"So, this is… an island whale?"
Drifting smoothly with the current, a wooden plank rode down the roaring torrent of Reverse Mountain with absurd ease.
For rookies, this was a natural barrier, a chasm they could never cross.
For real monsters, it was basically a kiddie ride.
"Yeah… sail a bit farther and we'll be close to Alabasta."
With a simple hook of his finger, Ozz and the little plank-raft blinked straight into the whale's belly. Inside, an old man was vacationing leisurely.
"Sashiburi dana, Crocus-san!!!"
Hearing the voice, the old man in flip-flops, shorts, and a tank top, hair flared like an umbrella, slowly lifted his head.
"Oh?! Isn't that Ozz?!"
"Long ti no see!"
Crocus recognized Ozz instantly.
"But why are you here?"
Of course, he wasn't asking why Ozz was inside Laboon's stomach. He knew enough about Ozz's abilities.
What he ant was: why was Ozz here at the starting point of the Grand Line, the place where kids from the four seas set off?
Ozz chuckled and brought Mihawk over to the island side, sitting naturally beside Crocus. After all, this was Roger's doctor. They'd known each other for years.
With a matter-of-fact smile at the corner of his mouth, he said, "Setting out from the four seas, climbing Reverse Mountain into the Grand Line… that's what dream-chasing young pirates do, right?"
"…"
Crocus blinked, suddenly unsure how to respond.
Sure, rookies from the four seas started here.
But you, Ozz… why are you joining the fun?
Since retiring at Twin Cape, this was the first ti in decades he'd run into Ozz. In the past, that kid probably just teleported across the Calm Belt or over the Red Line. Why would he take the long way like a normal pirate?
Crocus stared at him for a while before finally speaking.
"You're not a young man anymore, Ozz."
"Uh…"
Ozz fell silent.
He wanted to say he was still that young diehard from the old era.
But then he looked at Crocus' wrinkled little grandpa face, Mihawk's mature beard, and then… himself.
"…But I've never actually ford a pirate crew, have I?"
He said it stubbornly, refusing to lose the argunt.
That line snapped Crocus' attention sharp. A flicker of uncertainty flashed through his eyes.
What did you an by that?
"Hey, hey, hey… Ozz, don't tell you're planning to…"
Starting from the Grand Line's beginning, sailing a full circle, becoming Pirate King, and taking One Piece… that was the dream of nearly every pirate who reached Twin Cape.
Crocus suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"…"
Seeing Crocus' ugly expression, Ozz sighed and shook his head.
"Relax. I'm not heading to Laugh Tale."
"So that's it. Thank God."
Crocus' face flipped from stormy to sunny instantly. He slapped one fist into his palm, grinning.
"You really were thinking that!"
Ozz was speechless. The One Piece world was packed with straightforward, stubborn idiots like this.
He sat and chatted with Crocus for a while. Mihawk lost interest the mont he learned Crocus was a ship doctor, not a swordsman.
"Still, if you're not after that… why start traveling from the first half of the Grand Line?" Crocus asked. "With your talent and ability, at your age, you're probably not worse than Roger was. You can ignore everything and go anywhere you want."
"This…" Ozz took a bite of at, not answering directly. "Crocus-san, do you rember what Captain Roger said… about the right ti?"
"Ti…" Crocus recalled. "Isn't it still two years away?"
"Close enough. A new era doesn't just snap into existence overnight." Ozz's eyes curved. "I'm setting sail this ti to see the real new era for myself."
"I see…"
Crocus looked at Ozz seriously.
He rembered a few apprentice boys from back then. Now they were the ones stirring storms in the sea.
"Maybe I really am old," Crocus said quietly. "The business of you young people… I can't keep up anymore."
"The real era is about to begin. Go see it for Roger, Ozz."
"Yeah," Ozz answered softly. "Of course."
His hand brushed the blade at his waist, proof of the old era, now turned into nothing more than a keepsake.
…
"Seagull King, I'm counting on you."
"Gah!"
Sitting on the little plank-raft, Ozz accepted a sheet of paper shaped like a newspaper.
"Fire Fist Ace has appeared in the first half of the Grand Line. Last seen near the Lulusia Kingdom. Suspected to be heading for Alabasta."
"What's that?" Mihawk asked, curious.
"A World Economy News Paper exclusive. I told Morgans to feed intel."
Out at sea, relying on ordinary newspapers was already too slow.
"Beru-beru-beru…"
At that mont, Ozz's Den Den Mushi rang.
"Click."
"Moshi moshi, Lord Ozz. Do you need any more intelligence? I can keep supplying you."
A bird face appeared, respectfully obedient.
For a backer as solid as Ozz, and a patron who always supported him in printing explosive headlines, Morgans' respect was one hundred percent. His enthusiasm was practically overflowing.
"No. Not for now." Ozz praised him at just the right mont. "You've done well, Morgans."
"It's what I should do."
Then Ozz's tone shifted.
"But… if I asked you to spread fake news across the sea, you wouldn't have a problem with that, right?"
"Fake news?"
Morgans stiffened. But imdiately after, he agreed. A man who understood the tis survived the tis.
