the capital, and watched as the people all danced and laughed in the rain.

“I must apologise for all the grief I may have caused you, Princess,” and she hit him on the arm.

“Don’t say things like that. You were doing what you thought was best for the people,” just as she was trying.

“No. I put you, your father, and this entire kingdom at risk because of my naivety, and for that, I must be punished,” and she pointed at his wound.

“You have suffered enough. We have all suffered enough,” she said, remembering her lost friend and servant, Ingram.

“Now, it is time to heal...” and Kohza sighed, as he put his hand on his head.

“You haven’t changed a bit have you, Vivi,” and she smiled as she turned around.

“Not at all, though you have become quite intense. I did not expect you to become a leader like that,” and it was quite a surprise to find him becoming a leader of the rebellion, and she could scarcely imagine the bratty kid she had spent her childhood with becoming the sort of person he had become.

“I heard about Ingram-sama,” and her mood soured as she looked to the floor.

“She sacrificed her life to give me a chance to save us all...” and before she could say anything more, Chaka came in and took her name.

“Vivi-sama! Vivi-sama,” and her heart dropped as she looked up at the head of the Castle’s guards.

“What happened, Chaka?” she asked.

“My lady, you must come and see this. Ingram-sama is alive...”

0000

Deep down below the main castle, in a secluded area of the castle, the King Cobra led a tall, black-haired woman to the most well-kept secret of the country.

“This is it,” he said as he stood in front of a giant cube, one which his family had guarded since the start of time.

“This is the Poneglyph that my family and I have been tasked with guarding for more than five hundred years,” and yet despite that, none of them knew what it meant.

Though unlike him, it seemed as if the girl beside her could understand the text written on it, and his suspicion was all but confirmed as she whispered a small word.

“Poseidon...” she whispered.

The king’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know that name?”

0000