It's been 9 years since I began my journey; I'm 23 now. The others have gotten older too. Trini is 25, the oldest of us all, but you didn't hear this from me. Arthur is my age. Sulli is 24, and finally, Isis is 21. I almost forgot Hun, who, honestly, I have no idea how old he is; I've already forgotten. I remember we'd found out before, but since it didn't affect anything at the time, we all forgot.
Nothing too great has happened during this time, just the usual: going places, helping people, capturing pirates, writing books, training, and so on.
First and foremost, Trini and Sulli started secretly dating. It wasn't a secret anyway, since Isis and I had already figured it out, but they didn't know. Only Arthur was completely lost in the whole thing.
Another thing I could mention is my relationship with the two crazy women. I haven't seen her much due to my mental health issues; in fact, if I didn't have my children by her side, I simply wouldn't meet with her. They have no idea how much psychological damage they can do to me. They're both very attractive, but their mentality and the way they express their love for me—a mortal simply couldn't bear it.
Nothing major has happened in the world. The usual: pirates seeking fame, a little here and a little there.
Perhaps I can tell you what happened with Hancock, since during the time I was on vacation near Amazon Lily, in addition to spending quality father-daughter time with Luna, I was also training Hancock and her sisters. Before I left, each of them had learned to use Armament Haki. It wasn't that difficult, considering they had a foundation in training as apprentice Kuja pirates. I haven't been able to awaken her Conqueror's Haki, but I feel like it's close. Before leaving, I gave him the fruit, since I had redeemed it in the system, and it's of no use to me, no matter how narcissistic I am.
I also want to count the books I wrote in these two years—well, a year or so. First, I wrote the Mahabharata, in case you don't know it; it's where Arjuna confronts Karna in Indian mythology. The second book I wrote was Journey to the West, the story of Sun Wukong; it's about the monkey who has the stick that stretches out and flies on a flying cloud. I also wrote The Count of Monte Cristo, Crime and Punishment, Alice in Wonderland, and The Little Prince.
(Note: I don't know if I mentioned that Dante had written some of these books, and to verify that I'd have to review each chapter, and that makes me really lazy. So if there's something weird or if I'd already written it, a magician did it.)
Right now, I was resting in a cabin. Trini and Sulli weren't doing it, perhaps. Arthur was training, and Isis was playing the piano. I was holding a newspaper, reading the news. Just looking at the headline, I frowned, as it was something I knew would happen; I just didn't know when or who did it. I don't know if it's a butterfly effect because of my interference, but it doesn't matter at this point.
*Somewhere, sometime in the New World*
Third-Person POV
A woman could be seen walking calmly among a pile of corpses; her blood-stained nun's clothing was something she didn't give much thought to. She looked from one place to another, searching for something.
Quickly, using her spear, she deflected a bullet headed for her head; she looked in the direction of the bullet to see a half-dead pirate pointing his gun at her.
Pirate: "Monster, why are you doing all this?" he said, already in his last breaths.
The woman approached the pirate, put her spear to the man's neck, and said,
???: "For money, why else would I do it?"
With that, she slashed his throat, killing him painfully. She only wiped the blood from her spear with simple movements in the air.
For those who haven't yet realized her identity, she was Balesca, Hades's exclusive bodyguard. Thanks to the Underworld incident, she was left without a job. During these years, she's been coming and going from one place to another, working different jobs as an escort, hitman, and hunter.
This wasn't the destiny the world had planned for her. Balesca was still supposed to be Hades's bodyguard, only until he was betrayed by his fellow Underworld leaders, all organized and led by Doflamingo. Afterward, she was supposed to become a bounty hunter and die at the hands of Kaido when she tried to hunt down one of his commanders and was discovered by him.
But Dante's interference caused her to lose her position as a bodyguard and be unable to work as a bounty hunter, since she herself had one. This means that this timeline won't die prematurely, at least not because of Kaido, but we'll see what fate has in store for her.
