Few days later.
Shun spent his time leisurely. Occasionally he would be summoned by Snake for some Sea King showing up or whatever small reason, but he wasn't annoyed. He enjoyed sailing with them.
'I know it's another one of my selfish acts but those Seraphim kids' situations are a bit similar to mine. They're them but not them, despite having stronger potential than the originals.'
The brats are already going to the Grand Line. Well, their strength is top tier even in the New World.
Today, Shun was at the Navy Headquarters, in his office. Lately he had stopped visiting Sengoku's office.
Reading the news that Egghead Island had a thief who pulled off a perfect heist, Shun felt worried about the safety around the world.
Since I asked for the Egghead Eternal Pose on the same day the crime happened, Sengoku should already know, but... there isn't any mention of the thief. Did the old man silence the marine who brought the Eternal Pose? Shun thought, then patted the head of Akainu's daughter who was working hard below him while making obscene noises. For some reason, Hibari started following me around whenever I show up at Headquarters.
Knock. Knock.
"Sir! There are two people requesting an audience," a marine shouted from behind the door.
"What are their names?"
"One is from SWORD, Coby."
At the mention of Coby, Hibari's movement froze.
"Who is the other one?"
"It's a woman named Monet. She said she brought a gift from the Warlord Doflamingo."
"Tell Coby I'm busy. Let Monet in." Though the two of them had been waiting in the same room, they witnessed the corruption of the one with the gift being allowed the meeting.
Creak—
When Monet walked in, the room was completely normal, with Hibari sitting in one of the guest sofas.
"Hello," Shun greeted the harpy woman.
"Nice to meet you. I was sent here by Donquixote Doflamingo-sama. My name is Monet," Monet introduced herself gracefully.
"So, he already got the thing? That was fast." Shun was impressed by the efficiency.
"Young Master had the fruit in his armory. For personal reasons, this fruit is important to him." Monet's explanation made sense.
"I see. Thanks for the gift," Shun said, then under the eyes of the two, he literally absorbed the fruit into his paws. It's one of the things I learned from the fool. Normally I would have to do much more so I could take only the fruit's ability and not the weakness.
"Give Doflamingo my greetings."
"Yes, the young ma—" While Monet was talking, Shun used the Calm Fruit's ability. Silence.
Monet's mouth was moving, but there wasn't any sound coming from her.
"Pfft—!"
Seeing Shun's laugh, Monet's face turned red. She didn't expect such tomfoolery. Since Doflamingo chose her especially for this delivery, she thought she might even have to seduce him.
As a professional, Monet didn't show any of her feelings and left.
Once they left, Shun went to the guest sofa and decided to take a nap on Hibari's lap. But then—
"Shun-san, tomorrow is finally the day of the book release event. I'm looking forward to it."
"Huh?"
Is it tomorrow? I haven't even written the first page. It also means tomorrow is the day for the Straw Hat Pirates' reunion.
Under Hibari's confused eyes, with his head still lying on her lap, Shun created a paper and a pen.
"Eh? You're gonna write now?"
"Don't worry, it's almost done. I just need to add a few more things," Shun said, but when Hibari stole a glance at his paper, there was only one word: [Chapter 1].
"..."
[Dad, there is a weird fish here. Might be dangerous...]
A voice belonging to a child of about twelve years came from the Celestial Spirit key that connected to Snake's.
'Well, only she calls me that.'
"..."
"All right, I'mma head out."
Shun got up from Hibari's lap, and with a POP—!
He was gone.
Shun was summoned by Snake's key. While he had the choice to appear or not, the kids didn't have that. Meaning if he summoned them, they would be summoned like the usual Celestial Spirits.
The group had docked their fish at a random beach. They hadn't entered the Grand Line yet.
"So... where is the dangerous fish?" Shun asked.
As he looked over, they were cooking a giant Sea King.
When the group of seven noticed Shun, they didn't show any surprise. It was like someone had been summoning him daily.
'The reason I was able to turn them into humans was because they were originally clones born a human, later turned into cyborgs with Lunarian traits. I repelled their body constitution. Well... what am I trying to say is, since they're human now they have to eat.'
Since they have the Lunarian traits, they could create fire
"Sorry..." Snake said without any remorse, then pointed toward the fish they were cooking.
Shun walked close without a word, then—"That fish..."
"?"
"Did you season it?"
"Eh?"
"Never mind. I'll take over the cooking."
Snake agreed without a second thought.
Then, under the eyes of the seven kids he 'adopted', he tried to show off, and he succeeded to no one's surprise.
"Yummy~!!!" Snake was shocked by how the dull tasting fish they had been eating for the last few days could be this good depending on who cooked it.
Seeing her reaction, the other kids immediately tried their portions. They weren't as expressive as Snake, but they couldn't slow down their eating. Even the Hawk was greedily munching down his food.
'Heh, women and children. Start by conquering their stomachs.'
After they finished dining, Shun gathered them.
"Read these and try to learn whatever you can," Shun said, giving them scrolls on the three types of Haki and the Marine Six Styles, the ones that Lucci and the others used.
"You wrote them for us?" Snake was touched by her misunderstanding.
"I stole them from the Marine Headquarters."
