Lucian tossed a piece of buttered popcorn into his mouth, leaning back into a plush armchair he'd "borrowed" from a nobleman he saw in Sabaody. He chewed lazily, his mismatched eyes fixed on the massive broadcast screen towering over the grove.
Around him, the crowd was a sea of bodies, hushed whispers, and loud chatter. Lucian seemed to be the only one truly enjoying the show. As he watched the war in Marineford.
Ever wonder what a Prime Whitebeard would look like on the battlefield of Marineford? If you thought "beast," you were underselling it. "Monster" didn't cover it. "God of Destruction" was getting closer.
The war began as it did in the anime. Portgas D. Ace was marched onto the scaffold, chained against the wooden planks. Sengoku delivered his grand speech, revealing the boy's lineage to a horrified world. Thousands of marines all ready, the warlords standing by Then, the Moby Dick breached the harbor, rising from the depths of the sea.
That was when Lucian saw the funniest faces in his life.
When the camera zoomed in on Edward Newgate. The man didn't look like a dying relic hooked up to life support he had met. He looked like a mountain of a man. His hair was a vibrant, golden hair, even from the screen, and having not known Whitbeard personally, a lot of people knew something was wrong.
The faces Sengoku and Garp made when that young, grinning titan stepped onto the head of the ship was funny as hell. It was a look of pure, unadulterated shock that was mirrored by millions of people across the Grand Line who knew what the man either looked like in his younger days or had seen him in recent times.
It was already clear when the man showed up that the "Strongest Man" hadn't come to die, he had come to reclaim his son, and he wasnt going to make things easy.
The Navy had prepared for an old lion, they found themselves facing a dragon in its prime. You could even see navy sholders shaking in fear.
The opening move started as he expected. Whitebeard crossed his arms and struck the air, the sheer force of his tremor shattering the atmosphere, calling forth a tsunami that looked like it was going to drown the base.
'Incredible. I did not expect a human to be capable of this. Raum's voice rang in his head, and he frowned at that.
He had nearly forgotten that the demon could now see through his eyes. Of course, it wasn't every time and he still had to give permission but it was still annoying every time.
'What is that power he has?' the demon asked. Raum was fascinated with it. Sure, he could probably do something similar, but he was a higher creature, for a being like a human to be capable of this, it was an interesting notion.
Lucian sighed before he spoke, 'That is the power of a devil fruit.'
'Devil....fruit?' Raum asked, 'I haven't heard of that in any of my gazes. What are they?'
'Devil fruits are, as the name suggests, fruits. fruits that once eaten give one power similar to a clan trait.'
The demon didn't say anything as if waiting for him to say more.
'See, devil fruits are categorized into three types. Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia he told the demon.
'Hmmm, go on,' raum said, he was intrigued by this.
Lucian sighed. He couldn't even enjoy the fight because of this guy.
He watched as Aokiji rushed forward, freezing the massive, sky-high tidal waves in an impressive display of power, and then the floodgates opened. Marines and pirates collided.
Lucian watched as he explained to Raum.
'Paramecia devil fruit ' is the most common type of devil fruit out there, providing users with superhuman abilities, such as altering their body, manipulating the environment, or producing substances, what youre seeing now is a type of paramecia. That is the power of the tremor tremor fruit.'
Lucian said, nodding at the white beard on the screen
'Next is the Zoan type. These fruits allow the user to transform into an animal. This type does have subcategories, such as the Ancient and Mythical Zoans, meaning they grant the power of ancient animals or mythical ones. A person who has eaten this fruit could become a dog, a cat, a lion, a dragon, even a phoenix, just depending on which you've eaten.'
'That doesn't sound that impressive,' raum said, become a cat, a dog. He didn't see what power there was to gain there.
'Don't be mistaken, its not a normal transformation, with creativity a zoan can match even what you see white beard doing, it just depends on the user' he told the demon.
'I still see no appeal in becoming an animal for something like this,' it said in disgust. Lucian just decided that until the demon saw a zoan in action, he wouldn't understand nor care, so he just left it and continued his explanation.
'and last, and certainly the one considered the most powerful by most. The Logia fruit, the rarest among the three, enabling users to create, control, and transform their body into a natural element like fire, lightning, ice, light, or darkness, and they become immune to that element they have eaten'
That one seemed to get the demon's attention.
'Light and darkness?' it asked.
Lucian nodded, not taking his eyes off the screen. 'Yes. When one eats a logia, they become the very element itself'.
'And what effect would say, a devil eating those fruits. the dark or light fruit. Would it harm an angel who eats the dark fruit, or would it harm a devil who eats a light fruit?