Already bored of not having money, she decided to go find someone who did have money and who could give her face. She was looking for a man known for his greed and stinginess, perfect for extortion and theft. This man was a former pirate of the Rocks Pirates, Captain John.
She had the confidence to confront him since she knew how John fought and knew his abilities, all thanks to a woman who owned a liquor store in Sabaody. It may have been difficult to get the information out of her without losing an arm and a leg because of the owner, but she managed.
She knew that with her Devil Fruit, she could confront that man and take all his money and treasure. The bad thing was that she didn't know Captain John had his treasure already hidden.
*Present Day*
Dante's POV
She could read the newspaper announcing the death of the legendary pirate Captain John at the hands of the criminal Balesca, the priestess.
She briefly remembered that name, as this was the woman who had fought Aokiji and managed to escape. I have no idea how powerful John was, but as a crew member of the Rocks Pirates, he wasn't weak, at least.
At that moment, the sound of den den mushi was heard, causing Isis to stop playing the piano so she could speak quietly and honestly to listen to my conversation, since one thing I know about her is that she likes gossip.
When I answered the call, I saw the snail turn white and a hat pop out of the birds on the newspaper. I already knew who it was.
Dante: "Morgans, did something important happen?"
Morgans: "Important, ultra-important, not really, I just had a proposal."
Dante: "It's not like that nonsense, writing an erotic novel like last time, is it?"
Morgans: "A friend from the underworld asked me to, so I have nothing to do with it."
Dante: "Something inside me doesn't seem to believe you much."
Morgans: "It doesn't matter. The important thing is that there have been a lot of people who would like to meet with you. Many fans send me letters; since I'm the one who distributes the books you make, they think I'm in contact with you."
Dante: "Well, they thought, that's something I didn't think they'd do."
Morgans: "It never crossed my mind that they would do that either, but what I have in mind is to hold a fan meeting for your books, a place where you can do signings and all that, since the people who are talking to me are fans of your writing."
Dante: "I don't know if it's a good idea. I have a lot of enemies, and giving my location away like that might just cause more problems than good."
At that moment, Isis approaches me, already listening to everything we were talking about.
Isis: "What if you write it in your books? That way, only your admirers will know about it. That way, you avoid all the people who want to attack you from coming after you."
Morgans: "That's a good idea, Miss Isis. That way, you can prevent too many people from finding out; they'll only be your true fans." "You write it in your latest work and give a few days for people to gather."
Dante: "I could try; I'd have to write that, if all goes well, I could try it in other seas so that people who aren't too far away also have a chance to meet me and have a book signed."
Morgans: "Excellent, I imagine you have a book finished."
Dante: "Yes, I already have something ready, just a few details missing."
Morgans: "Okay, I'll avoid the pelican right now to review the writing; see you."
And with that, the call ended. I looked at Isis, who looked a little worried.
Isis: "Maybe it was a bad idea to come up with a solution for this. We don't know what kind of person will show up—maybe a pesky pirate, some underworld leader, a yonko, or worse, a Tritoma version 2.0."
The last thing he said gave me a chill; it sounded worse than facing a yonko for some reason. It shouldn't have been this way, but those two have me a little confused.
We waited for the others to arrive at the cabin so we could tell them what had happened, which also had its doubts, but in the end we decided to do it, taking as many precautions as possible.
And so I finished writing the book, which was missing some details, Journey to the Center of the Earth, the book I wrote; in the final part, I wrote a date and place for this meeting. We waited for Morgan's gull to arrive so we could leave this island and continue on to the other until we reached the place where the meeting would take place.
After a few days and some wandering around, we arrived at the location where the fan meeting and signing were to be held. We arrived three days before the scheduled date, and we had to hide because, for some reason, there were already fans waiting for it, not to mention the fact that they were wandering around the kingdom hoping to bump into me by chance.
