One Piece: Hashirama Template

Wang Zhi was defeated, and it happened with shocking speed and suddenness.

Barick, held up by Aphelandra, went pale and deathly still.

Doru's face changed sharply, then without a word he spread his wings and shot skyward as lightning.

He had been unable to gain the upper hand even against Boa Hancock. If the Piercing Duke himself stepped in, defeat would be certain.

Barick's look of despair came from knowing there was no chance left and that he had become a lamb to the slaughter.

Doru still had a sliver of hope to escape.

Lightning is terrifyingly fast. Doru bolted for the sky, and even Hancock could not stop him.

Unfortunately for him, the Piercing Duke Pirates had more than just Link and Hancock.

Nami flickered once and appeared high above.

She was far weaker than Doru, and lightning would greatly cut her damage against him, so she did not attack the Pegasus-form Doru at all. Instead, she pulled out a handful of coins and scattered them toward him.

Transfer.

Aphelandra whispered, and the coins in the sky became Hancock, Carina, and Margaret.

Perfume Femur.

Destruction Ray.

Hundredfold Multiplier Arrow.

After switching places with the coins, the three unleashed their ultimate attacks straight at the wide-eyed Doru.

Hancock's kick, entwined with Armament Haki, carried petrification.

Behind Carina, nine golden tails unfurled. Two twisted together, glinting in white and red, and she loosed a blazing beam of destruction. The strike was similar to Kaido's heat breath yet not mere fire, a fusion of wind and flame.

Its power was tremendous. The temperature could melt great boulders into magma.

Margaret's shot needed no explanation, a single arrow to sink a ship.

Doru never expected three finishers to arrive in that way.

He had no time to react, no way to dodge, and could only cover himself in Armament Haki to tank all three.

As expected, he was blasted from the heavens down onto the ground of Hachinosu, gouging out a massive crater and kicking up a sky of dust.

When the dust cleared, Doru proved the most wretched of the three top officers. His body was veined with petrified cracks, scorched by flame, and pierced clean through by a gaping wound.

If the three women had not deliberately avoided lethal points, and if a Mythical Zoan were not so tough with full-body armament, Doru would have been dead beyond doubt.

With Doru fallen, Aphelandra switched Hancock and the others back to the ground, and they began a siege on Barick.

The Sick-Sick Fruit is terrifying. If the Piercing Duke Pirates did not have Aphelandra, an Op-Op Fruit user, Link would never have brought the Kuja Pirates along. Without a counter to a Paramecia like the Sick-Sick Fruit, Barick alone could have quietly wiped out the Kuja Pirates the way Carina and the others had dismantled Wang Zhi's crew.

The Sick-Sick Fruit is a strategic-class Paramecia. Plague, in some sense, is no less fearsome than an Ancient Weapon.

But just like Perona's Hollow-Hollow Fruit, once the virus problem is solved, Barick becomes trivial.

None of the three top officers had mastered advanced Haki applications, and not one of them could gain an advantage in a one-on-one against Hancock. Once Hancock joined forces with Carina and the others, they became an unbeatable combination below the realm of superstars.

Soon, Barick was petrified by Hancock.

With that, the captain of the Wang Zhi Pirates and his three top officers were all defeated.

The remaining division leaders and small fry were nearly wiped out.

Outside pirates secretly filmed it all.

Many, fearing Link would silence them, scattered and fled. Some carried coral bubbles and chose to leap into the sea.

Little did they know Link would not act against them. If they could offer experience, he would kill them all for the meat, however small the mosquito. Prey that offered no experience did not interest him.

Hachinosu was not territory Link wanted. This lightning raid on Wang Zhi's crew had two purposes. First, to make a name, to raise the weight of his flag and cow the scum eyeing Fish-Man Island. Second, to seize the captain's and officers' Devil Fruits from the Wang Zhi Pirates.

To spread his fame worldwide, Link needed witnesses to carry the story. The remaining pirates on Hachinosu were the microphone.

So those who survived the storm of ten thousand bolts were spared.

Buru buru. Buru buru.

While Carina and the women led the Kuja Pirates in wrapping up the battle, Link took out a transponder snail and called someone.

After a moment, the snail's dazed face shifted into a leering grin missing its front teeth. A wicked laugh burbled out. Zehahaha. Link, you aren't calling to laugh at me, are you?

Glad you're not dead.

Link teased him. If you get burned once and repeat the same mistake, if you never change, one day your arrogance will kill you.

Zehahaha. I'm not Jinbe. That guy actually slipped out of Impel Down so quickly, lay in wait on the sea, and ambushed me. If I'd known, I'd have killed him back in Impel Down, Teach laughed.

He seemed not to care about the defeat or the loss of thousands of men.

That was the truth. As long as he and his officers were fine, small fry could be had in any number. So long as the Blackbeard Pirates beat Whitebeard's remnants even once, the rabble would swarm in again.

Seeing Teach as breezy as ever, Link skipped the nonsense and asked directly. I just defeated the Wang Zhi Pirates. Do you want Hachinosu?

Huh?

The snail mimicked Teach's bewildered look to perfection.

Ah ah. If you don't want it, I'll sell it, Link said with a smile.

I want it. I want it.

Teach hurried to reply, and the snail's face split in fawning laughter. Zehahaha. To take down a famed crew like Wang Zhi's so easily, as expected of you, Link.

Cut the flattery. This island is expensive.

I can give you the island, but you have to help me seize the Devil Fruits from Wang Zhi's captain and officers for free. After you take the rest of Whitebeard's territory, you owe me an island with rich iron ore, Link said.

No problem.

Teach agreed without hesitation. Compared to Hachinosu, an island rich in iron ore was nothing. Once he rose to prominence, the entrenched brand of Pirate Paradise on Hachinosu would draw uncountable pirates to play their pirate games, and when good seedlings appeared he could recruit them.

Teach was confident that for those without powers, no one could resist the lure of taking a Devil Fruit. Link was not polite either, since he could take Devil Fruits himself. If Link set his sights on a particular fruit, he would not hesitate to burn bridges over it. Teach even suspected that Link was willing to help him seize the Paramecia Quake-Quake Fruit because he judged himself still too weak, feared his plan would fail, and might be killed by someone else.

________________________________

Read Advanced Chapters on : patreon.com/Kaizo247