𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 ➳ 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐚 (one piece fanfic)

Chapter 29

"Akainu was called back..." Smoker commented, emptying his glass. "Another beer, waiter!"

Nanko looked at the tipsy man while swirling his own full glass, "It has been one year and a half after all... They couldn't afford to spend more time on a ghost." And it was true, Ko was like a ghost, just like Konan who appeared sometimes but always managed to escape their grasps.

"You know, it's weird how we always end up stumbling upon Akainu," Smoker questioned, turning to stare at his companion with growing suspicion. "It's almost like Konan and Ko are somewhat linked, whenever Konan appears, we can be sure Ko is somewhere around..."

Nanko smiled, "Right-" He saw Smoker's eyes shine, his brain working full time, "or it could just be a coincidence!"

Smoker deflated but held onto his doubt, he felt he was on the edge of something. When his beer arrived, he grasped it with renewed vigor. He would get to the bottom of the matter.

Meanwhile Konan was rethinking her latest plans. It was true she had gotten a bit careless. There were some times where her three bodies appeared at the same times on one island, simply because Nanko would always be chasing after Konan and it was easier to manage her bodies if they were in the same place. There were some close times where she felt she was reaching the limits of her powers, but she always managed to narrowly disappear, and avoid being caught. It was tricky to fight three fights at the same time so she tried to avoid that by making Ko and Nanko rarely appear.

Still, as Ko, she had to do business in the underworld, and with Akainu on her tails, she had to be the one controlling Ko in person.

This wild chase had been going on for the last year, under the very nose of the Marine. But like that Ko managed to work her way up the underworld ranks, by selling information to some people, and using blackmail on the others, she had become a very esteemed member of the underworld. This allowed her to better use the information she was still getting from the Marine.

Masked Truth had, in a year, managed to become one of the most prominent newspapers, known for the veracity of their statements and articles, thanks to her digging around in the underworld. Still, it wasn't enough, in her quest of truth, she had come across a huge barrier, the Marine. It was withholding a huge part of the pieces of information. Her position as a mere junior as Nanko wasn't enough. It might have helped the Revolutionary Army for basic insider information, but what she wanted wasn't recent information but secrets dating back to the very foundation of the government. And that wasn't accessible to Nanko.

There was one easy way to climb up though. Catch a renowned criminal. And didn't she have one right in her lap, one the government wanted desperately to catch? A sneaky and sly informant that slipped right through the fingers of their best vice-admiral. Herself.

"See you later Smoker," Nanko waved as he left. It was the day of the week where Nanko was free to do whatever he wished to do, and Smoker let him leave.

With another candy in his hand, Nanko weaved through the dark alleys, intimidating any thugs who dared cross his sight. He was in a civilian outfit, a loose white shirt coupled with black fitted pants and a black long coat. His katana was hanging discreetly on his hip underneath his coat.

Nanko pushed back his blue hair, he hadn't cut them in a while, they were now long enough to get in his eyes. A feeling of uneasiness settled as a teenager walked out before him, a 'death' tattoo on his fingers.

"What's a marine officer doing down here?" the boy asked, pushing his fur hat up to see better.

Nanko raised a brow at the appearance but he had a purpose that day, he couldn't afford to play around with a teenage thug. Without much care, he walked past the boy, not sparing him a glance.

In that split second, a translucent bubble forming around them. Nanko stopped and turned around, a hand on his katana. "Don't play with fire, child," he carefully warned.

"You have something I need," he continued to press on, raising his hand and moving his fingers like he's playing the piano. However, instead of a melodious music, Nanko found himself split in two without a sound. The teenager then bent down to grab Nanko's pouch, weighing the heavy bag with a grin.

"You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent, kid," Nanko idly remarked, his body unharmed and whole, a katana extended on the amateur's neck.

"Wait, how did you do that? I know, you don't have any demon fruit!" He stumbled back. A sharp blow at his hand made him release the pouch.

Nanko swiftly intercepted the pouch with his feet and kicked it back in his hand before putting it back around his hip. "You have an interesting power, it's a pity you met me." Konan was a person who had perfect control of her body, reassembling it was as easy as breathing for her.

He didn't seem to give up as he frowned and concentrated hard, veins appearing on his forehead. Nanko decided to humor him and only stared without disrupting him.

Then a heart cube appeared in his hand, and his face lit up in joy.

Nanko looked down at his chest where his heart previously was with interest. Without the fear Law anticipated, Nanko, simply gazed at the oddity and passed a hand through the gaping hole.

"Don't move, you will obey me," Law ordered, pressing ever so slightly the organ in his hand. However, contrary to what he expected Nanko simply smiled at him, seemingly not minding the pain he should have felt at the pressure on his heart. Law gripped the heart tighter, and tighter, searching any reaction on the motionless marine officer. The smirk taunted him, and he found himself clenching his hand. In his staring contest, he didn't notice the lack of blood on the heart. The organ in his hand felt warm and a bit sticky, yet strong and alive. Then nothing, his hand felt empty and soft. He looked down in panic to see sheets of papers dispersing. His mouth parted in shock. He couldn't comprehend what had happened.

In that short time, it took him to look down, Nanko was already in front of him, looking down at him with the same infuriating smirk that told him he took great joy in his struggle.

"Now that you've seen this, should I kill you?" Nanko asked, while twirling his finished candy stick in his hand.

"You can't!" Law argued, stumbling back, fear starting to settle in him, he couldn't die yet. Not when he hadn't taken his revenge yet.

"Oh, but I most certainly can," Nanko slowly walked toward the retreating boy, "You've seen too much..." He smiled kindly, dropping his stick on the floor. "That's most definitely unfortunate."

Law turned around to run but was stopped by a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Where are you going now?" That monotone voice sent shivers down Law's spine.

"Just kidding!" Nanko let go, raising his hands in a defenseless motion. He felt both amused and sorry when he saw the wary and guarded eyes of the teenager. "Forget what happened, you have potential, kid, don't waste it."

With that he walked away, his pouch carelessly thrown behind, the golden coins clanging as they met the floor.

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my new favorite emoji :D