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[Teach me]
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| The next day… |
…
Lying down on a rock, Dan hummed thoughtfully as he watched the waves crash gently against the shore from the cliff he was currently on.
"I should maybe carry my training elsewhere..." He muttered, eyeing a certain wave crashing further into the sand.
Yesterday, because Kuina had been snooping, he ended up revealing more than he should have. He'd semi-covered it up with a plausible excuse, but it would still be a pain if someone else saw it and started asking questions.
He preferred his secrets to stay that way. Secret.
So now he was considering finding another training spot—one that wasn't right outside his home, where anyone could just walk up at any moment.
"Maybe the spot where I hid the weapons might prove useful... If I trained there, I could also use a real sword for practice, not a bamboo stick," He muttered, gauging the possibility.
But if he did that, he'd have to make sure no one ever followed him there. Otherwise, his haul from the merchant would be to be discovered, and he'd be associated with all the crimes his sunglassed persona had committed.
That, or he could excuse himself by saying he'd merely found the weapons there, and just blame his possession of them on the "bandit's" carelessness.
But it would still be ideal if they continued to stay hidden.
Who knew if the villagers would want to take them away for being stolen goods, after all?
—And also because he was a kid, and no kid should have weapons.
At least, he could see some adults using that as an excuse. Even though Zoro had two swords in his possession at the moment.
Kuina too, but her sword was more heritage than current utility at the moment.
So there was a chance his treasure would be taken away if it got discovered.
'Worst case I'll just leave the island with my things and go live somewhere else... It might even be for the best, considering I'm no longer able to farm NP here.'
Dan pursed his lips at the thought, giving it long consideration.
"Hmm?"
But at that moment, he spotted something appear on the horizon, far away across the sky.
He squinted, doing his best to make out what it was.
As he struggled to identify its appearance, he pondered for a moment whether the system would put a vision-related hack in the future, once he upgraded his current infamy tier.
Eventually, however, such worries became unnecessary, as he was able to make out the figure's identity.
—Although that was mostly because the figure in question had also noticed his existence, and was now swooping down in his direction.
It was a News Coo. The newspaper deliverers of this world, carrying papers across the whole sea using their convenient flying abilities.
Soon, the hatted bird swooped down, descending upon the hill he was currently on with grace.
Then, it picked out one of the newspapers from its backpack and offered it to him.
Dan checked his pockets, and after a bit of rustling, took out some change and paid for the paper.
Though, as he handed the money and got the paper, he couldn't help but gaze at the bird, wondering if cooking it and stealing the newspaper would yield him some NP.
He was getting desperate for it. His gains had stopped long ago, and he didn't know how long he'd be able to resist like this.
He wanted NP.
But before he was able to attempt anything, the News Coo seemed to notice his not-so-kind glare and quickly flapped back into the air, leaving him frozen mid-choice.
"Tsk."
Seeing the potential NP fly away, Dan clicked his tongue and flopped back on the boulder, opening the paper in the process.
"Let's see... A famous merchant got raided by pirates and died, Jack of the Afro Pirates has been captured, and a certain lieutenant from the Marines got swallowed whole by a Sea King while in the middle of service... this world sure is hectic..."
A bead of sweat ran down Dan's forehead as he took in the sheer amount of bad things going around.
But this world was pretty brutal, so it wasn't that much of a surprise.
That, or it was propaganda to fuel support for the marines.
Or both.
Next, he turned the page—only for his eyes to widen slightly in surprise.
{"Controversy! A new warlord has been chosen by the World Government—Donquixote Doflamingo!"}
Dan's surprise shifted to a frown as he proceeded to read the whole thing, his eyes squinting more and more with each word.
Eventually, he put the newspaper down and let out a sigh.
"So this happened just recently?" Dan muttered, staring down at the picture of a bounty poster of said pirate with its bounty now scratched—along with a following picture of Doflamingo calmly walking around, unbothered by the marines surrounding him in the photo.
His frown deepened at the sight.
"This means..."
Dan dove into his memories, more specifically his knowledge of dates and important events.
Then, his eyes opened.
For Doflamingo to be named a Warlord, it meant...
'No idea.'
Dan's gaze went flat.
One Piece was such a big story that he honestly couldn't recall the specifics of many important events prior to the story taking place.
