A few more months passed as Rayleigh focused on teaching Marcus how to use advanced armament haki. Marcus already learned the very basics, but under Rayleigh's training he quickly mastered the one thing he cared about, how to remove an explosive collar. While they didn't have any explosive collars to test with, Rayleigh was positive Marcus would have no issues doing it.
Marcus trusted Rayleigh's opinion, but still wanted to get proper practice in, so he already decided on a way to do it after they returned. On the trip back to Sabaody Marcus made a few calls to check in with people. While he was training, the only person he had contact with was Garp and that was only because he called when Marcus was near his personal snail. As for his brothers and friends, Marcus hadn't talked to anyone else in about a year and a half by this point.
Marcus first called Ace and waited for him to pick up. It didn't take long for the call to connect as Ace asked, "This is Ace, what do you want?"
Marcus smiled a little bit as he teasingly said, "Answering calls like that, no wonder grandpa beats you so much."
There was a short pause before Ace excitedly asked, "Marcus you stupid jerk! Why haven't you picked up when I called or even tried to call us back?!?"
Marcus leisurely peddled on his bike as he said, "I told you I was gonna focus on training."
"Jerk! It's been over a year since we last talked!"
"Yeah! What the hell, you could have at least called on your birthday… Both Birthdays. Luffy cried like a little baby when you didn't call him." Sabo said before Luffy yelled out, "I didn't cry!"
"Yes you did!" Marcus, Sabo and Ace said at the same time before they burst into laughter.
"Hey, you weren't even here!" Luffy said in an aggrieved voice.
"Maybe, but I know you're a crybaby, so it's not hard to imagine."
"He's right, Luf. Anyways, you calling us means you finished training huh? Are you coming back?" Ace asked as other people in the background questioned in lower voices, "Is that Marcus?"
"I'm done with my initial training, but I'm heading towards the New World soon to test myself and get stronger. But don't worry, I'll come visit you guys at some point before you set sail."
"What?!? You aren't coming back yet?" Luffy asked in a disappointed tone.
"Why would I come back so soon? I'm nowhere close to being happy with my current strength and I'm already way stronger than all of you."
"No way!" A chorus of people said at the same time.
"Yeah, you weren't the only one training. Everyone's been training with Kuma and Ginny since you left and we've become really strong." Ace said in a confident tone.
"Oh, are they still training with you guys?"
"Yeah, they basically moved here. But Kuma leaves to do stuff every few weeks or so. Ginny and Bonnie never leave though." Sabo said before Luffy added, "That bear guy is cool, he can send us places with just a touch of his hand."
"Kuma sent you places?"
"Only once to do some training. We ended up on an island in the Grandline for about two months. We just got back a few weeks ago." Sabo said before Marcus curiously asked, "What island?"
"We never found out the name, but it's an uninhabited island right next to the Calm Belt. We ended up fighting a bunch of really strong creatures there."
"Oh, practical experience is always good. Have you caught any pirates recently?" Marcus asked after a few moments of thought.
Ace let out a sigh before he said, "No… The handful we've run into are just way too weak. It's barely worth the time to even hunt them for their bounties at this point."
"Yeah, that's how it was for me with the pirates I met when I first entered the Grandline. If it wasn't for the fact bounties are higher here, I wouldn't have wasted my time on any of them."
"Hey, put that thing away. I'm gonna need your help." Rayleigh said which caused Marcus to look up and see a pitch black sky just past the Calm Belt area they were in.
"Heading into a storm, I'll talk to you guys later!" Marcus said before he quickly hung up.
He stayed in his bike until they left the Calm Belt before he disengaged the drive train and helped Rayleigh raise the storm sail. With the two of them and the size of the ship it was easy to do and within minutes they were both safely inside the bridge when the rain hit. Sailing throughout the storm neither one of them talked much and just focused on passing through it. The storm ended up being massive and it took most of the day before they ended up on the other side under the stars.
Once they were a safe distance from the storm, they shared a quick meal before they checked their course and headed back to Sabaody. They traveled through the night without sleep and pulled into the hidden harbor just after sunrise. Rayleigh didn't waste any time as he hopped onto the dock and said, "I'm going to visit Shakky, so don't visit until at least tomorrow."
Marcus snorted before he waved off the old man as he said, "Try not to break a hip or something, you're not as young as you used to be!"
"Shut up kid, I'm as strong as a bull and can easily go all night!"
Marcus chuckled slightly as he finished tying off his ship before he ate a quick breakfast and took a nap. When he woke up a little past noon, Marcus headed off to go buy a few things. He picked up another black cloak, another mask to hide his face and then headed out to visit the human auction house. He left his sword locked up on his ship before he left and made sure he wore black, nondescript clothing.
When Marcus arrived at the auction house his haki detected a large amount of people inside, but it didn't look like they were doing an auction today. Marcus headed towards the side entrance he used last time and when the guards noticed him, he knocked them out with a small blast of conqueror's haki. Marcus headed inside afterwards and knocked out basically everyone else he found in the same way.
