Disclaimer : I own nothing.
Chapter 44 :Surging Tides.
- Shin –
I raced towards the place I sensed the power from, Shadow Walking through the city.
Soon enough, I saw the person I was looking for.
Standing in front of me, in a Green Cape was the Most Dangerous(lol) Man in the World, Monkey D. Dragon.
Name : Monkey D. Dragon
Title : The Most Dangerous Man in the World. Revolutionary Dragon.
Race : Human
Rank : Champion
Level : 112
Reputation : 0/100.
Obedience : 0/100.
Thoughts About You : None.
Holy Crap. The dude is stronger than Garp.
He sensed my presence as soon as I entered the area and turned towards me.
I didn't try to hide either and emerged from the shadows.
"Who are you?" he said, trying to judge my intention.
"I am just a normal man who wants to donate to your cause."
He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
"Ah, I should probably be more clear." I brought out a space ring and threw it towards him. "Try to concentrate on the ring."
He used Armament Haki on his hand and did so, suddenly opening his eyes widely and staring at me.
"You can think about the things you want to store inside it or bring out and it will do so. I just want to cooperate."
He stared at me for a while but asked warily, "Why should I trust you?"
"A Fine question. Perhaps an introduction would help you trust me better."
He just stared. What a boring man.
"My name is Shin Kageyami, a wandering magician." Seeing no reaction on his face, I continued, "I see that the name rings no bells in your head. Then perhaps my alias would do so….Dio Brando."
I sensed the changes through my observation haki quite well. His muscles tensed, his breath became much more regulated and fingers clenched.
"Oye oye, I am not here to fight. I wouldn't have given you a small room full of treasure if I had any intention of doing so."
He didn't calm down though. "What is it that you want?"
I raised an eyebrow. "You don't doubt me?"
"I doubt someone as strong as you would lie about something like that. Also, I have heard that you are a pirate hunter whose crew member fought Dracule Mihawk to a standstill. I also saw you walking through the shadows which might be used to easily escape or infiltrate Marie Geoise."
"Oh and what about me travelling from the other side of the globe to here in less than a day?"
"It could have been one of your subordinates? I don't believe that you work alone."
"A smart thought although wrong. It was all me….Dio." I gave him a cheeky smile.
"What do you want from me? I don't think someone like you would find me without any reason, maybe for some trade?" He asked once more, although much more seriously this time though.
Here comes the difficult part. "I will be honest but this might take a while to clarify. Meet me at the entrance of the Grand Line, near the island whale that always tries to break the Redline. I will receive you there. Right now, I have two subordinates who are waiting patiently for me."
I turned back, "Oh and please don't hurt Laboon, the island whale. He's a friend. We will stay there for about a month or two at best."
When I walked a few steps, I heard his voice behind me, "Aren't you afraid that I would reveal your information to the world?"
"And risk the World Government recovering all their gold? Nah, you're smarter than that. Oh by the way, bring that Chief of Staff of yours. I have news of his family. See ya." And I Shadow Walked away.
With these types of people it's better to keep my cards secret.
I reached the edge of the town and then onto my boat and sailed away. I had to put on a front that I was sailing after all.
After reaching the place from where the island couldn't be seen anymore, I apparated back to my Ship.
- Scene Change –
Nami and Nojiko were slightly….buffed? no….bigger. Yeah. They looked like what they would have in two years….extremely hot.
"I see that the two of you are well." They sat on their beds while Crocus and Law looked and asked them several questions.
"I feel quite weird, Shin." Nojiko said, looking at herself.
"The medicine brings out the hidden potential of the body. It can be improved further with training. Your body is twice as strong as what can be considered the peak of a normal human. What you are feeling now is the change in strength. It might take a while for you two to control your strength. Take your time and adjust." I looked at Law, "You want to try it? Even at your level, this can give you around 500 Doriki increase in strength. It is not really bad."
He looked for a while towards me while thinking. "Sure. I will use it at night."
"You need to be properly rested for this."
"Hmm."
"Did you guys find anything special to help your research?"
"The medicine is extremely mysterious. I really want to study this. Unlike other medicines I have seen in my travels, this one doesn't have any bad effects on the user's body which I have to tell you is almost unheard of. Her body was in a condition where it would have been impossible for her to survive but she kept becoming stronger. This is already a Rear Admiral level of brute strength. The Marines would kill for this if this is ever found out." Crocus started speaking in excitement. It was kinda strange to see this man becoming so excited.
"They can kill themselves if they want my medicines. I don't wanna help the World Government become any stronger, thank you very much."
"You don't like the World Government much, do you?" he asked with a smile.
I merely deadpanned at him.
We walked to our dining room.
In the meanwhile Rayleigh and Roger also came there.
These two had been sparring. I don't think my Unbreakable Enchantment can take the Conqueror Imbued or even Top Class Armament Haki strikes.
I will have to make a good base.
Maybe dig one inside the Redline.
