Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, three months had passed.
May 5th, Sea Calendar 1520, was an ordinary yet special day.
This day was Monkey D. Luffy's birthday, and also the final countdown to the Sun God's voyage.
The villagers of Foosha Village, who knew Luffy was setting sail tomorrow, and Dadan, who had raised Luffy and Ace and was more of a mother to them than their own, rarely took the initiative to hold a banquet, letting Luffy eat his fill of meat.
The simple-minded Luffy also remembered his birthday for the first time.
Because tomorrow, just like Ace, he would officially set sail as a pirate.
So on this day, Luffy didn't sleep until late, full of anticipation for the morrow.
Also on this day, in a certain sea in the New World, a battle between pirates took place.
One side was a well-known pirate crew in the New World, and the other was the Fourth Division of the Whitebeard Pirates.
The two crews were evenly matched at first, but with the arrival of reinforcements from the Whitebeard Pirates, the well-known pirate crew was quickly defeated.
This was a Yonko's pirate crew!
One division was equivalent to a New World-level pirate crew, and the Whitebeard Pirates had over a dozen such divisions.
In addition to these divisions, the Whitebeard Pirates had dozens of subordinate pirate crews, each captained by a strong figure in the New World.
With such combat power and forces, destroying a superpower was an easy task.
Each division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates was a famous figure in the New World.
But today, a division commander died.
Because after defeating the well-known pirate crew, the Fourth Division Commander, Thatch, was searching for spoils of war when he found a Devil Fruit on the pirate ship.
Seeing that Devil Fruit, Marshall D. Teach, who had been hiding his strength and keeping a low profile, and had not yet been given a bounty by the Marines, was stunned.
Immediately, this big man, who was seen as honest and simple by his companions, had his clear eyes turn incomparably greedy, and his simple smile became extremely evil.
At this moment, the ambition that had been dormant for many years rapidly swelled to its extreme.
That night, Teach, relying on his good-guy persona and years of companionship, killed the completely defenseless Thatch and stole the Logia-type Dark-Dark Fruit.
Just as Luffy encountered the Nika Fruit, Teach, who had a special bloodline, also encountered the most suitable Devil Fruit for him.
Or perhaps, they were both chosen by the Devil Fruits representing light and darkness.
The next day, Luffy, representing light, bid farewell to the villagers and began his pirate adventure.
Teach, representing darkness, also fled towards the first half of the Grand Line.
On his adventure, Luffy, just like in the original story, recruited Zoro in Shells Town, Usopp in Syrup Village, and Sanji at the Baratie.
Then, the four of them, sailing the Going Merry given to them by Kaya, prepared to head for the Grand Line.
Teach, who now called himself Blackbeard, while evading the lone pursuit of Portgas D. Ace, recruited several powerful companions and finally, in June of Sea Calendar 1520, successfully left the New World.
——————
While the two chosen ones began their respective voyages, Link's harvest in the past four months was also astonishing.
"Observation Haki?"
Watching Link, who had a cloth tied around his eyes and yet could easily dodge Perona's ghost attacks, Carina, who was doing yoga-like exercises with her sisters to improve her body's flexibility, couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "It's as magical as Armament Haki. I never thought that besides special talents and Devil Fruits, humans could actually master such power."
Nami said with an expectant look, "Link said that as long as we persist in training our bodies, we can also master such power."
"Then let's all work hard together," Vivi said with a smile.
Ever since Link obtained the Haki cultivation method, the five girls had to complete a certain intensity of training every day.
Especially after seeing Link use Armament Haki on the second day, Carina was even more motivated.
That's right, Link used Armament Haki on the second day.
Not only did he confirm that he could cultivate the power of the One Piece world, but he also mastered Armament Haki in just one day.
This was not an exaggeration, because there was another person who, like Link, also mastered Armament Haki in just one day.
And that person was only twenty years old this year.
That person... was Portgas D. Ace.
Although there was no plot of Ace learning Haki in the original story, in the supplementary novels written for this super-popular character, it was described in detail where Ace obtained the Logia-type Flare-Flare Fruit and how he learned Armament Haki.
In the original story, Ace awakened Conqueror's Haki at the age of ten.