I also watched the location where the meeting was to be held from afar, as it was already being worked on by people I didn't know but who looked like builders. Before arriving at the kingdom, Morgans contacted me, saying he had everything ready; I just had to show up and do my thing. Along the way, I saw some of his men taking photos and preparing their materials to do journalistic work; honestly, I have no idea why they go to so much preparation.
And so time passed, playing different games at the location where we were because we couldn't go out and buy things very late at night, taking advantage of the poor visibility, until the day of the meeting arrived.
Third-Person POV
Not far away, a ship with no particular affiliation can be seen, but from it emerge very distinctive people who can be identified as belonging to a very particular pirate gang.
???: "Remind me why we're using this filthy ship and not another one of ours?" said a pink-haired woman wearing a princess-like outfit.
???: "We're not here to start a fight, just to extend the invitation Mom requested, which we haven't yet managed to make. There are marines here, and they can identify us with someone from our ship," said a man with two hair colors, pink in one and blue in the other.
???: "So why did he come?" said a woman with horns on her head, pointing at a large man with short blond hair and gold earrings.
???: "Security?" she said, half stating, half asking.
???: "What happens if we don't achieve our objective?" said the first to speak.
???: "We kidnap him and bring him to Whole Cake by force," said the last of the five, who had pink hair, arrows in her head, and seemed to have no eyebrows.
???: "I think that goes against what we had planned, not to create any conflict."
???: "As long as we achieve our goal, it doesn't matter how," she replied.
This group of five people were members of the Big Mom Pirates, namely Charlotte Broyé, Charlotte Moscato, Charlotte Melise, Charlotte Daifuku, and Charlotte Galette, respectively.
Broyé: "It kind of gets a little irrational when it comes to that Dante guy," she said to Melise, nodding in confirmation. "Well, let's go to the meeting place."
And with that, the five of them set off for the meeting place; it's worth mentioning that they were a little late.
Dante's POV
So far, everything was going very well. Signing books, shaking hands with admirers, maybe a hug if they were women, a few questions about my books, semi-personal questions, and a few gropes from some women who didn't look quite right. Everything is as it should be.
But out of nowhere, I felt a sense of danger; I couldn't tell where it was coming from. I could see Trini had felt the same as she looked at me, as if asking for instructions on what to do next.
Amid the crowd, I saw a person walking toward us, and people moved aside as if he had some infectious disease.
I immediately became serious and grabbed the Fusion Sword, since I recognized this person from afar.
???: "Long time no see, Dante; it's been about 10, maybe 11 years."
Dante: "Yeah, over there. What are you doing here and not with the Holy Knights?" People don't know about the Holy Knights, so they shouldn't associate anything with Mary Geoise.
???: "Fulfilling my dream, my goal, I was never going to achieve it there; that's why I left, just like you."
Dante: "And that goal is," I already knew this guy's goal, but he'd never said it, just to confirm.
???: "To be the strongest swordsman in the world."
That's right, the person he had was none other than Dracule Mihawk, now known as the Marine Hunter.
Dante: "What do I have to do with all that?"
Mihawk: "To achieve my goal, I must defeat everything considered a swordsman, and you, my old rival, are one of them." He said as he pulled Yoru off his back.
Old rivals—how nostalgic.
Dracule Mihawk is a third-rank Celestial Dragon Familiar, his mother being one and his father a guard of the place. Seeing his potential, my father trained him with me and the others to become a holy knight, or a possible replacement for Gunko. Imu was the maid, bodyguard, and representative of Imu outside the Holy Land.
I just sighed.
Dante: "Well, guess what? I'm not interested in fighting you. You can leave if you don't want my signature, and if it doesn't work for you, I'll give up right here and now."
He just stared at me with his super-disturbing eyes. Knowing this guy, he was capable of fighting me right here. I hope he backs down with that or tries again some other time.
Suddenly, I saw an energy attack heading towards me at full speed; I was only able to protect myself with my sword; I was still sent flying through the rest of the street and the city.