The place is ridiculously big as it is.
I could make a training field similar to what Keisuke had in Bleach.
"So brat, how was your meeting with Garp?"
I smiled as I recalled the meeting. "It was wonderful. I am sure if I meet the marines a few more times, I might sway some of their top young members to my side as pirates hahahaha."
"What?" Rayleigh asked, confused.
I then proceeded to relay about my meeting and well the atmosphere became quiet for a while.
"The Marines are not all bad but then again every organization has its bad apples." Roger said with a hint of regret.
"It's the World Government. As long as they are at the top, there will always be such people in the Marines."
"Do you want to overthrow the World Government?" Rayleigh asked.
"I don't like them. Ruling the world is not really my thing. Too much work for me. I'd rather stay at home with my family and invent stuff. I am not even a saint or hero who tries to poke their noses wherever they can. I know that many places have darkness and I can tolerate most of it….but….these people have crossed the limits. I am someone who can enter Marie Geoise whenever I want. That place is worse than hell, and I am someone who has been to the literal underworld and stayed there quite happily. I am planning on lending a hand to Dragon to make the world slightly bearable. He is going to come here to visit too."
"Dragon?" Roger probably didn't really know.
"Monkey D. Dragon, Garp's son and the Leader of the Revolutionary Army and the most….well second most wanted man currently in the world." Rayleigh explained. "So, you will be joining the Revolutionary Army?"
"No. Just lending a helping hand through resources. Those guys are trying to do something good. I have a lot of gold. I can offer them some. Just doing my good deed for the day. After all, people come and go, causing all the storms they can but….the ones who suffer the most….are the innocent civilians. Whether it be the Pirates or the Marines or the World Government or the Nobles of the kingdoms, civilians always suffer regardless."
They became quiet and I brought out a few bottles of beer for us. We drank in peace.
After a while Rayleigh asked. "What was that about swaying the Marines?"
"Some or rather many people in the Marines are good people. They just don't get to work the way they want to. The Marines should be an organization to protect the people, instead they are something that enforces the World Government's rule. Nothing more, nothing less. If the World Government points a finger at anyone, they will chase that person like a mad dog regardless. The kingdoms which don't pay the Heavenly Gold get ransacked by the Marines and their people sold off like slaves. Yet, people still keep joining the Marines….do you know why?" I asked, looking at Rayleigh.
He didn't answer.
"The only reason for that is that they have no other choice. If you want to fight against pirates, you need to become a Marine. Pirate Hunters don't really work well above a hundred millions. The biggest beneficiary of the Age of Piracy is the World Government itself. As long as the people are afraid, they will stick to the Marines and the World Government and their rule will be firm. As long as an alternative appears though, all of this changes. Currently the Marines who want to help the civilians get pushed aside by the dogs raised by the World Government as their orders. If they don't follow, they will not be promoted almost never except in a few rare cases. Slowly their will gets eroded and they become accepting of the situation. This will change though if they were offered an alternative. I am planning to talk to Dragon about this. Slowly pick off some people who are dissatisfied with the Marines too. What's wrong with it?"
"The World Government has been ruling for eight hundred years. It will not be easy to shake that foundation easily, Shin." Rayleigh said softly.
"I know. On the other hand, you people have crossed the Grand Line and found their true history. What do you think should be done Rayleigh?"
He looked at me for a while and then at Roger who merely shrugged.
"When we reached there, we all had our own thoughts. If you reach there someday, you might have a different thought as well." He said, taking a sip from his bottle.
"On the other hand, I don't think I will change my plans though." I said quite firmly.
I had my quests after all.
And this will be my Hub World. As if I am going to let the bunch of snobs rule over it.
"Oh, and why is that so?" He asked intrigued.
"Tell me something Rayleigh, what would you do if someone, an adult is brutally beating and torturing a child in front of you?"
He looked at me with narrowed eyes. "I will knock him out and bring the child to safety."
"Can't be knocked out, what then?"
"I will beat him into a pulp."
"Will you care if his ancestors made a dumb alliance eight hundred years ago?" I saw his eyes widening. I however didn't give him any chance to speak. "I won't. I will punch him straight in the face. Not because he was from the World Government, not because I am some hero trying to save the child…. but….for a simple reason that I didn't like it. So what if he was the son of the Fleet Admiral or even a World Noble. I don't like it, I will punch, damn, straight." Who cares if they are World Nobles of fucking Im for all I care. If I can, I will make sure I prepare well enough and then nuke them and vapourise everything.
Rayleigh looked at me with a slightly open mouth and then smiled wryly. Roger on the other hand burst out into laughter. "Well said brat. Do what your heart says is good. Just never regret it. I will support your decision"
+40 Reputation with Gol D. Roger(65/100) for impressing him with your will.
+40 Reputation with Silvers Rayleigh(40/100) for impressing him with your will.
[Perk Gained – Roger – 50]
[Aye Aye Captain]
Increased Affection, Obedience and Reputation with Sea Faring people.
