[1976 words]

Bit info-filled if I'm being honest, I can't help it, One Piece world does not center around MC as other shit goes down elsewhere considering the era we're in. ​​

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[At an Island in Paradise Sea]

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Damien's main body had begun his training while his clones were continuing with other tasks.

Clone 1 was training Kuzan and Mihawk.

Clone 2 was at Fooljack Peaks, keeping an eye on the World News Agency as well as training Observation Haki.

Clone 3 was using the alias of Fulcrum and slowly taking control of the Underworld with Aurora as Talon.

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(Fulcrum POV)

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Aurora is so incredibly useful in this.

The Underworld is filled with so many spies and moles, but with her Night Realm, it makes it so easy to weed them out.

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Unlike my main body, she shows no affection to my clone but does as she is told, I'm totally fine with it though.

She has mastered the art of assassination, quick, quiet and efficient.

So far, I have had to 'remove' 37 gang leaders and 59 Mafia Bosses over Paradise as some islands are just teeming with them.

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That aside, the Grand Banquet is coming up very soon.

I have invited the Underworld Emperors under Barro's name.

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This includes the major powers of shipping, drug cartels, warehousing, pleasure districts, loans, smuggling and slave traders and many more.

A total of 36 people have been invited from all over Paradise and the New World.

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'Black Fish' Barro was a major power so naturally many are interested in what he has to say.

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(3rd POV)

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Within a large hall were 40 seats lined in neat rows.

Tens of people walked in and took their designated seats as their bodyguards stood by the walls.

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Of the 40 seats, 6 were the major ones.

The King of Shipping, Barro.

The King of Warehousing, Bob D. Builder.

The King of Loans, Elon Muskato.

The King of Drugs, Aizen Ward.

The King of Smuggling, Nelson Vacuum.

The Queen of the Pleasure District, Stacy.

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[A/N: Note that none of them are the ones from the show but their predecessors instead.]

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All the major and minor seats were filled except for the host.

The people grew impatient.

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"The host is late, how uncivilized." (Vacuum)

"Perhaps he is waiting for someone." (Stacy)

"To gather us here and make us wait, he's bold!" (Muskato)

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The others just waited as the doors opened.

*Creak*

2 people walked in.

A man with a silver mask and red cloak and an assassin-clothed woman.

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The man walked on and sat in the King of Shipping's seat.

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"Ladies and Gentlemen, and everything in between. I apologize for my tardiness." The masked man said as his voice filled the room.

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"Huh, who are you? And where's Barro?" (Builder)

The man nodded at the questioner,

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"Barro was a fish, and I am a shark. You can make the connection."

His words instantly woke up the people as they began murmuring.

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"My name is Fulcrum, and I am here to offer you all a deal." He said.

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"How ridiculous! Some upstart dares to summon me!" Vacuum roared in anger.

He was about to throw some words as he felt a cold touch on his throat.

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Talon (Aurora) has somehow appeared behind him and pressed her dagger upon his fat throat.

"Now, now, let's be civil." Fulcrum shook his head.

"I assure you, you won't want to miss what I have to offer." He dropped the bait.

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"A man who can take out Barro, won't you show me your face, handsome?" Stacy's seductive voice streamed through the room.

Fulcrum just smiled with his red eyes as he placed some items on the table.

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He offered modern drugs such as cocaine and heroin for the King of Drugs.

Motorized boats and ships for the Kings of Warehousing and Smuggling.

Modern insurance traps for the King of Loans.

And powerful aphrodisiacs for the Queen of Pleasure.

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He then offered maps and routes that were perfect for quick transport without any marine intervention.

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With the eyes of the people glued, Fulcrum gave his best offer.

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"Now, everyone, the last item I am selling is a route to help you go through the world with little difficulty. No marine will interrupt you, no Sea King will attack you, no pirates will loot you. It is 100% safe." He said with an eloquent tone.

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His words drew the eyes of the major players as they narrowed their eyes.

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"It is my personal route in the Calm Belts called 'The Styx Passage', if you are interested then please speak up now…"

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The Calm belts are very effective barriers for those trying to enter the Grand Line; these areas are always completely calm, never having any ocean currents or winds blowing, making it impossible for non-self-propelled ships to travel through. They are also nesting grounds for the world's largest Sea Kings.

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Fulcrum plans to offer large motorized ships to help them smuggle and sneak things in from all over.

The belts are infested by Sea Kings, and without any wind to steer the ship, it's nothing but a death trap.

Fulcrum, however, has ways around that and has given the assurance of the path. Damien's main body will command Sea Kings to stay out of that area and instead attack any non-partnered ships.

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Fulcrum has taken over the King of Shipping and will soon integrate deeply into the Underworld. Every ship that passes by will have certain 'aspects' to spy and record all secrets of the other Emperors.

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Over time, it will allow Damien to take the entire system in one fell swoop!

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[Flower Capital, Wano]

[3 Weeks Later]

(Damien POV)

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*FWOOO*

I took a deep breath as a vortex formed around my mouth.

*FOOOO*

The air was exhaled, creating a small tornado as I opened my eyes.

I felt the warmth in my heart as it flowed through my body, it was like my fruit power but it felt more natural, more like water.

It swirled and churned around my chest and to my shoulders as it bubbled around my left arm.

*Clench*

I made a simple fist.

*Fwoo*

The wind creaked as I shot my fist forwards and the wall, though stopping a few centimeters from it.

I wasn't touching it.

I instead willed my Ryou Haki to flow as I opened the dam, letting it loose. It did as I said, it streamed out with vigour as it slammed upon the wall.

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Boom!

