"So I still made it in time…"
Tap.
Tap.
Black boots stepped across the deck. Every crewmember swallowed hard, eyes locked on that mysterious, terrifyingly strong man.
But he didn't even seem to register them.
Dragging his injured body along, he gnawed on roasted meat with one hand and read the newspaper with the other, letting the sea wind wash over his face, revealing features that looked a little worn now, a little more mature.
"Without realizing it… I'm already in my thirties."
The wind lifted his messy black hair. A trace of stubble framed his jaw.
Ozz simply brushed his face with one hand, and the stubble vanished like it had never been there.
His gaze landed on the wanted poster: Shanks, radiating presence, and Buggy, no longer childish, no longer young.
A quiet nostalgia surfaced in Ozz's eyes.
Time never stops moving.
We're not brats anymore.
We've grown into old men, like Captain Roger once was…
Glug, glug…
Ah…
He took a swig of liquor, smiling faintly as he judged the era from the headlines. Luffy was probably about to set sail. He wasn't sure how much of the current sea matched the one he remembered.
He kept flipping the paper.
"WHITEBEARD'S SECOND DIVISION COMMANDER SPOTTED IN EAST BLUE! WHAT IS HIS AIM?"
Hm???
So even if you promised… you still couldn't hold back that burning ambition, huh?
In the end, even if Teach didn't take it, he would have handed it over sooner or later.
Still…
If Ace chose to become Whitebeard's son, then the moment he set sail to chase someone down, he must have been prepared.
If he gets caught in the end, and saving him is possible…
Then he'll save him. If he feels like it.
Ozz kept chewing, face calm to the point of coldness.
A war like Marineford?
To him, it was already nothing.
He'd survived a war that dwarfed the world itself. Compared to that, all this was kids playing at storms.
Save, or don't save.
It was just one thought.
Because from this moment on…
The entire sea would officially become Ozz's playground.
No matter how big things got, even if Im personally stepped onto the board…
That thing would only barely qualify as a player, someone who could exchange a few moves with Ozz.
"Anyway… since it's been so long, I'll go see some old friends first."
Ozz felt his strength returning. The dried blood on his body vanished into nothing, and his black, luxurious formalwear became spotless, crisp, fitting like a king's skin.
"So… who should I visit first?"
This was East Blue, right?
He was still thinking when his body blinked out of existence.
Space itself bent in his palm.
In an instant, he appeared ten thousand meters in the sky, then warped again, chasing a direction at blinding speed.
Alvida's crew.
The moment Ozz vanished, the pirates finally dared to lift their heads, looking left and right. After confirming he was truly gone, they exhaled like they'd been resurrected.
"That was a Devil Fruit ability, right…"
"They say if you eat it, you gain the power of a demon…"
"Man… he really did look familiar…"
The low level pirates whispered among themselves.
Then Alvida appeared behind them, eyes bloodshot, clearly ready to vent every ounce of humiliation she'd swallowed in front of Ozz. She raised her massive spiked club.
Only Coby trembled. In the end, he fled back into the storage room and started rummaging through wanted posters.
He found a familiar photo.
A long haired man in black.
Then he saw the bounty.
"Ka…"
Coby's mouth fell open. He couldn't believe it. He almost fainted on the spot.
Then the commotion on deck snapped him back just enough.
Through the noise, he could vaguely hear something like…
"I'm Luffy, and I'm gonna become…"
…
Bero.
Bero.
Bero.
Standing in the sky, Ozz walked as if on level ground. Each step carried him thousands upon thousands of meters. He wasn't rushing.
The people he knew would all appear when the story demanded it. Ozz would show up at the right time.
What he was truly curious about now was the Seraphim Plan.
Had Vegapunk completed what he ordered? Had anything gone wrong?
In his hand was a Den Den Mushi he'd casually taken. He dialed the Shipping King.
"Click."
The call connected.
A rough, vicious face appeared on the Den Den Mushi, cigarette in his mouth, mood clearly foul.
"Calling me right now? Who the hell is this?!"
A private Den Den Mushi, during his rest, and it was an unfamiliar number.
Of course he wouldn't be polite.
"It's me."
Ozz spoke flatly.
"…"
"???"
"!!!"
That voice.
That unmistakable Den Den Mushi cadence.
Umit's brain went numb. For a long moment he couldn't even form words.
Then, trembling with emotion, he finally forced out a single sentence.
"Ozz… sir?"
"Yeah. It's me."
Just that calm confirmation was enough to make Umit spring to his feet, eyes wide with shock and joy.
But Ozz had no interest in small talk. The sea had become unfamiliar, and he wanted information, quickly.
"Enough. Is Vegapunk still with you?"
Seeing Ozz's indifferent face, Umit didn't get offended at all. He immediately reported.
"Y yes, sir! Vegapunk and the researchers are still at the site. And one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Bartholomew Kuma, has been guarding the experiment the whole time."
"I see. The location."
"Yes! The exact coordinates are…"
Ozz got what he wanted. He didn't waste a word more.
He hung up.
Then he moved.
Warping forward again and again, each shift covering a hundred thousand meters in a blink.
It didn't take long before an island appeared on the horizon.
A deserted place, wrapped in secrecy.
"You really did hide it well."
He didn't bother with the guards outside. He simply teleported straight into the core facility.
Inside, Vegapunk was still deep in work.
"How should this step be done…"
"How's the experiment going?"
"Huh?!"
A voice suddenly spoke right beside his ear.
Vegapunk jerked so hard he yelped, pure reflex, instantly triggering the lab's security.
"Dr. Vegapunk, what happened?!"
Even Kuma flashed to Vegapunk's side in an instant, his massive frame sliding between Vegapunk and the intruder.
He stared coldly at the long haired middle aged man.
Maybe it was the lighting, maybe it was instinct, but he didn't clearly see the man's face.
So Kuma lowered his Bible, removed one glove, and spoke in a low, steady tone.
"If you were going to travel… where would you want to go?"
"…Where?"
"…Then Laugh Tale?"
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