'No,' Lucian said, shaking is head, 'the nature of a person changes to suit the fruit with no harm from it. If let's say I eat the light fruit, I would still be a devil, but I'd also be light, and so no longer would light harm me.'
'Interesting,' he heard in his head, but didn't pay mind to it as he focused on the battle.
Right on cue, the sky split open. Luffy and his motley crew of Impel Down escapees plummeted from the heavens. Lucian raised a brow, genuinely impressed.
'Fate really has a stubborn streak,' he thought, catching a glimpse of the Straw Hat's determined face on a side-screen.
Whitebeard decided he had given the Marines enough of a head start. He didn't stay back any longer as he joined the fight.
The man leaped from the deck of the Moby Dick, his naginata, Murakumogiri, spinning like a propeller of death. Aokiji was the first to taste the result of white beards "Miracle" firsthand.
The Admiral moved in with confidence, only to be met by a fist infused with the tremors and haki of a prime white beard.
The shockwave launched the Admiral halfway across the island, burying him so deep into the stone foundations of the Marine headquarters that the entire building groaned even from the screen.
The silence that followed was deafening. The Marines' invincible front shattering as they saw an admiral go down in a single hit.
Kizaru and Akainu joined the fray instantly, turning the center of the battlefield into a hellscape of magma, light, and tremors before Aokiji came back bleeding and hurt to join the fight too.
It was three Admirals against one man, and yet, the "old" man was putting the paws on them. They were destroying the island just trying to contain him, erasing their own men in the crossfire as Akainu's molten rage met Newgate's tectonic wrath.
Even when Garp and Sengoku finally entered the brawl, Whitebeard still stood firm, the old man refusing to give way. supported by a crew that was now inspired to the point of fanatical frenzy, watching their pops beating the shit out of the marine top dogs.
Lucian watched, eyes sparkling as he leaned forward, his eyes flickering between the combatants being shown.
While watching, he had noticed something. He noticed Luffy's movements, the boy was faster than he had last seen him. When Luffy clashed with Aokiji for a brief moment later in the battle, he actually landed a hit that sent the Admiral skidding back.
That act alone told Lucian what he needed to know was up with the rubber teen.
"Haki," Lucian whispered, a smirk forming. "Good. He learned faster than in the anime. My little tell in Skypiea bore fruit."
The battle escalated until it looked like the very world was watching the apocalypse, the very foundations of marine for looked to be tilting even from the broadcast.
Then, just as Akainu was being used like a literal rag to clean the floor of the plaza, Sengoku's roar echoed through the transponder snails: "Cut the feed! Now!"
The screen went black. The Archipelago erupted in a riot of frustration. People screamed, protesting, and wept.
For the rest of the day, the world held its breath waiting for the outcome. Did the Navy fall? Did Whitebeard win? Had the world order ended in a single afternoon?
The news arrived early the next morning, carried by a swarm of News Coos that seemed to be flying faster than usual throughout the entire world. The headlines were Bold.
FIRE FIST ACE ESCAPES! SAVED BY THE STRAW HAT! THE STRONGEST MAN FALLS: WHITEBEARD IS DEAD.
Lucian scanned the paper. It seemed the Navy, realizing they were losing their grip on Ace after Luffy saved him, had shifted their entire strategy toward getting any win.
They turned Marineford into a death trap for Newgate. It had taken all three Admirals, Garp, Sengoku, and a literal army of Vice Admirals to finally bring the titan down as he covered his "children's" retreat.
The cost was staggering. Marineford was a smoking ruin, half-submerged in the sea. Sengoku had lost his left arm, multiple Vice Admirals were listed as deceased, Garp and the Admirals were reportedly in critical condition, their bodies pushed beyond the breaking point. Whitebeard died standing, having successfully saved his son and humiliated the World Government.
"So that's how it ends," Lucian sighed, dropping the paper. "Prime or not, a man can only tank so many 'Top Tier' ultimates before the body gives out. But he died as a winner. He bought his sons their lives with his own. Not a bad trade."
In the Days that followed, the seas descended into a special kind of madness. The Navy was crippled, and every pirate with a drop of ambition knew it. The "Great Age of Pirates" that had been dying out had just been injected with a massive dose of adrenaline, every man, woman, and child rushing to see now that the navy was weakened.
Amidst the chaos, the legend of the "Merchant" began to grow. Word travels fast in the underworld. People talk. Pirates talk. And what's bigger gossip to talk about than the man who gave white beard back his youth..
Lucian's business was booming. He had moved from Sabaody to a quiet, neutral island, but the "pull" of the contracts found him everywhere. At first, it was desperate pirates seeking the "Whitebeard Miracle."
Most were trash with nothing to offer, common thugs looking for a shortcut to power. Lucian took what he could, a year of life here, a specialized skill there, the skill of minor swordsmanship.