He didn't dare refuse Ozz.
"Good. In the future, I might need you to spread certain ssages to the entire sea…"
Ozz's smile widened, turning sharp, almost wicked, like he'd just imagined sothing truly entertaining.
"Not yet, of course. The experint isn't perfected. But just thinking about it is fun."
"This era… it has to get chaotic to be interesting."
…
Elsewhere in Paradise, on so naless island.
A rowdy atmosphere poured out of a tavern, the sound of at being torn apart and beer being gulped down.
Several strange-looking figures sat at the very center, eating and drinking with abandon.
In the middle sat a curly-haired, black, fat man.
"Zehahahaha…"
"It looks like we have to move fast!!!"
Leaning back in his chair, shoving cherry pie into his mouth, Blackbeard read the latest paper and underground rumors.
"Word in the underworld says that man has returned!!!"
A flash of heaviness and sharpness flickered in his tiny eyes, even as he kept laughing out loud.
"If that man is on the sea again… chasing ambition is going to get a lot harder. That monster…"
"That monster?" Hades asked, as if he didn't understand.
"Black Spear," Teach said. "They say he's back in this sea…"
Teach paused, then quickly changed tone, either to calm Hades or to hype the crew and build morale.
"But that guy is old news. Nothing to fear. The future belongs to the Blackbeard Pirates. Zehahahaha!!!"
Across the table, a hulking brute with muscles for brains flexed his biceps and joined in.
"Wahahahaha!!! That's right! Our captain can steal Devil Fruit powers from other users!!!"
Jesus Burgess, the fighting champion, loud as hell, a athead who sohow never won when it counted.
At this point, the Blackbeard Pirates' core lineup was basically established.
Captain Teach. Vice Captain Hades. A handful of crew.
In Teach's eyes, the others were decent enough. The only one with real potential to beco a top-tier monster of the sea was his right-hand man, Hades.
And Teach had already conquered him with strength and charisma, this man who only served a future King of the World.
The rest of the crew, after seeing Hades' bizarre power and absurd physical strength, also grew genuinely convinced by their steady, often spaced-out vice captain.
"Now then," Teach spread his arms wide, confidence overflowing, and the crew's eyes turned hungry, "the first step to taking this world… is hunting powerful Devil Fruits!!!"
"Captain," soone asked, "what Devil Fruit are we hunting first?"
"Zehahaha… obviously the fruit praised as the strongest in destructive power, said to be able to destroy the world itself…"
"The Tremor-Tremor Fruit!!!"
"Whitebeard?!" Lafitte froze. He hadn't expected Teach to betray so quickly after leaving the Whitebeard Pirates.
But only for a mont.
None of them were good people anyway.
And their first reaction wasn't shock, because the pie Teach promised them was too big.
A Yonko? Give them a few years and they'd be one too.
Teach didn't forget the crew who had gathered around him for profit.
He needed to be the first to beco a dual-fruit user to keep his leadership absolute. But after that, he had to consider his subordinates too.
He wasn't stingy about raising their strength. This was the foundation of his conquest.
"And you?" Teach asked. "Any abilities you want?"
"I've already eaten a Devil Fruit," Lafitte said first. "So I'm not in a rush, Captain." His fruit was a bit lacking, but still passable. Enough to serve as navigator.
"As for …" Doc Q said weakly, "sothing related to dicine would be best…"
Truthfully, as a special kind of ship doctor, what he loved most was the Op-Op Fruit. But sothing else would do.
"Wahahahaha! I don't care! As long as it's strong!!!" Burgess spoke with his muscles again.
They all voiced their preferences.
Only Van Augur and Hades stayed silent.
Then Hades suddenly snapped out of his daze. He lifted his head, eyes clearing, instantly catching up with what everyone had been saying.
Nobody found it strange. Hades did this from ti to ti.
Their attention shifted to Van Augur, who was just about to speak…
When Hades opened his mouth first.
A smile spread across his face.
"Let cut in for a second… if we're talking about the best fruit for a sniper, it has to be that one, right?"
Everyone's expressions sharpened.
Even Van Augur's eyes lit up, longing flickering across his face.
Hades said confidently, "Didn't the captain say it himself? That guy is an old-era remnant. He can't stop our captain from becoming King of the World!"
"If we're going to steal, we steal the best. After the captain succeeds…"
"We set our sights on Ozz's Teleport-Teleport Fruit. How about it?!"
"After all, our captain will be the first perfect dual-fruit user the world has ever seen!!!"
Hearing that, the entire crew felt it made perfect sense.
They hadn't seen the legendary Black Spear with their own eyes. They didn't know how terrifying he truly was.
But no matter how strong he was, how could he be stronger than a captain holding the most vicious Dark-Dark Fruit and the most destructive Tremor-Tremor Fruit?!
Everyone was fired up.
Only Teach, with that ridiculous crown being shoved onto his head by Hades, broke into a cold sweat while still forcing a smile.
That grin looked painful no matter how you sliced it.
"Zehahaha… Hades, it's still too early to fight Black Spear… zehahahaha…"
…
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