*Shatter*

An explosion filled the room as the wall started shaking as a cobweb of cracks formed all over it, causing it to break from within as it all fell to the ground, shattering like glass.

*DING*

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[Your Armament Haki has entered the (Advanced Stage). Congratulations!]

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I heard the notification as I looked at the red bubble around my left arm.

'Noice.' I exclaimed in my head as I smiled in satisfaction.

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"Good, good! You are very talented!" Raizen clapped as he put down his teacup. He seemed ecstatic.

The truth was that I had grasped the idea almost instantly but I was in no hurry like Luffy so I took my time to fully understand the concept and here I am.

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*DING!*

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[Your Armament Haki mastery has been upgraded to (Mid-Advanced) Level. Congratulations!]

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Oh, yeah.

After all that training the gains were working in unison.

My mastery was like a bottle, filling up as I upped my understanding when I aligned it with my fruit power. Now that the cap is removed, it flooded out.

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*DING!*

Another one.

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[Your strength has reached the Peak of {Low-Tier Yonko} stage! Congratulations!]

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I nodded, my strength had surely increased.

The only thing was that it was still Low-Tier Yonko but has reached the upper levels, like Zephyr.

With this, I should be able to fight Big Mom to a stand!

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'Sibyl, pull up my Haki masteries.' I commanded.

[Alright.]

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=

[ Haki ]

[Observation Haki Mastery: Peak Stage of Mid-Advanced]

[Armament Haki Mastery: Early Stage of Mid-Advanced]

[Conqueror's Haki Mastery: Controlled Stage - Peak Stage of Mid-Advanced]

[A/N: Refer to Haki Scaling for more info.]

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=

The only thing missing now is Infusion.

Infusion is coating your attacks with Conqueror's Haki, greatly increasing the damage you can deal from normal attacks.

The only problem is that it's quite difficult to acquire.

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If Emission is a gentle stream of Haki, then Infusion is the raging rapids of Haki, opposite powers but each with great gains.

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Infusion was special, it sometimes would activate subconsciously in certain fights causing the black lightning effect, but learning to control it and use it intentionally was something far more difficult to do.

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But first, I want to perfect my Ryou Haki.

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[A/N: I know Luffy BSed Infusion but this is AU where it's a bit harder to attain it compared to canon.]

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[Shogun's Estate, Wano]

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"Amatsuki-sama, are you sure you don't want to rest?" An attendant asked.

The green-haired girl pouted, "Shina-chan, I asked you to call me Toki but you are still so stubborn."

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Shina was the head maid of the estate, but only 20 or so years old. Toki was not one to have many friends so she did start to see the former as such.

"Amatsuki-sama, you know I cannot go against traditions… Either way, you should rest." Shina said.

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Toki's schedule was quite brutal.

Wake Up - 6 am

Breakfast + freshen up

Train Body - 7-11 am

Lunch

Train Haki and Fruit - 11:30 am - 3 pm

Another Lunch

Train Fruit once more - 4 pm - 7 pm

Break + dinner

Study Medicine - 7:30 - 9 pm

Tidy room for Damien to return

Sleep - 10 - 6 am

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Even with her brutal schedule, she still liked to enjoy simple tea with Damien as she talked about what she learned through the day.

The maids loved to see the most beautiful girl smile through her work and finish her day as if she were a loyal housewife as they cheered her on. She already had a huge fan club.

Damien had grown fond of her company as he had started to open up the tight knot in his heart as he had begun to accept other feelings. After all, he was a man and Toki was practically the perfect girl.

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Damien also had a friendship with Hyogoro and his Yakuza as they treated him as an idol and powerful friend, giving the red-eyed youth certain thoughts when it came to Wano.

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A land capable of holding itself up even through the World Government's reign. Impressive indeed.

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(Damien POV)

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Only 3 weeks have passed but the tides are ever-raging.

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'Sibyl, use the {Summarizer} for the past three weeks.' I asked.

{Summarizer} - Displays the top events that occurred within a specified timeframe [20-year cap].

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[Affirmative…]

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=

[ Summarizer ]

[Interval entered: Past 21 days]

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- New scientist, a young man named Vegapunk, began tests upon Kaido to find the specialty of his body at G-2.

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- Zephyr has fully recovered from his wounds and has requested a new arm made entirely of Seastone.

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- A gathering of Underworld Powerhouses took place in which a new Emperor emerged: Fulcrum the Cardmaster.

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- 'Pirate Queen' Herja was slain by the Golden Lion Shiki.

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- The Rocks Pirates Grand Fleet clashed with 2 Admirals and a fleet of marines, the latter retreated.

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- The Rocks Pirates Grand Fleet absorbs the majority of the Angelic Fleet as their numbers increase further.

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- Whitebeard found a new weapon and clashed with Gol D. Roger in the New World.

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- Bounties updated for the above pirates.

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- Overlord Escanor launched an attack at G-5 and clashed with Admiral Basara, the former retreated due to Garp's arrival.

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- Marshall D. Teach is born

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=

Holy shit, that's a lot…

So that Angelic War ended and even more shit went down. Hmm, Whitebeard fought Roger, Escanor attacked as well.

So much drama, I guess my escapades were overshadowed eh? Well, I'll see how long that will stay.

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All that aside, it's time to go find a swordsmith and ask about weaponry, I need something that can withstand my power without collapsing after single usage...

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[The following is excluded from word count]

Author's Corner:

So the Underworld Plan is long-term and he's just laying the foundation for it by making connections and offering some goodies.

Damien has also learned Ryou and will spend a bit more time going over it while he seeks a proper swordsmith.

PS. He will use the Vanquisher as the weapon model and apply his configurations to it separately.