Chapter 181: The Demon Heir
"Mr. Crocus, you actually entered the Grand Line."
"That voice... Brook! It really is you! How did you become like this?! What exactly happened to the Rumbar Pirates back then?"
Although he was invited aboard as the ship's doctor, Crocus possessed a certain level of combat prowess himself. Even when the Roger Pirates sailed through the New World, he was capable of participating in battles as a combatant.
Now, not yet advanced in age, he was quite agile, directly vaulting over the ship's railing to the docks below.
Seeing that Crocus had found the person he was looking for, the rest of the Roger Pirates felt happy for him. They didn't disturb the reunion; instead, they grouped up and went elsewhere, planning to tour Fish-man Island, a place they hadn't visited in a long time.
"Back then..."
Seeing Crocus ask, Brook briefly summarized the events of the past, though he deliberately kept the details sparse.
Crocus didn't press the matter. Brook had survived by a stroke of luck due to the Revive-Revive Fruit, but for Brook himself, this wasn't necessarily a blessing.
"After all these years, why haven't you returned to Twin Cape? Have you forgotten Laboon?! Don't you know Laboon has been waiting for you all this time?!"
"Laboon... How could I ever forget him...
"It's just... I don't know how to face him. Do you want me to tell Laboon that everyone else is dead...?
"So, I want to fulfill the promise we made back then. I want to finish navigating the Grand Line, circumnavigate the globe, and return to him from the other side."
Brook's tone was heavy with sorrow. Happy memories were wonderful, but memories of times that could never return were also indelible scars.
Even though his body had been reduced to nothing but bones, this was a painful memory etched deep into his soul.
When he first heard news of Laboon, Brook was thrilled. But after calming down, he found himself entirely at a loss for how to face his old friend.
The New World's sea routes were perilous. Without the leadership of a powerful executive, trying to complete the journey relying solely on a single flag was clearly unrealistic.
Nereus hadn't arranged a similar ship during this time, so Brook's voyage had been stuck at a standstill, unable to progress any further.
"I truly didn't expect that you, Mr. Crocus, would risk entering the Grand Line..."
"Hmph, you guys have it easy. I've been the one raising Laboon all these years; in my eyes, he's like my own child...
"Besides, that guy Roger... he's a pretty good companion."
At first, Crocus only wanted to seek out traces of the Rumbar Pirates. But after spending this time together, Crocus had started to view Roger as a true comrade, and he wanted to help him complete this final voyage.
"I'm sorry to trouble you, Mr. Crocus..."
"It's nothing. Are you doing well here?"
"Quite well, actually. Being able to bring me out of that lonely fog... Mr. Nereus is another benefactor of mine. I want to repay his kindness, but my abilities are too weak. It seems I can't be of much help at all..."
Brook let out a slightly self-deprecating laugh. The other benefactor he mentioned was the King of the Toroa Kingdom in the West Blue. To repay his kindness back then, Brook had shelved his dream of setting out to sea as a pirate and became the captain of the royal guard.
But as a guard captain, Brook felt he had been unqualified, and after all these years, it felt like nothing had changed.
"Maybe you're not ready yet, but Laboon is always waiting for you. When this voyage ends, I'll figure out a way to give you a call. When that time comes, just talk to Laboon first."
Crocus's objective was Brook, while the rest of the Roger Pirates were mostly just admiring the unique underwater scenery or buying some deep-sea specialties.
Only one person kept his gaze fixed ahead, pacing the plaza with something heavy on his mind.
It was none other than Douglas Bullet.
Unlike the rest of the Roger Pirates, Bullet was currently focused on one thing and one thing only: how to challenge Nereus, the powerhouse Roger had spoken of.
Although Bullet repeatedly emphasized that he was only a "challenger" on Roger's ship and refused to acknowledge concepts like "nakama" or companions, he hadn't realized that deep down, a slight change had already taken root.
Accustomed to walking alone, Bullet would never care about anyone else's orders—with the sole exception of Roger.
Roger was the first person to make Bullet taste consecutive defeats, and he was the man Bullet currently looked up to the most. Because Roger had given an explicit order not to cause trouble before they disembarked, Bullet had abandoned the idea of causing a massive riot just to draw Nereus out.
Bullet had absolutely no interest in the scenery of Fish-man Island. Wandering aimlessly, he arrived at one of the island's martial arts arenas.
Due to the martial-oriented atmosphere Nereus heavily promoted, dojos of all sizes had sprung up across Fish-man Island over the years, making combat competitions a common occurrence.
Even the Neptune Army had stationed personnel here to recruit individuals with combat talent, and occasionally, they would participate in the matches themselves.
There were no racial restrictions for these challenges. To increase the variety of combat styles, humans from the surface were also welcome to join, and there were even some highly valuable prizes on the line.
[The Neptune Army... if I beat all these guys down... that should be enough to draw this Nereus out, right?]
With this thought in mind, Bullet stepped into the ring. With a single, casual punch, he sent his opponent flying out of the arena.
Bullet looked around with a contemptuous glare; the opponent just now couldn't even serve as a warm-up.
His arrogant tone naturally provoked the crowd. Whether it was spectating pirates, Fish-man Karate masters, or Neptune Army members, they successively stepped into the ring to accept Bullet's challenge.
But without exception, they were all blasted out of the ring with a single punch.
Although he exercised a degree of restraint, they still suffered injuries. It wasn't until a Fish-man soldier belonging to Nereus's personal guard was similarly punched out of the ring that the commotion drew more serious attention.
"Is this really all you've got? Isn't there a single strong guy here? How boring..."
Bullet looked down on the weak to begin with. Even though he held back slightly because of Roger's order, his tone was dripping with provocation. If this drew out someone truly capable, Bullet would be more than happy to oblige.
For this kind of martial combat ring, there were naturally stronger individuals watching nearby to prevent any major disturbances. It was only at this moment that Alber, who had been dozing off to the side, slowly opened his eyes.
Perhaps due to the Kirin Fruit, his sleep quality was exceptionally good lately. As long as he had a surface to lean on, he could fall asleep at a moment's notice.
But this wasn't a bad thing for him. Even within his dreams, Alber could simultaneously train his Devil Fruit abilities.
Scanning the defeated challengers scattered around—which even included some of his own trainees—Alber casually walked up to the ring.
Currently, Alber was only nineteen years old, squarely in the prime of his youthful, aggressive vigor.
"Interesting. In that case, I will be your opponent."
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