Nice perk.
It basically gives an increase of affection and reputation with everyone in the One Piece world.
Things cleared up after that and we drank a bit till Rindo was done with the food.
I had asked her to make a healthy portion as most of them would eat like starved for a week. Nami and Nojiko will be increasing their food intake as well.
I need to concentrate fully on my training for a while to get my Swordsmanship and Haki to a reasonable level before I attempt to infiltrate Onigashima.
Yep, rather than infiltrate Big Mom's territory where every random object could be a homie, I'd rather risk the territory of Kaido which is filled with rather dumb characters in general.
On that line of thought, I looked at Roger and thought of something and decided to ask. "Say teacher, do you know what happened to friend Kozuki Oden?"
He looked up slightly and then at Rayleigh who sighed. "I haven't been able to visit the place but I heard that he was killed by Kaido twenty years ago. Since then Kaido had taken control over Wano along with Kurozumi Orochi."
Roger's eyes widened slightly and I saw his hands clench but he soon breathed out.
"Well that's true but I am asking about his children. Do you know what happened to them?"
"Momonosuke and Hiyori? I heard that they passed away as well when akked along with Toki."
"Well….that might not be true."
Rayleigh looked towards me intently and I could feel Roger's stare as well.
"I think you might have an idea about Lady Toki's Devil Fruit." I didn't explain much but just said those words. They kept on looking and I took their silence as a sign of acceptance, "She sent her son twenty years into the future while one of Kozuki Oden's people hid her daughter Hiyori. She is currently hidden under a fake name Komurasaki, a tayu by Denjiro, one of Oden's men who is going by the name Kyoshiro. She is currently alive while Momonoske will be sent to the future in a year or so."
"How sure are you about this, Shin?" Roger asked and I could hear a rare seriousness from his voice. He didn't burst out with Conqueror's blast or anything yet that calm and casual voice conveyed all this intent clearly.
"Completely."
He let out a breath and looked at Rayleigh.
"I will find out the details." Rayleigh nodded and then looked at me. "Can you please drop me by Shakky's?"
"Sure." I thought of something else and turned towards Law, "By the way, Doflamingo works for Kaido too."
The guy gripped his katana by his side and stared a hole in the food on the table.
"How much chance do you think I have against him right now?" he muttered quite softly.
"A snowball's chance in a volcano."
His grip on the katana got stronger but he didn't complain.
"I actually have a way." Everyone looked at me while Crocus asked from the side, equal parts intrigued and exasperated.
"It's not another medicine is it?"
I deadpanned at the man. "I have never used that medicine in my life."
"On that topic, brat. You seem quite stronger than in the morning." Roger asked, looking at me.
I nodded, "I did unlock a part of my strength. I only have one last lock on my power but I think I am as strong as I can be in a short period of time. We should start our training as well."
"Such training will only take them so far. They need real fighting experience." Rayleigh commented.
"Hmm, I know. I did recover an interesting piece of magic which can help everyone grow stronger at a fast pace. The only catch is that they can die and if they die, they will be forgotten."
"Oh! Is there such a place?" Roger was curious while Nami was scared and Nojiko gulped too. Rindo looked a bit excited. Law had a look of determination on his face.
"So, will you take the chance? You might face enemies in there that will rival or might easily be even beyond Whitebeard or teacher in his prime….combined. But that is the price for such quick gain of strength. So….will you try Law?"
He grit his teeth and slammed his katana on the deck, "Damn right I will."
"Sure then, we will start with the training when you are done recovering from the medicine dosage."
I looked towards Rayleigh, "Ready to go then?"
He nodded back and my shadow attached to his and I popped to Sabaody.
- Scene Change –
It was a week later that I was woken up by the shouts outside.
After returning from dropping Rayleigh at Shakky's, Roger started our training with complete seriousness. It was beating me to the ground over and over while I only used my Haki and sword to counter. This time however, his moves were extremely sharp. It was as if he was intending to kill and would stop just an inch from his throat or vitals when the match restarted, he would go full gear right at the start.
According to his assessment, my physique was at the level of a Marine Reserve Admiral but not quite up to the Admiral mark yet.
I took everyone into the IDs at night too.
The girls except Rindo were spooked out by the undead dungeon and so was Law to be honest.
Nami and Nojiko were shivering at the sight of the undead. It was then that I realized a simple difference from the last time which didn't occur to me before. Rias, me and our peerages were used to the supernatural and didn't spook out much at the sight of zombies whereas Nami and Nojiko didn't even know about something like this which is similar to Law.
Rindo on the other hand knew about Zombies from movies or so and….she was a little weird.
Not bad, weird….but weird.
Fighting in the IDs gave them real experience. It was much easier for Law as we kept to the low leveled areas for the girls at first. They still leveled up because they were too low leveled at the time. Law And I took our fight to the stronger enemies. I needed higher ranked enemies for the Haki Upgrade Quests.