"..."
"Parallel Worlds." Shun chanted and copied the materials, handing them to each of them.
Parallel Worlds was Ultear's signature magic, when she makes copies of the spheres she uses to fight. It was just one of the applications of Arc of Time.
"Thanks." Some of the kids, like Kuma, Shark, Snake, Bat and Flamingo, thanked him, while Hawk and Crocodile nodded silently and took the scrolls.
"Hmm, a ship full of kids that can't swim is a bit of a problem," Shun muttered to himself, then turned to Shark, who was a clone of Jinbe. "Since you've worked hard navigating the last few days, I'll repel your weakness to Seaprism Stone."
"!"
It's that easy? The kids listening were a bit stunned. They thought they had to find a great treasure or an accomplishment to get the benefits Shun was talking about.
POP—!
A colorless paw bubble came out of Shark's body, which was soon destroyed.
After finishing the little reward, Shun noticed someone was giving him expectant looks.
"..."
'I've been cooking food and taking care of them too' Snake thought, but was unfortunately ignored.
"All right, you guys can go train or rest." Shun dispersed the group and headed toward the Sunny-Go, which he had created for them.
"Chair." Shun created a chair, then pulled out paper and a pen. On the paper was written only one word: [Chapter 1].
Looking at the sea calmly, Shun bit his pen and sat in silence.
Before he realized it, Snake was standing next to him, staring at his face.
"I've worked hard too..." Snake puffed out her cheeks and turned her head away.
'Following me all the way then turning her head away...'
Shun was amused by her antics.
'This little manipulator kind of reminds me of Aisha. Well, compared to Aisha, this girl is an amateur.'
"Snake."
"What?"
"Think about it from my perspective. I have much higher expectations of you."
"Eh?"
"If you learn everything on those scrolls I gave you earlier, I'll repel the Devil Fruit weakness out of you."
"..."
"If you think I shouldn't put that much expectation on you, I'll repel it right now."
Shun left the cruel choice to her.
'It would also make things clear, whether she actually cares about me or not. I don't expect those kids, who have known me for less than a week, to actually trust me.'
After less than three seconds, Snake replied.
"I'll learn them in a week!"
"Oh, I'm looking forward to it," Shun smiled. Those kids probably already have learned to use Haki. After becoming strong, I've realized that every living thing in the world of One Piece has Haki. It's just a matter of being strong enough to use it, strong in both will and physique. Now that I think about it, I remember Blackbeard, every time he meets Luffy, he talks about how strong Luffy's Haki was or how it got stronger.
Shun shook his head to stop thinking about useless things and decided to get his luck raised.
"Good luck with training," Shun said, and without waiting for a response—
POP—!
"..."
Snake looked at the chair that was left behind, feeling a bit lonely. At the same time, she wondered what excuse she should use to call him next time.
——
"Baccarat. If I'm not wrong, you can steal people's luck, right?" Shun had already arrived, following Baccarat's Vivre Card.
"Yes," Baccarat replied while her hand played with Shun's paw. Since last time, their relationship had become closer.
"Steal from a hundred people and give it to me."
Shun's demand was outrageous.
"T-That's impossible. My limit is ten. If I go really all out, eleven."
So it depends on the user's ability, huh?
"All right, give me ten."
"Yes." Baccarat didn't ask for the reason and gave a signal to her assistants.
Soon, degenerate gamblers came to sell their luck for a million.
'Selling your luck then going to gamble later... are they insane?' Shun thought but didn't care enough to remind them.
After taking their luck, Shun spoke out loud.
"Ah, it would be really lucky if I teleport to a location close to Momoiro Island."
"..."
The people watching were confused.
POP—!
——
'It really worked...'
Shun's smile grew wider as he looked below at an island that was shaped like a heart. The cliff and the flowers combined together created the shape of a heart.
It's the island where Sanji and Ivankov are currently living. Shun got closer and tried to use his Observation Haki.
"!"
But he immediately closed it off in less than 0.1 seconds.
'It's an Okama island. If I saw any disturbing actions, I would have to kill them all. Phew, that was a close one.'
Shun instead used his Conqueror's Haki wildly and knocked everyone on the island out. Unless one's strength was about Vice Admiral level, they wouldn't be able to keep their consciousness.
"W-What are you doing here?" A man with a giant face was alarmed. Though they hadn't interacted, those two were at the Marineford War.
"I'll say it once. Turn that guy into a female and don't undo it unless you want to have a war with me," Shun said without any emotion, despite looking at the now Okama Sanji.
'Sanji, during the two year training arc, ran desperately from the Okamas but was eventually caught and spent most of his time as an Okama. Who knew how many times this guy dropped the soap here. I can't let a guy like that around Nami and Robin. But I also can't kill him, as he was actually a respectable guy before the time skip.' Shun sighed deeply with regret.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I said what I said. Choose."
"..."
Sanji, who had previously been acting as an Okama, now seemed to have come back to his senses. Seeing Shun, who had saved his captain, he didn't make any sound despite his mouth moving and kicking around.
'Seeing it like this, it's quite a cruel ability. The Calm Calm Fruit.'
Sanji resisted violently, but in the end, he was stabbed by Ivankov's nails.