Just as Aiden was about to close the system panel that always left him both motivated and annoyed, his gaze stopped at the corner of the interface.
At the very edge of the system panel was a tab he usually ignored on purpose: [Dimensional Items].
"Come to think of it... I haven't clicked on this thing in a long time."
Aiden rubbed his chin. His finger hovered over the icon.
This section refreshed once a month. The items came from different worlds and were completely random. He usually forgot to check it because the system often offered things that left him speechless.
"Since I'm thinking about it, it won't hurt to look."
Feeling like he was checking a lottery ticket, Aiden opened the [Dimensional Items] page.
An item floated in the middle of a gold display stand. A small line of text sat below it: "Refresh countdown: 12 days, 5 hours, 15 minutes..."
Aiden looked closely, and the item details appeared in his vision.
[Item of the Month: Youth Elixir]
[Description]: From another world. After drinking it, your physical appearance will stay in its current state forever. Even if you live to be two hundred years old, you will still look exactly as you did when you drank it.
[Price]: 100,000 Points
"A hundred thousand points..."
Aiden looked at the price and raised an eyebrow slightly.
If this had been the past, he would have closed the page without hesitation. In a world where strength was everything, trading a hundred thousand points for an unaging face was a terrible deal.
But Aiden did not look away.
He thought of a beautiful face that always carried both charm and authority, with a mole under one eye.
Gion was in her prime and was known as one of the great beauties on the sea. But every woman feared aging. For a woman who cared about her looks, the temptation of this elixir was probably greater than any famous sword, Devil Fruit, or treasure in the world.
"Eternal youth..."
Aiden looked at his new balance and tapped his finger on the desk.
"It's just a hundred thousand points."
Aiden smiled. For him now, he could earn that back just by going out and killing a few high-bounty pirates. Since he had the strength, what was wrong with spending some points to make Gion happy?
"I'll buy it."
With a flash of light, a small glass bottle appeared in his hand.
Aiden tossed the small bottle in his hand and smiled faintly.
"This will probably be a huge surprise for her."
He placed the small glass bottle deep inside his storage ring, as if it were nothing important.
Just then.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the cabin door.
"Come in," Aiden said. He dropped his smile and returned to his usual serious look.
A Marine from the G-17 Base pushed the door open and walked in. He held a waterproof wrapped package covered in mud and dark red blood. He saluted.
"Reporting to the Base Commander! We found this on the old woman we killed while clearing the remains."
"It looks like an important personal item. I didn't want to handle it on my own, so I brought it for you to see."
"Oh?"
Aiden looked interested. He started to reach for it, but when he saw the sticky stains on the package, he frowned slightly. Aiden was picky about cleanliness, so he pulled his hand back on instinct.
"Put it on the desk... wait, put a newspaper down first."
Aiden pointed at the newspaper on the corner of the desk.
The Marine carefully laid out the newspaper, set the package down, and left. Only then did Aiden take a pair of white gloves from his drawer. He put them on and untied the knot on the package with a look of disgust.
Clatter.
Several expensive pieces of jewelry and stacks of high-value Berries spilled onto the desk. They gave off a sickening smell of seawater and blood.
"Tsk, that old woman really was greedy. She didn't forget her valuables even while running for her life."
Aiden had no interest in these things. To him, Berries were just numbers now. His attention was drawn to something that fell out of a hidden pocket in the package.
A notebook.
It was soaked with water, but the writing inside was still clear.
Aiden picked up the notebook with two fingers and flipped through a few pages. The pages were packed with business records of Miss Bakkin and Weevil working as mercenaries, assassins, and looters all over the world. Every single deal involved bloody crimes.
However, when Aiden reached the last page, he stopped.
It was the latest transaction record. The handwriting was messy, but he could still read it. It was clearly a note for a mercenary contract.
A large codename was written in the employer section: Joker.
Under the mission target section, it read:
"Attack the Golden Route under the G-17 Base's control. Attempt to cut off the Blacksteel Empire's trade routes. Cause maximum chaos and destroy Marine forces."
Next to the 100 million Berries deposit, a note was written in red ink.
"Teach that Marine Rear Admiral called 'Reaper' a lesson."
"Joker..."
Seeing this codename, Aiden couldn't help but smirk.
As someone who knew the original story, he knew exactly who this clown hiding in the shadows was.
Doflamingo.
This future Warlord of the Sea and king of Dressrosa was currently just an underground boss expanding his power in the North Blue and trying to reach into the Grand Line.