From this, it could be seen that Ace had inherited Roger's talent for Haki.
If he hadn't died in the Summit War, Ace might have also mastered Conqueror's Haki infusion in two years.
Link only took one day to master Armament Haki, but he only awakened Observation Haki a few days ago.
Perhaps it was due to his chakra, or perhaps his Sage Body, but Link, who possessed astonishing physical and spiritual energy, easily mastered the two types of Haki.
Only Conqueror's Haki, he still had no clue about.
Link didn't know if it was due to his destiny.
But Link didn't care; after all, he couldn't rush it.
After successfully mastering the two types of Haki, Link was even more confident in his next plan.
After having Perona spar with him for a while, Link finally took off the cloth tied around his eyes. Looking at Perona, who had changed greatly compared to four months ago, he smiled, "You've worked hard, Perona."
"You're welcome."
Perona smiled and shook her head.
At this moment, Perona no longer had her hair in twin tails, wore a crown, or dressed in an old-fashioned loli style.
Like Vivi, she had waist-length, pink wavy hair. The childish crown had been replaced by a black top hat, and the old-fashioned clothes with no sense of style had been replaced by a gothic-style dress.
Because the dress was off-the-shoulder, the assets that Perona had hidden so well had finallyTime flew, and in the blink of an eye, three months had passed.
May 5th, Sea Calendar 1520, was an ordinary yet special day.
It was the day of Monkey D. Luffy's birthday, and also the final day of the countdown to the Sun God's voyage.
The villagers of Foosha Village, knowing that Luffy was setting sail tomorrow, and Dadan, who had raised Luffy and Ace and was more of a mother to them than their own, took the rare initiative to hold a banquet, letting Luffy eat his fill of meat.
The simple-minded Luffy also remembered his birthday for the first time. Because tomorrow, just like Ace, he would officially set sail as a pirate. So for this one day, Luffy stayed up late, full of anticipation for the next day.
On this same day, in a certain sea in the New World, a battle between pirates took place.
On one side was a moderately famous pirate crew from the New World; on the other was the Fourth Division of the Whitebeard Pirates.
At first, the two crews were evenly matched, but as reinforcements from the Whitebeard Pirates arrived, the moderately famous pirate crew was immediately defeated.
A Four Emperors pirate crew!
A single one of its divisions was equivalent to a New World-level pirate crew, and the Whitebeard Pirates had over a dozen such divisions. Besides these divisions, the Whitebeard Pirates had dozens of subordinate pirate crews, each with a captain who was a powerhouse in the New World.
With such combat power and forces, destroying a superpower would be an easy task.
Every division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates was a renowned figure in the New World. But today, one of those division commanders died.
Because after defeating that moderately famous pirate crew, while the Fourth Division commander, Thatch, was collecting the spoils of war, he found a Devil Fruit on the pirate ship.
Seeing that Devil Fruit, Marshall D. Teach—who had always hidden his strength, maintained a low profile, and had yet to even receive a bounty from the Marines—was momentarily stunned. Immediately, the big man, who appeared honest and good-natured in the eyes of his comrades, found his clear eyes filled with immense greed, and his simple smile turned utterly sinister.
At that moment, the ambition that had been dormant for years rapidly swelled to its peak.
That night, relying on his "nice guy" persona and years of camaraderie, Teach killed the completely defenseless Thatch and stole the Logia-type Dark-Dark Fruit.
Just as Luffy encountered the Nika Fruit, Teach, who possessed a special bloodline, also encountered the Devil Fruit most suited for him. Or perhaps, they were both chosen by the Devil Fruits representing light and darkness.
The next day, Luffy, representing light, bid farewell to the villagers and began his pirate adventure.
Teach, representing darkness, also began his escape toward the first half of the Grand Line.
On his adventure, Luffy, just as in the original story, successively recruited Zoro in Shells Town, Usopp in Syrup Village, and Sanji at the Baratie. Then, the group of four, sailing the Going Merry gifted by Kaya, prepared to head for the Grand Line.
Teach, now calling himself Blackbeard, began recruiting several powerful companions while evading the lone pursuit of Portgas D. Ace, and finally, in June of Sea Calendar 1520, he successfully left the New World.
