"The strongest Supernova in history?"
On the Grantaine's lawn deck, Kahn sat in a single armchair, red tea brewed by Robin in one hand and the World Economy News Paper in the other.
He skimmed the headline, then tossed the paper aside. "That bird-man will write anything to sell copies. Is he not afraid of offending two people at once?"
Kahn did not accept that title.
Before he crossed over, the One Piece story had only just begun its final saga.
Up to that point the strongest Supernova in history was the Pirate Empress, Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin.
She was wanted for fifty million Beli at six, then rose by five hundred million within a few years.
A few years means at least three and usually fewer than ten.
So when Charlotte Linlin's bounty jumped by five hundred million, she was at most fifteen, perhaps earlier.
Kahn was fifteen this year, but a three-hundred-million bounty earned in the West Blue cannot be compared with five hundred million earned in the New World.
Morgans's blind hype is a good way to make enemies.
When Charlotte Linlin made her name, it was before Rocks had reached the summit.
Now not only is the Rocks era gone, even the Roger era has ended.
That issue will offend Charlotte Linlin and Kahn and draw mockery from the world.
For now it only offends Charlotte Linlin and paints a target on Kahn.
He could all but foresee that as soon as he made landfall, fame-hungry fools would use any means to assassinate him.
The logic is simple.
Defeat the strongest man in the world and you become the new strongest.
Defeat the strongest Supernova in history and you become the new one.
Until Kahn proves himself in the Grand Line, idiots will keep coming.
Fame has its uses.
If Kahn went somewhere crowded and raised his arm with a shout, he could form a fleet of thousands overnight.
He would not do that.
Feeding thousands costs a fortune every day.
A bloated armada like Don Krieg's five-thousand-man fleet would be wiped out in a few swings if it met a true monster like Hawkeye.
"Master, here are the items."
When Kahn finished venting, Robin walked over with a small wooden box in both hands.
He opened it.
Inside lay ten glass spheres, three standard Log Poses and seven Eternal Poses.
The West, North, and South Blues differ from the weakest East Blue. Every year the first three send large numbers of pirates into the Grand Line, while the last fears it as the pirates' graveyard.
A thirty-million bounty broke the East Blue record in later years.
In the other three seas, pirates worth fifty million or near a hundred million appear every year.
So for the West Blue the Grand Line is not mysterious.
After his parents died, Kahn decided to enter the Grand Line.
If not for grooming Capone Bege and Robin, he would have flown there alone at ten.
He had bought the ten glass spheres at ten.
Now it was time to use them.
He set one on the tea table and flicked his hand.
A blue field of will surged and wind slammed into the unfurled canvas.
The Grantaine, which had been gliding gently, shot forward like an arrow.
"Water Seven. Master, are we refitting the Grantaine there?"
"No. We're going to the Sabaody Archipelago," Kahn said. "I chose Water Seven because it is one of the seven islands nearest to Sabaody."
Robin nodded in understanding.
She did not ask why he was headed to Sabaody. She lifted the pot and refilled his cup.
Then she stood behind him, arms crossed at her chest.
Petals bloomed from empty air. Arms sprouted along the sofa, kneading Kahn's shoulders and legs and pressing his temples.
Kahn closed his eyes and enjoyed her skill.
When the noon rest ended, Kahn began guiding Robin's training.
In his previous life he had been a hopeless maid enthusiast. After picking up Robin, he vowed to train her into an all-purpose maid.
As one of the brightest women on the sea, Robin did not disappoint.
In two years she became exceptional.
The Grantaine was a medium two-masted ship over a hundred meters long with five decks, three below and two above.
Cleaning a vessel that size alone would normally take ages.
Kahn hired no one else. He and Robin handled all chores.
Telekinesis, innate Observation Haki, and the Flower-Flower Fruit let them chat on deck while cleaning the entire ship.
Beyond housework, Robin's combat strength surpassed her level at the start of the original story.
At eleven this year she exceeded her twenty-eight-year-old self.
Such drastic progress in two years was thanks to Kahn.
His transmigration was his greatest secret. His innate Observation Haki was his trump card.
No matter how close the bond, he would never reveal he was a transmigrator.
Likewise, unless exposed, he would never admit he possessed innate Observation Haki that reads hearts.
Reading hearts granted two abilities.
First, memory reading. With a touch he could read a target's memories.
The more memories read, the more Haki it consumed.
Treat it like an active skill.
Second, insight into the heart. Any target within his sight or sensing range could be read wherever they were.
The cost was negligible.
It was a passive ability always on.
With this hidden trump card, Kahn easily uncovered the Cross Family's moles.
It was one reason he left the island where he grew up.
Eliminate one batch of infiltrators and another arrived.
Rather than killing the elders those moles served, he denied them the chance and took the Grantaine to plant flags.
While collecting protection fees a few years back, Kahn spotted a capable CP agent.
He struck first, erased the agent, read his memories, and obtained training methods for Rokushiki, the Marines' Six Styles.
Robin surpassed her twenty-eight-year-old self at eleven because she trained in Rokushiki.
She had not mastered them all, but she had already grasped a move and a half and was a budding superhuman.