Marcus made quick work of everyone inside the place and after freeing the slaves, he had them help move Disco and all the guards into the cells. Marcus also placed the slave collars on everyone he captured before he led the new freed slaves away. As he made his way over to one of the ports to borrow a ship, he pulled out his snail and made a call.
A gruff voice answered a few moments later and said, "Speak."
"You might be worse than grandpa when it comes to answering calls." Marcus said with a slight chuckle.
"Marcus?!? What's wrong? Why did you call?"
Marcus let out another chuckle before he asked, "Why do you think something's wrong when I call you?"
"Because you only call when you need something."
Marcus paused for a moment as he thought back on all their interactions before he realized Dragon was right. Marcus shook his head slightly before he said, "Well, I guess that's just how our relationship is. Honestly it's probably not much different than how you interact with grandpa…"
Dragon let out a slightly annoyed grunt before he asked, "So what do you need this time?"
"I'm back in Sabaody and have just freed about two hundred people from slavery. I need help getting them back home and hiding them again."
"Same place as last time, I'll have some people meet you there… But funds at that base are a little tight because of the last time, they might not be able to support everyone properly." Dragon said with a sigh.
"It's fine, I ended up raiding them at the perfect time and found a safe full of money. I gave each person a cut and your men can take the rest to help get them all home."
Dragon went quiet for a few moments before he said, "I'm happy you're doing the right thing, but you should be careful of who you make your enemy…"
"Don't worry, I've already faced him before…" Marcus said as he touched his chest where some of the scars were hidden under his clothes.
"I heard… But I wasn't talking about that psychopath, I meant the people who like to buy his merchandise. Be careful not to cross them unless you have enough power to defend yourself."
Marcus glanced back at the people cautiously following him as he said, "I'll keep that in mind."
"Good. Be safe, I'll call my men to get them ready for you." Dragon said before he hung up.
Marcus glanced at his snail that went dead before he shook his head and said, "Nice talking to you too."
Marcus put his snail away and quickly found a ship and knocked out the crew before he helped everyone board it. Afterwards they sailed to the area where Marcus met the Revolutionaries last time and handed over all the freed slaves and money he took from the auction house. Once finished, Marcus took the ship back to the port he borrowed it from and returned it before he went back to the auction house.
When he arrived he found that everyone was awake and freaking out because they were locked up and had slave collars around their necks. Disco was near the front of the cell, his star shaped glasses were missing and his blood shot eyes were laser focused on Marcus in his disguise. When Marcus stopped in front of the cell, Disco asked in a frustrated tone, "It's you again, isn't it?!?"
Marcus purposefully spoke in a lower tone of voice as he asked, "How does it feel to be just like the people you normally sell like cattle?"
"Fuck you! You're a dead man! You think you can get away with this?!? Once Joker finds out, you're dead!" Disco snarled as spit flew from his mouth as he banged against the bars.
Marcus stared at him for a few moments before he said in a teasing tone, "Didn't you say something like that last time… And yet here I am, still alive."
"That's because you ran away like a coward!"
"Yup and I'll do it again this time too… But first I need everyone's help with something before I go." Marcus said as he pulled out the slave collar controller and the keys to remove the collars.
"We aren't gonna help you do anything! Isn't that right, men?!?" Disco asked as was greeted with silence in return.
Disco slowly turned to look at his men and found that all of them were looking at Marcus with fear in their eyes. Disco frowned as he said in a displeased voice, "Anyone who helps him will find themselves part of the next auction!"
Marcus chuckled as he said, "Bold words from the first volunteer."
"I won-" Disco's words died in his throat as Marcus flipped one of the switches on the remote and the collar around his neck started ticking.
As everyone else backed away from Disco, Marcus opened up the cell and said, "Step out of the cell and I'll reset it. Or don't and well… You know what happens."
Disco scrambled out of the cell in seconds as he screamed in panic, "Turn it off!"
Marcus flipped the switch and right after the collar went back to normal he said, "Good, now if you help me with one thing, I'll remove the collar for you."
Disco gritted his teeth as he spat out, "Fine!"
Marcus nodded before he said, "Alright, stay still, this will only take a moment."
Marcus reached out for the collar around Disco's neck as the man asked in a panicked tone, "What are you doing?!?"
Marcus grabbed the collar firmly and it started to tick again as he said, "Just getting some practice in."
Marcus's fist turned black before it turned red and he ripped the collar off of Disco's neck and threw it towards the wall. A decent sized explosion went off a moment later as Disco's bladder emptied and he collapsed unconscious. Marcus glanced down at the man and scrunched his nose up in disgust before he said, "Next!"
Everyone looked at each other and the new hole in the wall but no one moved at all. Marcus glanced over them for a few moments before he pointed at a random person and said, "Since no one volunteered, you're next."
The man shook his head repeatedly as some of the others quickly pushed him out of the cell and Marcus ripped off his collar and threw it away. The man didn't pass out but still dropped to his knees as he pissed himself. Marcus glanced over the rest of the guards as he said, "Either one of you steps forward or I'll pick randomly again."
Over an hour later Marcus left the auction house satisfied that he didn't fail a single time. That said, he was pretty sure the auction house would have a completely new staff the next time he visited and wondered if Doflamingo would keep Disco around after failing twice…