Third-person POV
Dante flew from where he was standing, and the place was destroyed by the slash and the gust of wind.
Everyone stood still as if they hadn't expected this.
Arthur was the first to recover from his shock, but just as he was about to act, a cut appeared diagonally across the man's body, extending from the man's abdomen to the end of his abdomen.
Mihawk, using his Haki, saw that Arthur was the most annoying of the remaining four. He knew that if they fought the five of them, he could lose; that's why he took one of them out of the equation with a deadly attack, and thus also took the other out, so he had to watch him. He also took advantage of the crowded area, because if he fought right now, they would have to watch over the people in the middle of it all, and he didn't care if they died or not as long as he achieved his objective, so it was fine. This is something he acquired from his training as a Holy Knight.
And with that, she steadily marched to where Dante had fallen to continue their confrontation, ignoring the others, knowing they wouldn't intervene.
At that moment, Trini took charge.
Trini: "Sulli, take Arthur away from here and heal him. Go to the beach we came to; it's the safest and furthest place from here." "Isis, come with me to move the people to safety; the wounded will be taken to Sulli and Arthur."
They both nodded. Sulli saw Arthur's wound, seeing that it was quite deep and a lot of blood was coming from it.
Arthur: "I don't think it's my time to act yet; my new spear style will be for next time." "Let's leave this trouble to Dante," he said, blood running from his mouth.
Elsewhere, some destroyed buildings could be seen, with people running in panic. Dante emerged from the rubble, with a lot of dirt on his clothes and face.
At that moment, he had to move, as a gash appeared where he was slicing through the entire building.
Dante: "Are you crazy or something, fighting in this place?"
Mihawk: "You're the only one who makes that difficult; I don't care."
Dante: "Then let's leave this here and go to another, more deserted place to fight."
Mihawk: "You're not fooling me. I know you'll end up escaping from this one way or another," he said as he assumed a fighting stance with Yoru.
Dante clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. Pressing a button on the sword, he pulled out one of the swords inside the Fusion Sword. He knew Mihawk's way of fighting. He knew Mihawk's obsession with swords, so he knew that, in terms of swordsmanship, the person in front of him was superior to him. That's why he would play more defensively.
He held his large sword in a defensive position and the other to attack as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
And before Dante could breathe, Mihawk had already lunged forward with a slash. Dante responded by blocking and using his other sword as if it were a knife; he raised it and tried to stab Mihawk in the chest.
Mihawk shifted his sword position to block the attack but lost the power of the attack, allowing Dante to take advantage and use his other sword to send him flying a few meters away.
In response, Mihawk lunged forward with a thrust, forcing Dante to defend himself with both of his swords. Mihawk used all his strength to ensure that when their swords clashed, Dante dragged Dante backward, breaking the wall of the building and passing through him.
After passing through three buildings full of people, Dante parried his swords to deliver a horizontal slash to Mihawk with the smaller sword.
Mihawk launched another energy attack, but diagonally. Dante dodged it, but it cut through a building where people were standing, causing it to slowly fall toward where a girl about 4 or 5 years old was standing, very lost.
Dante: "Shit," he said, launching his own energy attack at Mihawk and running to where the girl was.
Dante grabbed the girl and, using Haki and Geppo, ran through the building where the people were standing as quickly as possible, leaving the building and using his body as a buffer so the people wouldn't get hurt.
The moment he jumped and fell to the street, there were only people, and he had to block Mihawk's overhead attack with a single sword, since the little girl, when he released her, fell beside him. So if he dodged the attack, the girl would be cut in two, and he couldn't use his other sword either, as it could hurt her.
There was Dante blocking Mihawk's attack while protecting a little girl in a super-bad position where she couldn't use her full strength.
And not far in the background, there was a journalist taking pictures of everything that was happening.
Reporter: "I won the lottery; Morgans-sama will give me that extra bonus for these photos; it'll be on the front page of the next newspaper."