After giving Morgans his final instructions, Orin no longer paid the matter any attention.
In his eyes, betrayal was simply not possible—at least not as long as those so-called "rulers of the underground world" still wanted to stay alive.
Now that Morgans had been subdued, and with access to global intelligence, unrestricted teleportation, and Conqueror's Haki Infusion, he had become a fully-fledged human erasure machine.
...
Reunions always have to come to an end.
Old Keek understood that very well.
At the Duramos coastline port, a massive red ship was currently docked.
Old Keek looked up at the vessel and shook his head with disdain.
Roger's stuff always brought bad luck!
At the port, Orin—dressed in a dark red suit and a black coat draped over his shoulders—had just hung up his Den Den Mushi.
Crates of supplies were being loaded onto the ship. Old Keek personally supervised the process.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over the area where he stood.
"Time to set sail again?"
Old Keek didn't turn around. With his hands behind his back, his face hidden in shadow, he rasped:
"Yeah. We're on a tight schedule—ideally, we'll reach our destination within half a day." Orin nodded.
Mihawk said nothing. He simply boarded the Oro Jackson and began inspecting the cargo.
"Then… when you're not busy, come back for a visit. You're a prince of this nation, after all. This will all be your legacy one day!"
Hearing that, Orin couldn't help but laugh.
This place was always meant to be Grandpa's retirement home. A tiny kingdom like this couldn't even catch his interest.
After all, even Crocodile and Doflamingo were after major countries like Alabasta and Dressrosa.
Would Orin settle for a small island nation?
"Ah… Then you'd better take good care of it, old man. Don't you go kicking the bucket too soon."
Maybe he caught Orin's unspoken meaning, because Old Keek suddenly burst into joyful laughter:
"Of course! I'm counting on you to take care of me in my old age!!"
"That's good… Well then, I'm off."
Orin crouched down and gave Old Keek a hug on the shoulder.
The old man immediately recoiled, calling him sentimental and ordering him to get to sea quickly so he wouldn't ruin his mood.
"What are you hugging me for? Go on already! You're the ruler of the seas now, but still act like a child. Your subordinates are watching and laughing at you..."
As he watched Orin's back fade into the ship, Old Keek remained silent.
The ship soon set sail, slowly making its way out of the harbor.
His serious expression remained until the Oro Jackson was nearly out of sight. Only then did he finally let his composure slip, murmuring:
"Come visit often, Orin..."
And just as those words left his mouth, a voice rang out from the distant sky:
"I will! Take care, old man!!!"
...
"Hahahahahaha..."
Using Observation Haki, Orin saw Old Keek cursing awkwardly, trying to hide his embarrassment, and couldn't stop grinning.
Seeing Orin so pleased, Mihawk sipped his wine and reminded him:
"If you want to make it in time, you'd best arrive before noon. No one knows exactly when they'll leave."
"Yeah, yeah… Got it. I'll go now."
Orin snapped his fingers, and an Eternal Pose appeared in his hand.
The people he was about to meet were two major players who didn't appear until much later in the story. Orin was quite looking forward to it.
One was the son of Garp, the father of Monkey D. Luffy, the future leader of the Revolutionary Army—a man Orin had briefly encountered in Loguetown: Monkey D. Dragon.
The other was a scientist hundreds of years ahead of his time, the true owner of the Brain-Brain Fruit—like a One Piece version of Einstein: Vegapunk.
As for Dragon, Orin wasn't particularly interested.
Just another idealistic young man dreaming of overthrowing tyranny. Not exactly rare in the grand sweep of history.
But such people rarely escaped the cycle of history. In the end, this world still respected power above all.
As long as beings with monopoly-level power existed, true equality could never take root.
Even if a region enjoyed peace for a time, it could never last.
Still, if the man wanted to chase his ideals, that was his business—not Orin's. He couldn't be bothered to interfere.
But Dragon's subordinate... now that intrigued Orin.
Or rather, he was the key figure in Orin's entertainment plans:
The King of the Okama—Emporio Ivankov!
Even if Orin couldn't personally capture him, he absolutely had to bring Ivankov's abilities under control.
Not only could he perform surgery on pirates and punish those who crossed Orin, he could also supply the red-light district with a steady stream of "technicians," saving labor costs.
Most importantly—
He couldn't allow Ivankov to transform his underworld queen, Crocodile, into some burly, muscle freak!
As for Vegapunk, Orin was purely curious about his high-tech creations.
If he could get him to upgrade his gun while he was at it, all the better.
Thinking about all the fun that lay ahead, Orin narrowed his eyes with a warm smile.
His gaze drifted toward the young swordsman practicing nearby…
Well…
Better not.
Otherwise, the proud little hawk would probably chase him to the ends of the earth with her blade.
If she lost the chance to become the world's greatest swordsman just because she turned into a delicate, sexy woman—
Even if Orin was her closest companion, she definitely wouldn't let him off easy. And Ivankov… well, he'd get chopped into paste for sure.
"What are you looking at?"
Perhaps sensing Orin's gaze, Mihawk turned toward him with sharp eyes honed by years as a swordsman.
Something felt… off.
"Nothing. I was just thinking—maybe we'll be gaining another crew member soon."
"Is that so."
Mihawk turned his attention back to his sword, continuing to release waves of sword energy into the ocean. Cleanly sliced fish floated to the surface in perfect halves.
He didn't care what kind of person Orin brought aboard, so long as it didn't interfere with his training.
Besides—
No matter who it was, there was no escaping Orin's games.
So far, every single thing Orin had set out to do had succeeded without fail.
As for how he did it—
Well, the new crew member would just have to pray for themselves.
"Then… full speed ahead to the West Blue! The New World can wait—we'll be back before long!!!"
Like a ghost ship under the broad daylight, the Oro Jackson sailed across the sea.
Infused with Conqueror's Haki, it bypassed the Calm Belt, heading straight for Ohara.
In just a couple of hours, off the coast of Ohara, a faint shadow appeared along the shoreline—like a specter.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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