Some thought they could threaten him because he was a child. Those men didn't just lose the deal, they lost their lives.
He was not one for threats.
Then finally came the Marines.
The first was a mid-ranking officer who had heard the rumors from a captured pirate. He summoned Lucian and immediately tried to put him in seastone cuffs, shouting about "Justice."
Lucian didn't even move. The rules of the Summoning Circle were absolute, the merchant was protected by the contract's laws until the negotiation was over, after all. After giving the man a terrifying warning, nearly scaring him to death, unleashing just a flicker of his power, Lucian tempted him.
"You want to protect justice, don't you? You're too weak to do it. You watched your friends die at Marineford, didn't you? Isn't that why you want to capture me that badly, to avenge them, to prove yourself. because they weren't strong enough, and you weren't strong enough. I can help you with that. I'm sure you've heard the stories, I assure you, they're real. So what do you say? Want to surpass yourself?"
The man, broken by grief and ambition, traded ten years of his life for an "instant" mastery of Basic Haki. After that, the dam broke. Lower-ranked Marines started calling, desperate for the strength to survive the new, more violent world.
Eventually, the reports of "miraculous" promotions and sudden power spikes reached the very top of the Marine hierarchy.
Lucian wasn't entirely surprised when he felt a "pull" so strong it nearly knocked him off his feet. It was a summons backed by a collective will, it seemed multiple people were calling out to him.
He accepted, appearing in a grand office in the New Marineford.
"Well," Lucian said, glancing around at the battered, bandaged faces surrounding him. Akainu, Aokiji, Kizaru, Tsuru, Grap, and at the center, a one-armed Sengoku who looked like he hadn't slept in a month. "This is just awkward. Am I early for the funeral, or late for the party?"
"You!" Akainu roared, his fist turning into a bubbling, hissing mass of magma that scorched the carpet. He launched a strike instantly, rage pouring out of him.
The lava surged toward Lucian, only to vanish into thin air a foot away. The room froze as the magma simply... ceased to exist.
"So you're the one," Tsuru said, her voice calm and analytical as she studied the boy who looked younger than her granddaughter. "The one responsible for the carnage at Marineford. The one responsible for all the fires burning wild out there today."
Lucian gave a small, graceful bow. "My name is Lucian Lux Raum. And while I'm flattered by the attention from such 'Great Figures' of history, I assure you, I am but a simple merchant. I don't start fires....I just sell the matches."
"A merchant doesn't arm a terrorist with the power to destroy the world," Sengoku growled, his golden aura flickering weakly, his single arm trembling.
"I didn't give him power," Lucian corrected, shrugging with an innocent expression. "I sold him his own youth. Twenty years of it. If an old man wants to feel young again and has the right price, I simply can't say no. It's bad for the brand. Besides, what are you all so worked up about? He's dead, isn't he? You got your 'Justice' at the end, sure, it cost an arm, a headquarters, and your pride, but he's gone now. Sounds like a fair trade to me. Everything has a price, Fleet Admiral. Whitebeard just paid his."
The veins on Akainu's forehead looked ready to burst, his breath coming in ragged, heated gasps.
"You said you're a merchant," Tsuru stepped in, sensing the futility of a direct attack. She could see the boy wasn't a bit scared, which meant that he was confident in whatever it was that saved his life against Akainu. "And you sell to anyone? Regardless of their affiliation?"
Lucian's smile widened, sharp, his mismatched eyes glowing with a faint light. "Of course. Justice, Piracy, Revolutionary... those are just labels people use to feel better about their actions. To me, a customer is a customer. So, what are the 'Defenders of the World' looking to buy? Are you hoping to regain your youth, heal your arm, Sengoku? Or maybe you, Garp? It would certainly help fill the power vacuum Whitebeard left behind. Imagine... three Admirals and two Legends, all in their prime. The pirates wouldn't stand a chance."
The room went silent. The temptation was there. They had seen the results after all. Their cracked ribs were a reminder. They knew he could do it.
"And the price?" Aokiji asked, his voice low and cautious. "What did Whitebeard pay for such a 'miracle'?"
"His commanders helped," Lucian deflected smoothly, waving a hand. "But that's irrelevant. Every deal is unique. Now, let's stop the posturing. What do you wish for? Strength? Weapons? Knowledge?"
Lucian stretched out his hand, and a golden portal opened behind him. Dozens of blades, mountains of gold that made the World Government's vaults look like piggy banks.
"I have much to trade, and yet I require more for my collection," Lucian said, his voice dropping into a honeyed, dangerous purr, giving a small pout. "So, let's begin the negotiation. What do you desire... and what are you willing to sacrifice for it?"
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