"I see. He blamed me for that in the end."
Aiden quickly pieced things together.
Back then, to protect Rosinante's undercover identity, they publicly claimed that Diamante had died taking down the train robbers. Even with the Blacksteel Empire backing up the story, a paranoid schemer like Doflamingo would never believe that his officer died alongside some desperate robbers.
Not only was Diamante dead, but the weapons Doflamingo had bought had also vanished without a trace. In Doflamingo's mind, the robbers were just a cover. The only person capable of killing Diamante and stealing a large shipment of weapons was the Marine Rear Admiral who happened to be there.
Reaper Aiden.
"He definitely thinks I played him, killed his officer, and stole the weapons he paid for."
But in reality, Kuma and Ginny from the Revolutionary Army had intercepted the weapons.
"I wonder how those two are getting along now."
Aiden smiled as he thought about the two culprits who had run off with the actual prize. That couple had taken the weapons for the Revolutionary Army, but since Doflamingo didn't know that, he naturally blamed Aiden.
"You can't find the Revolutionary Army, so you come after me instead?"
Aiden looked at the note that said "teach Reaper a lesson." Instead of getting angry, he found the situation amusing.
"You even want to get revenge by cutting off my trade routes?"
"Interesting."
Aiden wondered what kind of face Doflamingo would make if he knew that the thugs he had hired for 100 million Berries had died before they even made a move.
"Since you made the first move, I have no reason to hold back."
Aiden stood up and looked out at the ocean. His eyes showed interest.
Aiden had not planned on making a special trip all the way to the North Blue to deal with Doflamingo. The North Blue was too far away. The round trip would take too much time.
But now...
"Perfect. I still need a lot more points."
Aiden rubbed his chin. His smile grew wider.
"Since that flamingo has a death wish and wants to reach into the Grand Line..."
"...I think I'll see just how many Sin Points a former Celestial Dragon can give me."
...
The next morning.
After a night of sailing, the familiar outline of the island finally appeared on the horizon.
"Is that... the G-17 Base?"
Standing on the deck, Zephyr and his students, who had just survived a deadly battle, couldn't help but stare.
A huge black steel fortress sat quietly on the water. The entire base looked like a military fortress.
Dark cannons lined the tall outer walls, and a fleet of steel ships sat perfectly aligned in the port.
But beneath those heavily guarded walls was a completely different scene.
Merchant ships with flags from different countries constantly came and went from the busy commercial port. The docks were stacked with cargo. The workers smiled with satisfaction, and the streets were busy and loud.
The base looked powerful.
"This..."
Hina took off her sunglasses. She looked shocked.
When they talked on the phone, Smoker always bragged about how impressive the G-17 Base was and how Aiden had turned it into an iron fortress. Hina had just assumed he was drunk and bragging. After all, how strong could a single Marine base really be?
But now that this huge steel fortress was right in front of her, she realized Smoker had not been bragging at all. If anything, he had undersold it.
"Well? This is Aiden's base."
Smoker walked up beside Hina with a cigar in his mouth. Seeing her stunned expression, he sounded proud, as if he had built the base himself.
"I told you, didn't I, Hina? The way that guy built this place is just as crazy as his strength."
Hina took a deep breath and put her sunglasses back on to hide her shock. But when she spoke, she sounded completely convinced.
"Hina has to admit... you really weren't bragging this time."
"Forget about robbing this place. Pirates would turn around and run just seeing that flag."
Zephyr didn't say anything. He just stared quietly at the steel fortress.
The sea breeze blew against his graying hair.
Years ago, he had dreamed of building a place like this, where no pirate would ever dare attack. But he had spent half his life holding onto his no-kill idea of justice. In return, his family was destroyed, his students were slaughtered, his budget from Headquarters kept shrinking, and he was constantly forced into political compromises.
Meanwhile, Aiden had used the most extreme methods—killing, looting, money, and force—to build the exact justice Zephyr had always dreamed of.
Was it ironic? Maybe.
But the civilians here never had to worry about pirates, because pirates didn't dare come near the place.
The Marines here didn't have to worry about going hungry or using outdated gear, because their commander was loaded with money.
Zephyr looked at Smoker's proud face, the shock in Hina's eyes, and the smiling civilians in the port.
He had to admit that when it came to protecting civilians and his own men, his rebel of a student was doing a much better job than he was.
"Is this your answer... Aiden?"
To Be Continued
---------------------------------
https://www.patreon.com/c/LIZBETH1242
40 chapters available in advance!