I currently had only three quests on Upgrade.
The Power of Destruction.
Observation Haki.
Armament Haki.
Among these both Haki's are almost at the Adept Rank and will probably easily reach the Master Rank by the end of the month. I could concentrate on training my Swordsmanship then.
My Pirate Hunter Class gave me a Weapons Mastery for all kinds of Weapons which overlaps with my Sword Mastery so the overall damage is increased even further.
I love being a Gamer
As I walked out I saw the reason for the noise.
And the reason was currently swallowing all the meat on our dining table.
"Oooh Shin…. sup, this is really tasty?" and then went back to eating again.
Eating meat early in the morning….*sigh*.
"When did you guys come in, Luffy?" I looked around and saw Luffy, Zoro, Ussop, Sanji, Bartolomeo and Desire all on the ship. Johnny and Yosaku were not here so they probably left.
"This morning. We just came down the Reverse Mountain and were swallowed by the giant whale and somehow we came here." Zoro said as he rested and ate his own food.
These people still got eaten by Laboon.
"Shin-kun, Ray-san called and wanted to come here. Could you please bring him? We are preparing breakfast for everyone." Crocus said politely from the side.
I nodded and looked at Sanji who was dancing around like a loon.
"Rindo-chan, Nami-chan and Nojiko-chan, all three in one ship. Why don't we have more girls in our crew? Please join our crew. Oye Luffy, get more beautiful ladies on our crew."
"Hahahaha funny brows is always funny."
"No no, he's just weird."
"Nami, don't be rude to others."
The three girls were looking at the overexcited cook.
"Actually she's right. Our cook is a little weird." Desire said from the side as well.
Ouch.
Law and Zoro were talking about something as well.
Dragon is probably going to arrive soon as well so….
"Luffy….stay here for a while. I will give you a wonderful gift if you do." I smiled.
"Oh….gift? KAY WE ARE STAYING." The person in question replied and jumped back into eating.
….
Hah.
This guy is just unbelievable.
I shook my head and popped away.
- Rayleigh –
Rayleigh had been busy trying to find out what had happened in Wano. He had heard that Oden had died but the news was rumors at best. The only way he was sure of it was because Kaido was ruling over the territory. There was no way Oden would have allowed that if he was alive.
The news was well hidden and by the time they had gotten a hint of it, it was already too late. Both he and Whitebeard had to grit their teeth and swallow their anger. Wano was too isolated and well-fortified naturally to be assaulted and such an attack would have caused too many unnecessary casualties.
If Oden or any of his family had been alive, they would have attacked the Beast Pirates for sure, the number of casualties be damned. From the information that was obtained, there were no survivors present.
So it was a hit from the blue when Shin had come out with that piece of information that Oden's children had still been alive.
He had been a bit suspicious, no matter how much his heart wanted to believe it, no matter how much Roger believed in Shin. It might have been his guilt at letting the children of his brother suffer for so long. That doubt however disappeared as soon as he revealed Lady Toki's powers and that Momonuske was sent to the future.
This past week, he had not spared a single resource to search for Hiyori's information and it was said that there was really a tayu named Komurasaki in Wano. The most famous one of them all. She was also working under someone called Kyoshiro.
Next, Rayleigh had discussed it with Roger and they had decided to bring back old friends and attack Wano in a month. Roger will be training Shin and his crew while Rayleigh will be contacting the others.
He was also asked to convey a message to Whitebeard that the old monster would probably regret for his lifetime.
Rayleigh had thought about contacting Shanks but then let go of the thought. Shanks had made his own path and become someone rivaling Whitebeard. Dragging him into the business of old people like himself is not something he or Roger would do. Moreover, two emperors attacking Kaido who was still in contact with Linlin would cause too much chaos.
Their current plan is to let Shin take the seat of the fourth Emperor after Kaido's defeat. With his monstrous growth, it wouldn't take long for him to achieve that level of strength. He was already at the level of a Reserve Admiral and that was with just his physique and Martial Arts skills. His Haki was still being improved. Finally there was the most dangerous power….magic. He who had travelled the whole world with Roger would still say that magic was an utter cheat. Shin's skills in making medicine coupled with all this makes him a person equivalent to an Ancient Weapon, someone who could destroy the whole world. The fourth Ancient Weapon.
The medicine he had invented could easily make someone rival a Rear Admiral in terms of physique. The only problem would be the combat experience but that part would be easily covered if the Samurai of Wano support Shin. That was not much of a problem if Hiyori supports Shin. They could make a standing army of more than a few thousand Rear Admiral ranked people. It would be enough to call themselves a Yonko with the support of Whitebeard and Shanks.
The very thought was mind boggling. A boy who had started his journey becoming a Yonko in three months or so.
Somehow, he also understood Shin's intention of telling them about Hiyori. Ace's situation could change as they already knew about it. The future will not stay constant just by Shin existing in it. There may be no War of Marineford anymore. So Shin was compensating for Roger's teachings by revealing the news of someone else they would call their own children.
