"Eh???!!!"
"Orin!??? Why are you here???"
Shanks was stunned.
In just the blink of an eye, a familiar figure—Orin—suddenly appeared in the hot spring.
Seeing him like this, Gaban burst out laughing.
"Well… it's a long story. I've been away from these seas for several years now."
With his Devil Fruit power keeping the hot spring water from touching his wounds, Orin simply enjoyed the warmth.
Having just parted ways with the Roger Pirates, then running into Shanks and Gaban-san immediately after—it was, in a way, a bit of comfort.
The few of them quickly dried themselves, changed into fresh clothes, and Orin's body was once again wrapped in bandages.
"Thanks for the meal!!!"
Sitting in front of a massive pudding as big as a mountain, Orin devoured it with both hands while Shanks and Gaban watched with great curiosity.
On this sea, could there really be someone capable of injuring Orin so badly?
"Hey!! Orin, you've been gone from the seas so long—where exactly did you go???"
Shanks leaned in, unable to hold back his curiosity.
Even Gaban was the same. Staring at the bandages covering Orin's body, he asked,
"Even when you fought that guy Newgate, you weren't this badly hurt, right? Just what kind of opponent were you facing…"
Gulp—
After swallowing down a huge chunk of pudding, the bandaged Orin slowly began to recount his experiences over these days.
He skimmed past Keek's part, focusing mainly on the Roger Pirates and the God Valley War.
"You mean this… well, that's a long story. My scientist created a machine that could send me back to the past. I went back over twenty years ago for a while!"
"Back to the past?!!"
To pirates like Shanks and Gaban, who were both brawny rather than brainy, all this talk of science went completely over their heads. But "back to the past"—that much they understood.
"Yeah, I even met Captain Roger in his thirties, and Gaban-san, you too."
"Back then, Gaban-san, you were always at the port and…"
Before Orin could finish, Gaban quickly clamped a hand over his mouth, terrified that Ripley might overhear something.
Fortunately, Orin didn't go into detail.
"The Roger Pirates in their youth, huh…"
Hearing that Orin had truly gone back and met Roger, both Gaban and Shanks fell into a daze.
Especially Gaban—since Orin mentioned things that had happened before Shanks and the others had even joined the crew, it convinced him this was no lie.
Shanks's face was full of longing and admiration.
"Hey, Orin, when you first met Captain Roger and Gaban-san back then, it must have been really moving, right!!!"
"Well…"
Orin scratched his head.
"Not really. We actually fought right away. Gaban-san even spat out a lot of blood, hahaha!!!"
"…"
The corner of Gaban's mouth twitched. But then he thought about it—seeing Orin covered in so many wounds now, maybe that wasn't so strange. He chuckled.
"You brat, don't think you can provoke the Roger Pirates of those days just because you're a monster now. Back then, we were really strong. For you to end up like this now—you had it coming…"
Gaban was still laughing when he noticed Orin giving him a strange, puzzled look.
Orin tilted his head.
"These wounds? From fighting the Roger Pirates? What are you talking about, Gaban-san…"
Gaban's expression stiffened.
"Back then, you were just as bruised and battered as Captain Roger. Aside from exhausting my stamina, I wasn't hurt at all!!!"
Dark lines formed across Gaban's forehead, while Shanks's eyes lit up, laughing and slapping Gaban's shoulder.
Even Ripley chuckled as she listened to Orin's tales of the past.
This left Gaban feeling utterly humiliated in front of his wife, child, and juniors. Flustered and a little angry, he glared at Orin's calm face and shouted:
"Then… if it wasn't us Roger Pirates, who else could've beaten you up like this??? We were one of the top pirate crews on the seas back then!!!"
Orin saw no need to hide it. After a moment of recollection, he said:
"Well… these wounds were from me pushing for a breakthrough—to reach the pinnacle of Conqueror's Haki Infusion. I might've gone a little overboard."
Chewing pudding with a smile at his lips, Orin made it sound like no big deal.
But his words completely piqued everyone's curiosity.
"Overboard? Just a little?"
"Yeah. At God Valley, I went one-on-one against Rocks, Garp, Captain Roger, and Shanks's father, Garling-sama. In the end, Rocks died, and… I guess that counts as my win."
"Pfffft!!!!"
Before Orin could even finish, Gaban spewed a mouthful of aged wine.
Orin used the Warp-Warp Fruit to dodge, but Shanks still got drenched.
"Wait… did you just say you fought all of them alone and won???"
Those names—monsters at the very peak of the world's power—slipped so casually from Orin's lips, as if they were nobodies.
Gaban froze in place, speechless for a long time.
Shanks was the same.
Especially after hearing Orin reveal the method he'd used to secure victory—Shanks, who had always sworn to one day surpass Orin, for the first time felt despair.
No…
He couldn't imagine any way to win.
As if noticing Shanks's disheartened look, Orin smiled and patted his shoulder.
...
"Don't get so down, Shanks. The new era belongs to you. I'm just a remnant of the old era, but you—you're the child of destiny~"
When Orin said "remnant of the old era," he even glanced sideways at Gaban.
After all, it was Gaban and others who had kicked Orin out of the new era into the old.
Gaban awkwardly scratched the back of his head and laughed in embarrassment. He quickly changed the subject, bringing up recent events on the seas:
"Orin, during the years you were gone, a lot has happened out here~"
Hearing news of the seas, Orin raised a brow, clinked glasses with Gaban-san, and listened as he and Shanks took turns excitedly talking about things connected to Orin.
"Actually, you'll find out soon enough anyway. In the past two years, a man named Mihawk has made his name known across the world. With the sharpest black blade, he cut down countless forces that tried to overstep because you were gone~"
"And there's a bird wreaking havoc across the New World, said to have awakened Conqueror's Haki Infusion. Supposedly, it's your pet?"
As they chatted, Orin was happily listening.
But suddenly, a huge commotion erupted outside the window, cutting their talk short. Everyone froze.
Only Orin remained calm where he sat.
Because he knew—this was probably about Loki.
"Such a mood killer…"
Shanks started toward the door, but Orin also stood, seemingly intent on going with him to take a look.
Shanks hesitated, as if there was something difficult to say. But Orin just patted his shoulder.
"Relax, I'm not gonna kill Loki… I'm just going to join in the fun~"