Chapter 69: Gathering funds

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"Hmm...?"

In the middle of a silent and calm room, Kuina suddenly opened her eyes slowly before she turned to look at her surroundings with a bit of confusion in her gaze.

She flinched slightly in pain, as she noticed that moving too hastily actually hurt her somewhat. Not knowing what had happened, she turned to once again get up, this time more slowly and carefully albeit, and it wasn't long before Kuina walked out of the room in order to check her situation.

Then, a delicious and incredibly tempting smell entered her nostrils, making her widen her eyes in amazement, and even accidentally causing Kuina to drool involuntarily while she walked rapidly towards the source of the smell.

*Creeeeack...*

As the wooden door that gave access to the room where the smell originated was opened, she noticed that Sid was actually cooking some dishes behind the door with extreme speed and ability, something that startled her slightly as she had only seen him cook just once, and it wasn't even that good.

'Was it four years ago? Why is this guy so good at it now?' Kuina looked at his movements and looked dumbfounded at what looked more like a spectacle than cooking. 

Out of nowhere, Sid took out his sword from its scabbard and slashed apart a beef that was on the table with incredible speed until nothing more than cubic shaped pieces of meat were left there, before he then moved them with extreme carefulness towards a dish that was on the side, and started showering them with condiments and a golden sauce.

After he finished doing the rest, he grabbed his sword and started cleaning the leftovers of food that were stuck on its blade with a small cloth that was beside him, and then he turned to look at Kuina with a raised eyebrow in his everlasting frown.

When Kuina saw Sid using his precious sword as a kitchen knife to prepare food, she felt like breaking something with her fists. However, unfortunately for her, Sid really didn't like when people broke his things and could usually either punish them severely or simply make them pay for the repairs.

She was kind of broke, so she just contained herself and looked at Sid with a twitching smile. Albeit her eyes were still looking at the food that Sid had prepared.

*Sigh...*

"What's with you and not staying in bed when you are injured? Come, your wounds will re-open if you continue standing like that" Sid grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her back to the room.

Injured as she was, Kuina was unable to fight back and ended up following Sid with a bit of an annoyed expression on her face. Though it disappeared as soon as Sid gave her the food he had prepared a few minutes earlier. However, right when she was midway finishing her food her eyes widened and she looked at Sid with a bit of doubt in her gaze.

"Say... Did I defeat Mihawk in the end? I don't remember too well how did things go after I attacked him with my final attack"

Sid just looked at her for a bit, before he took out a small candy he had in his pocket, and started eating it with a bored expression on his face.

"In a way you defeated him, but he also defeated you... So somehow it could be considered a tie between you two... Are you mad about it?"

Kuina just shook her head and smiled a bit while glancing at him.

"It's fine, the fact that I tied with him means that my efforts didn't go to waste, but they also mean that I still have a long way to go" Kuina lied on the bed and looked at the ceiling with a determined gaze on her eyes.

Sid just looked at her for a bit, before he then stood up and started stretching his limbs with a tired look in his eyes.

'I should probably take a nap after this, two days of not sleeping might not be good for my body'

"Anyway, your body should recover in a few days more. Until then, make sure to stay in bed in order to recover properly, otherwise, the next days might be pretty hard for you"

"Hard...? Why?" Kuina looked at Sid with a dumbfounded expression on her face and furrowed her eyebrows at Sid's strange affirmation.

Sid's expression, which was just a bored one until now, turned into a mischievous one as he glanced in Kuina's way with an immense and evil grin spreading across his face.

"I'll make a new training regime for you"

Kuina's expression paled immediately and her eyes widened in terror.

The words 'Not again...!' were everything going on her mind right now.

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A week later...

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After each of the members of the Atlas Inquisition finished their business at different islands and came back to the ship, they started their journey once again and started destroying several gathering spots for cultists that acted like normal people. Before subduing them as well so that Sid could look into what did the Anomaly did to these people and how did it start fucking up their minds.

Unfortunately for him, the energy used by the Anomaly proved to be very dangerous as it seemed to have self-conscience, and it was made completely from strange elements that Sid had yet to understand.

In a way, it was like discovering a new element.

That did not mean Sid did not make progress during this time, he also tried applying Haki or spirit to this energy to see if it could be consumed, or it could be restrained somehow. And impressively, his spirit was able to subdue it and calm it down somehow. Albeit it still behaved aggressively.

This enlightened him into something else.

What things could he subdue with his Haki or Spirit?

Could he use his own Haki to affect the Willpower of others? Or maybe...

Was Haki or Spirit able to manipulate the devils inside the devil's fruits for his own benefit? Even without consuming them directly?

This matter needed more investigation later, and Sid knew that.

*Yawn...*

Yasu, who was taking a sunbath on top of the ship, yawned a bit and looked with a somnolent expression on his face at Sid, who was standing at the top of the mast with his Thanatos clothes on and looking at the sunset with an incredible pensive and mysterious gaze that every Shadow Eminence should have.

It was then, that suddenly Sid turned to look up towards the sky, and smirked slightly behind his mask when he noticed something interesting.

Yasu noticed the change in expression of his boss and looked with curiosity at what could his unbelievably powerful boss do now.

"I'll be back in a bit"

*Boom!!*

Sid kicked the floor and jumped several hundred meters into the air, his speed was incredible, and he resembled an eagle rising high into the air without stopping. It was until a few seconds later that his speed finally started decreasing, and gravity started performing its job.

*Boom!!*

However, right as he was about to start falling from an incredibly high altitude, Sid kicked once again the air and started rising high into the air with incredible speed, making a very loud booming sound on the part where his feet has kicked.

*Boom!!*

*Boom!!*

*Boom!!*

His feet kicked rapidly the air and propelled him faster and faster towards the clouds that separated the skies from the earth, and soon after a few more seconds, he finally pierced through the skies and arrived at the heavens.

Well, not the heavens exactly. He arrived at Skypiea.

What was the reason for this? Well, apart from getting his hands on some Dials, the strange technology that Skipieans use in their everyday life and even in battles. And also to take with him some treasures that were left here after the Straw-hats escaped thinking that they had enough loot and that they were being chased.

What more interested Sid was the giant pillar of gold that the straw-hats left behind. Bellamy was supposed to get it after some months passed and he arrived at Skypiea, but since he was going to give it a better purpose than him, then Sid thought that there wasn't a problem in making this much gold his.

Not to mention, that he had already some plans to make this gold multiply, and become not only the Shadow eminence that excels in combat power only, but also the Shadow eminence that controls the economy of this world from shadows, and also the one that moves politics to his desire.

There was this wise saying that he remembered very well...

"The one that controls the money, controls the world"

Sid was gonna become a Shadow eminence in all the meaning of the word!!

"Hmm... for some reason it looks like I'm planning to take over the world... Well, technically it's true but it is also not..."

Sid looked at his hands and pondered for a bit whether he was going over the correct path to becoming a Shadow eminence.

"I should calm down a bit, or else I might become some third-rate villain that tries to take over the world for no other reason except power thirst..."

Sid massaged his head and sighed in exasperation before he started walking further into the forest of Skypiea looking for the nearest city in order to buy some dials for his investigation later and maybe even take the pillar with him right away.

He might also look at the Poneglyph just in case there is an easter egg that the fans did not notice in the anime.

So many things to do, and so little time to move. 

"Heh, but if it weren't like that,  I couldn't call myself a Shadow eminence!"

Soon, Sid dashed rapidly towards the nearby city and grinned excitedly thinking of all the cool things he could do with the Dials.

Weapons, weapons, and more weapons!

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