He sat in the bar waiting for Shin to arrive.
It was at that time the door to the bar opened and a familiar face popped in.
"Rayleigh-san." The man with red hair smiled as he peeked inside the bar.
"Shanks!"
"Oh my, what a surprise. What is one of the Four Emperors Akagami Shanks doing coming to my bar?"
"Ahahahaha Shakky-san, you look as beautiful as the day I last saw you. I just came to visit Vice Captain."
"In that case take a seat. I will bring out some special wine for this occasion."
"Ohhh….bringing out 'that' are we? I thought you were going to encase it in a glass as a showpiece." Rayleigh had tried asking for the bottle of the Meteor Dragon's Pride but was vehemently rejected. Shakky didn't move a single inch on her decision.
"It was for special occasions. You already heard how rare it was."
"So Shanks, what brought you here?" Rayleigh asked, already having an idea about the answer he was going to get.
"Rayleigh-san, I heard that someone fought Mihawk in East Blue recently. He was a member of the Roger Pirates. Do you know who he was?"
"Who told you that he was a member of the Roger Pirates?"
Shanks lowered his head, "He sent a message with the same words as Captain Roger last told me and that he was happy to see the straw hat find a good successor." He smiled at the memory as he said that.
Roger….
"Well he was a member of the Roger Pirates. I can tell you that much." After all, even the captain is a member of the crew. Rayleigh wondered if Shin was influencing him in the few days together. "But if you want to know who he is, you will have to meet him yourself. I will take you to him if that's what you want."
"Oh….so it was like this. I heard from Mihawk that he was teaching a very good seedling. The student of the Pirate King's crew member, a pirate hunter. It really made me chuckle when I heard it hahahaha."
"Hahahaha Shin-kun is an enigma Shanks. I don't even know what to call him anymore."
"Have you met him Rayleigh-san?" Shanks asked intrigued.
"I have. The wine you are drinking right now is also from him. He's a good child. Hahahaha Crocus says he's even crazier than Roger. In terms of sheer talent I can't deny that at all. I would even dare to say that he would surpass Roger….or even Rocks…." The atmosphere quieted down at the mention of the now erased name, "in time with his growth rate. That said there is something fundamentally different in Shin from Rocks. He is someone who cares a lot for his crew and while a bit crazy in his way of doing things, he doesn't like wars or have any interest in conquering the world. His exact words were, 'why would I conquer the world? Do you know how much paperwork that is?' hahahaha."
Shanks looked stunned at the words.
Beckman on the side had a serious face. "Someone who is around eighteen years old can say those words? A newborn calf really doesn't fear the tiger."
"Oh he's not eighteen yet. Seventeen and a half at best, however I wouldn't call him a newborn calf at all. He's already as strong as a reserve Admiral or any of the cadre's on a Yonko's ship and if he uses all his means, he could easily stop even an Admiral in a one on one fight. He is very strong that way."
That shut Beckman up as well as the rest of the crew who were thinking along the same line.
"Heh….it seems that this junior is really special. In that case, I would really like to meet him someday, Rayleigh-san. He is also Luffy's friend from what I have heard. I would love to have drinks with him someday."
"In that case you are lucky, he will arrive here soon to take me to Crocus' place. You can join us."
"Oh….that is really nice. I will wait till then. Mihawk will be coming here as well."
- Shin –
The last time we came here, I was shown the backroom of Shakky's Ripoff Café for the apparition. It was to prevent me from being spotted by anyone by mistake.
I looked at the room and went towards the door opening it only to be pointed by a gun on my head.
….
This morning is weird.
"Put your gun down. He's a friend." Rayleigh's voice prevented anyone from taking action.
It also made me realize that I might need to keep the Observation Haki on when apparrating the next time.
I looked inside the bar this time and it was quite full.
A red haired man sat beside Rayleigh. He wore a white shirt and a black cloak and the shirt had an empty left sleeve. He also had a claw mark on his face, above his eyes.
I didn't need observe to tell me who it was.
Red-Haired Shanks.
Observe showed that he was every bit a monster as Garp and Dragon as one would expect from the captain of an Emperor Pirate Group.
"Shin, come on in. Meet him, this is Shanks. He was a trainee on our Ship along with Buggy." Rayleigh beckoned me with a smile.
I smiled and walked forward too. The entire top brass of the Red Haired Pirates were here and were looking at me in intrigue.
"Is he?" Shanks asked Rayleigh while looking at me.
"Ahahahaha yes, he is the student of one of our Crew Mates." Rayleigh laughed.
This sentence was as much for him as it was for me. Shanks was not told about Roger. Maybe Rayleigh wanted to keep it a secret….or maybe he wanted someone else to be pranked as well.
"Hello, I am Shin Kageyami. Nice to meet you. I have heard a lot about you." I greeted him politely.