While the two chosen ones began their respective voyages, Link's gains over the past four months were also astonishing.
"Is that Observation Haki?"
Watching Link, whose eyes were blindfolded yet who effortlessly dodged Perona's ghost attacks, Kalina, who was doing yoga-like exercises with her sisters to improve her flexibility, couldn't help but exclaim, "It's as miraculous as Armament Haki. I never thought that besides special talents or Devil Fruits, humans could actually master such power."
Nami said with an expectant look, "Link said that as long as I persist in training my body, I can also master that kind of power."
"Then let's work hard together," Vivi said with a smile.
Ever since Link obtained the Haki training method, Kalina and the other four girls had to complete a certain intensity of training every day. They were especially motivated after seeing Link use the power of Armament Haki on the second day.
That's right, Link used Armament Haki on the second day. Not only did this confirm that he could cultivate the powers of the pirate world, but he also mastered Armament Haki in just one day.
This wasn't an exaggeration, because another person, just like Link, also mastered Armament Haki in a single day. That person was only twenty years old this year.
That person... was Portgas D. Ace.
Although the original story doesn't show Ace learning Haki, a supplementary story written specifically to patch things up for the popular character described in detail where Ace obtained the Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit and learned Armament Haki.
In the original story, Ace awakened Conqueror's Haki at the age of ten. This shows that Ace inherited Roger's talent for Haki. If he hadn't died in the Summit War, Ace might have also mastered Conqueror's Infusion two years later.
Link only took one day to master Armament Haki, but he only awakened Observation Haki a few days ago. Perhaps it was due to his Chakra, or perhaps his Sage Body, but Link, who possessed astonishing physical and spiritual energy, easily mastered both types of Haki.
Only with Conqueror's Haki did he currently have no clue at all. Link didn't know if it was a matter of destiny. But Link didn't mind, as there was no point in rushing it.
After successfully mastering two types of Haki, Link became even more confident in his future plans.
After having Perona spar with him for a while, Link finally removed the blindfold from his eyes. Looking at Perona, who had changed dramatically compared to four months ago, he smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Perona."
"You're welcome."
Perona smiled and shook her head.
The Perona of this moment no longer wore her hair in pigtails, wore a crown, or dressed in an old-fashioned lolita style. Like Vivi, she now had long, wavy pink hair that reached her waist. Her childish crown had been replaced with a black top hat, and her unfashionable, old-fashioned clothes had been swapped for a gothic-style dress.
Because the dress was off-the-shoulder, the "conscience" that Perona had hidden so well was finally restored to its proper scale.
If the old Perona was a lolita in pigtails who looked underage, then the current Perona was a mature beauty who had completely shed her childishness and immaturity.
This potential to be both mature and cute had astonished the four girls who helped her change her style.
After four months of getting along, Perona had also completely integrated into Link's group. A person can pretend for a short time, but not forever. Especially when living under the same roof every day, even the most naive person can tell if someone is being genuine.
So after spending four months with Link's group, Perona found that they were all good people and not scary at all. Although she was the second oldest among the five girls, Perona was like a younger sister in front of Kalina and the others. They also treated her like a little sister, allowing her to enjoy a different kind of care than what she received from Master Moria.
Getting along with them, Perona felt no generation gap at all. Under the guidance of the four girls, Perona's taste in fashion also improved rapidly; she learned how to dress up and began to pursue style.
She wasn't even afraid of Link, whom she had feared the most. Because every few days, Link would play games with her to cultivate their relationship. Some were one-on-one, and some were team-based. Team games were the most frequent, as Link's group had grown to six people.
At first, when paired with Link, Perona would feel scared, afraid that a poor performance would lead to a scolding or punishment from him. But as they teamed up more and more, Perona gradually came to understand Link's personality and discovered his shining qualities.
In addition, when the girls bathed together, they would always, intentionally or unintentionally, talk about the past, each time mentioning Link's heroic rescues and his responsibility as a captain. Under this brainwashing, Perona's fear and distance from Link had long since vanished.
The sixth person of the crew, now in name and in reality!
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