"You are quite good. I had heard from Hawkeye that you were talented in Swordsmanship and Haki and I can see that you are quite strong. What about it, wanna spar?" he smiled.
"Sure, I'd love to. Although I have just started learning Swordsmanship, it was more of teacher beating me into a pulp and me trying to survive it than anything. I would love to have a good spar sometimes….but let's make it after breakfast. I'm starving right now."
Before we could say anything, the door opened and another person walked in. This time someone I was already acquainted with.
"Shin." He looked at me. Hawkeye is not a man of many words.
"Mihawk." I nodded towards him as well and he took a seat.
I looked towards Rayleigh, "We have prepared breakfast. Will you be joining us? I was asked to bring you before I can get anything to eat." I sighed.
"Hahahaha Rindo-kun's cooking is really delicious. It would be a crime to miss it." Looking towards Shanks he continued, "What do you say Shanks, wanna join us for some breakfast?"
"Oh, is it that good? If so then I would definitely like to try."
I looked towards Rayleigh and he nodded lightly. "Sure. I can take a few people with me at once. Three at a time so if you want your crew to come over, they will have to wait a little while."
Shanks smiled, "That will be no problem. So how will we be going?"
I smiled back, "That's a surprise."
"Oh by the way, Shin-kun, I would like to buy some wine if possible." I heard Shakky's voice behind me. "The normal one will do."
"Sure, I will bring it over next time." I looked back at Rayleigh and Shanks, "So who else will be coming?"
They looked towards each other and then a tall man with bluish black hair stood up. "I will go."
Observe.
Ben Beckman.
He is also almost at the level of Mihawk.
"In that case, hold tight." My shadow stretched outwards and touched theirs, "Don't resist." On getting a nod, I popped again.
The increase in my stats made the journey much easier than before.
Two pops later, we were on our ship and a wonderful scene greeted us.
A man was tied with bumps on his head while a blue haired girl was being glared at by Law and Zoro.
"Ahhh algae head, stop scaring the lady. Can't you see that your ugly face is making her uncomfortable?" Sanji shouted from the side.
"What did you say, you shitty cook?" Zoro looked like he would pop a vein.
As they looked like they were going to fight, Desire smacked both in the head and threw them on the ground. "Stop fighting. We are guests here. Show some manners."
Ouch. She is very different from Nami. I am pretty sure that punch would have rendered a normal person unconscious.
The other people were quite chill, not even bothering with all the chaos. As for the captain of the Straw Hats, he was still….eating.
The popping sound attracted everyone's attention.
The piece in Luffy's hand fell.
Sanji and Zoro got into a battle position.
Bartolemeo and Desire froze over while Ussop hid behind Bartolomeo for cover.
"SHANKSSSSS!" two oil covered rubbery hands stretched and I dodged to the side. The hands clung to the surprised red haired guy beside me and soon after a body followed. Luffy stuck to Shanks like a Koala.
It was honestly quite a funny scene to watch.
"Akagami no Shanks." I, who had shadow walked to Law's side, heard him whisper. "You don't play with nobodies, do you, Captain?" he said as he shook his head.
I smirked at his comment.
I had no idea what was going on. Could it be that Rayleigh had contacted Shanks for Ace? Or was it for Hiyori?
The War of Marineford or will we be attacking Wano?
We looked at Luffy jumping like a kid on a sugar high in front of Shanks and Beckman.
"This is quite a surprise you brought back with you Rayleigh, Shin." Roger said from his seat. He was in his disguise form since before Luffy and the others had come here. I had given him a Gaea Foundation just in case.
"I just met him a few minutes ago. He was already at Shakky's. I have to go back a few more times to bring the main crew back. But first feed me something Rindo, I am hungry. Oh do you think he will recognize you?"
"No….Rayleigh couldn't. This body is different from my original and Observation Haki won't recognize me normally."
"Good to know." I replied before digging into my own food.
After getting together with Shanks and Beckman for a while, Luffy came back to the table, "Shin, you know Shanks? Why didn't you tell me? Oh….how did you come all of a sudden with a BOOM. That was so cool." he asked excitedly as his hands had already started clearing the food from the table.
"We just got introduced to each other a few minutes ago. As for how I came here….Magic." I replied, looking up from my plate.
"So coooolllll."
Shanks on the other hand looked at Roger without blinking. Currently Roger was eating while smiling at Shanks but he was under the disguise of the Gaea Foundation.
"Rayleigh-san, he feels very nostalgic but I cannot remember someone like him in our crew. Could it be someone before I joined?"
Ah….a very reasonable thought.
"Heh why don't you spar with him and find out. He is a bit of a hard head and has to be beaten up a bit." Rayleigh smirked at Roger who merely pouted at him.
"Old man, are you also from Shanks' crew?" Luffy jumped asking in intrigue.
"Hahahahaha Luffy, it's not he who was on my crew but I who was on his. He is Silvers Rayleigh, the First Mate of the Roger Pirates, my previous Vice Captain."
The newcomers on the table froze over.
Zoro, Ussop, Sanji, Bartolommeo, Desire all of them had their eyes popped out.
As for Luffy himself, his eyes were shining more than when he's eating meat.
And then came the barrage of questions.
"Woooooh how was it sailing with the Roger Pirates?"
"A living legend is in front of me?" Bartolemeo had snot and tears covering his face.
"I have totally heard this name." Desire whispered.
"It's a name anyone has heard at least once in their lives."
"I am a little confused. How did the Vice Captain and the rest of the crew manage to escape execution when even the captain was caught?" Sanji shot the first arrow.
Rayleigh looked at Roger while Shanks looked down at the food, his face calming down completely.
Roger nodded so Rayleigh continued.
"You see….Captain wasn't caught by the Marines….He turned himself in."
….
"WHATTTTTTTTTT!?"
"Why? Why would he do that?"
Everyone, even my own crew, was stunned.
I never told them about this and neither did Roger.
"Because he saw the inevitable end of his journey. You see, four years before the execution, Roger caught a disease that would inevitably kill him in a few years. It was incurable, believe me, we searched. The only one who could keep the disease at bay was Crocus here." He pointed towards Crocus who remained unphased , eating quietly under the stares of the newcomers.. "He did whatever he could do. And in those four years, he did the unthinkable….he conquered the Grandline."
….
The speech sent shivers down the spines of everyone present there.
In a way it was the story from one of the legends themselves. The presence of Roger, although incognito made the story just as impactful for those who knew.
"Hey, so you….you know what the One Piece is?" Ussop did it.
"USOPP!" Luffy stood up from his seat, enraged.
"But, Luffy I just want to know if it's real?"
"STOP. I DON'T WANT TO KNOW. I DON'T CARE IF IT IS REAL OR NOT. THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO SET OUT ON THIS JOURNEY ON SHEER BELIEF THAT IT IS REAL. IF I FIND OUT WHAT IT IS, OR EVEN IF IT IS REAL WITHOUT MY OWN EFFORT, THEN I WILL GIVE UP THIS JOURNEY HERE AND NOW!."
The man has his moments. The goofy smile does well to make us forget the unshakable will of this person. He is the one who climbed the mountain in Drum Kingdom with bare hands with Nami on his back, waited on his knees for Sanji to return even after being kicked by him over and over.
I'll be a bit biased but Luffy is one of the characters that I truly liked in my previous life and now seeing the person in reality, that appreciation has only grown.
A good person to call a friend.
Ussop sat down quietly understanding that he had stepped on Luffy's landmine.
The scene brought a smile on the faces of the elder pirates present here. I am pretty sure that if Luffy had a relationship system, he would have seen Reputation Gains all across the board….though I don't know what he would have done on seeing Roger's reputation increase.
Shanks and Roger in particular were extremely pleased as was seen from the genuine smiles on their faces. Rayleigh and Beckman looked at their captains and smiled too.
None of the other people spoke anything and the atmosphere quieted down a bit.
I finished my meal and stood up. "Okay, I will go bring the rest of Shanks' crew."
"Only the cadres are fine Shin." Shanks said to me and I nodded.
"Say, are you Dio Brando?" suddenly Ben Beckman threw a bomb.
"Hah!"
Everyone looked at Beckman and then at me.
I merely smiled. Since Rayleigh asked me to bring Shanks here, he might have already foreseen this. Using a teleportation ability on their face is a straight admittance that I am Dio Brando who was already said to have had Space Type abilities.
"Wait? Was the one in the newspapers and the bounty posters you Shin? The most wanted man in the world." Sanji asked as his cigarette dropped from his mouth.
"No. I am not Dio." I saw some of them narrow their eyes while the others sighed a bit in disappointment, "Dio is me."
….
"WHAT!"
"Well Dio is technically a fake name. There is no Dio Brando with that bounty in this world. So I can't be Dio. Dio on the other hand is me."
"SO YOU REALLY WROTE YOUR NAME ON THE REDLINE!?"
"AND ROBBED THE MARIEJOIS!?"
"DO YOU REALLY HAVE BAT WINGS AND A TAIL!?"
"REALLY. THAT IS SO COOL.!"
"The fuck?" I snapped in the speaker's direction while Luffy was cheering.
The last one was Bartelomeo and almost all of us turned towards him with the wings and tail comment. "Where did you hear that?"
Being stared at by so many people, he blushed a little.
"People were saying that since you are called the Devil of the Seas, you must have wings and a spiky tail."
I deadpanned and then something flashed in my mind.
Technically I do have wings sometimes but….
I brought out the Gaea Foundation while Roger and the others looked at me and smirked. Rayleigh merely shook his face.
"That's right Bartolomeo. I do have wings and a tail. I also have big horns and fangs that I hide most of the time."
"Really." Luffy jumped in excitement.
"UmU. Lemme show you." I let Gaea Foundation do its magic as I grew to four meters with massive bat-like wings and two gigantic curved horns on my head and green fire in my hands. It was the image of Illidan Stormrage from my previous life.
Desire paled while Shanks and Beckman looked on in intrigue.
"THAT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOLLLLLLL!."
"Is that a Mythical Zoan Type Devil Fruit?" Beckman asked.
I am a bloody Myth myself.
I returned back to my own self and winked at the gobsmacked crew.
"Well I'll be going then." With those words I popped out of the place.
- Inside Laboon –
Shanks watched Shin pop out of the place. His Observation Haki ran wide but no traces could be found.
"That really is a scary power."
"Heh compared to what he can really do, that one is more like a children's trick." Rayleigh snorted.
"Now he even looks like a Devil. This child will give me a heart attack someday." Crocus murmured to himself.
"Rayleigh-san, is he really Dio Brando?" Shanks asked with a complicated expression.
Rayleigh looked at him and then around. "This matter, let's talk about it after your spar. The children shouldn't be burdened with knowledge beyond their reach."
Shanks looked around and nodded.
The five people got up. "Nojiko-chan, would you open the training room for us? These two would probably destroy the entire area if they fight outside."
Nojiko nodded and led them to the training room while the rest followed.
Rayleigh however shook his head. The news of Roger's return is better to be kept within the small group of people. If not for the soon to be attack on Wano, he wouldn't even have allowed Beckman to follow him.
"This is a secret of Shin's crew. The Straw Hats can only enter after getting his permission." The message was addressed to Luffy.
The boy looked up and in a moment of seriousness nodded. The rest of the crew backed down.
The three girls and Law on the other hand followed in.
It will be a huge opportunity for them to witness a fight like this.
Normally fights like these can make the will of the weak collapse and give up on sailing altogether.
In a way, this will also be a test for the four people.
He was quite hopeful about Law. As a D, he also carried the will of his predecessors even if he was not aware of this.
Currently among all the members of Shin's group, he was the only one apart from Shin with any experience. A shoo in for the Vice Captain of the group. This made Rayleigh attach an importance to the boy. He hoped that such a fight would bring out his will to grow stronger.
The training room had changed a lot from what he had first seen.
Since Roger increased the intensity of the training, Shin had fortified the room several times over.
The walls were layered with Sea Stones that Shin had somehow made with Magic.
A room like this would make it almost impossible for even someone like Whitebeard at his peak to break.
The space inside was far more than was normally possible, around the size of a small island.
"This….is this the ability of a devil fruit? Are we somewhere else? The Door Door Fruit?" Shanks looked towards the door in surprise.
Rayleigh ignored him and walked towards Rogers. He had done his other task too. He brought out something from his inventory ring and handed it to Roger.
Roger grinned widely as he gripped his longtime partner….Ace.
"Rayleigh-san….that's…." Shanks watched openmouthed but before he could say anything else, a massive blast of Conqueror's Haki burst out from Roger.
If in the outside world, the sky could have been seen cracking.
Rayleigh jumped back in front of the girls and Law in front of the door.
Shanks drew his sword as well and his Conqueror burst out in reply, his eyes widening as he saw the person in front of him swing the sword in an eerily similar way as the person he respected the most.
A small amount of anger was born in his heart watching someone imitate his idol. He didn't understand why Rayleigh-san would hand him Ace, Captain Roger's sword but it still ticked him off a little.
The person in front of him brought his free hand up and beckoned him to come.
Shanks kicked the ground and rushed. Armament Haki coating the sword and Conqueror's Haki manifesting as red lightning around the blade.
Roger replied in kind. The blades raced towards each other stopping slightly before the touch but a massive amount of wind blew out of the area.
The fight that would have made countless people across the seas weak in the knees had started.
_x_x_
Beta Reader: LuluViBritania(FF.N, SB and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)
Author's Note :
Well, the chapter is up.
Things are getting heated up.
Shin has started making big moves now that a big part of his power is back.
I will explain why he is doing all this soon. There is a good reason for that.
Dragon will be joining the chaos soon enough.
On the other hand, Kaido probably doesn't even know that Shin's casual words had caused him to draw the ire of the now returned Pirate King and probably Whitebeard and Shanks too.
As for Shanks, well he was searching for Dio all around and now suddenly Shin appeared in front of him saying, Kono Dio Da, his emotions are all over the place.
Match that with Mecha-Roger fighting him, we will see some really good stuff soon enough.
I will be doing a time skip in the next two chapters later. I do plan for Shin to summon Rias and the others back soon enough and a few butterflies fluttering around the world too.
Overall, canon is fucked all over.
The next few chapters will make it official.
The World of One Piece will see a storm like never before.
By the way, how was my idea of Shin's Dio form looking like Illidan Stormrage?
Anyways, the next chapter will be for The Game again.
Have fun and enjoy the chapter.
Good Day, Peace out.