He could only recall specific bits of information that had stuck to his mind for some reason, and the general outline of the rest of things... while also probably having forgotten many others entirely.
Still, finally having a point of reference as to where he was in the timeline, Dan felt he needed to at least try to understand what had happened during this period, and whether there was anything he could make use of.
He sat there thinking for a while, trying his best to connect it with anything.
But aside from the obvious Law backstory that would come to happen in due time because of Doflamingo—or had it already happened?—nothing he could make use of really came to mind.
He opened the newspaper again and inspected it to see if he could get anything from it.
For a moment, he didn't find anything worth looking at.
But then, he caught a certain word that sparked something in his neurons, making the rusty gears of his mind begin turning.
"... Warlord," he read out loud.
That's when it dawned. If Doflamingo was a mark in history worth remembering, then perhaps the other Warlords were too.
And after a quick recounting—the only one that came to mind that may actually mean something in his current plans... was Jinbe.
Not because he could do something with the guy himself. The obese fishman was still far away in the Grand Line right now—but rather because of what him becoming a Warlord would cause.
Arlong being released, escaping to the East Blue, and thus, causing Nami's whole backstory to develop.
Leaving the dilemma of preventing the girl's canon event aside—or at least trying to prevent it—Dan's other reason for eyeing that whole canon event was because of a particular individual.
Nezumi.
The guy was exactly what Dan needed. A perfectly corrupt Marine official he could deal with without feeling bad, and use that to kickstart his bounty.
The only problem was...
'When will all the Arlong stuff happen?—or has it already happened?'
He knew at least that, ever since he'd gained a bit more awareness of the world around him after his past life's memories intertwined with his current ones, Jinbe hadn't become a Warlord during that time. He had tried to keep up with world events as much as he could, and nothing of the sort had been mentioned since then.
But before that? He had been a carefree kid who couldn't have cared less about the world's events. So during that time, he may have just missed the fishman's coronation.
And there was no internet here to make a quick search about it.
The only way to know for sure would be to ask someone who kept up with such things, or go himself to Nami's island to see if the whole thing had already played out or not.
But until he did either, he'd have to sit with the doubt.
Besides, gaining strength was still the main priority on his list. Even if the thought of preventing Nami's whole sad backstory just because he could had crossed his mind—with killing Nezumi as a bonus to increase his bounty—that was hardly a realistic choice, or at least, not a good one at the moment. His strength was barely reaching adult level as of now.
Arlong was probably dozens of times stronger... at least, by the show's depiction of Fishmen being absolute beasts compared to humans.
Whether that'd translate correctly to reality, however, Dan didn't know—but he preferred not to take risks and have his head ripped off like someone pulling weeds out of the ground.
Worst case, helping Nami and dealing with Nezumi would have to wait until he got strong enough to contend with the fishman, probably after all the bad stuff had already happened... maybe years from now.
"I've got a long way ahead..." Dan muttered, pushing himself up and folding the newspaper. "Regardless, I won't reach that point unless I put in the effort. So let's go find a new training spo—... oh, come on."
That's when he spotted Kuina's figure coming out of the forest, entering old Shun's property not too far away from the hill he currently stood on.
From the way she looked around as if searching for someone, it was clear she hadn't wandered here by mistake.
So, sighing, he made his way down the hill to see what she wanted.
Eventually, he got there, barely hiding his suppressed annoyance as he approached.
'Why is this girl suddenly involving herself with me so much? Shouldn't she be busy beating Zoro's face into the ground daily?'
Snorting at the thought, Dan eventually reached her.
"Kuina... to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Dan asked, barely hiding the sarcasm in his voice.
Her head snapped toward him, looking totally unaware of what his tone had implied.
"After what you told me yesterday, I thought it over and..." she started, before drawing the bamboo sword at her waist and pointing it at Dan. "I decided I want to learn your exhaustion-pushing technique—please!"
"..."
Dan eyed the sword barely a few centimeters from his face with a flat gaze.
'At least she said please...'
His flat gaze drifted back to her, looking a bit done.
"I thought I was clear yesterday... but I guess not," He crossed his arms. "I can't teach it to you. Sorry."
"Why not?" Kuina frowned.
Dan's flat gaze flattened even further. "I said it was hereditary... you don't know what hereditary means?"
She tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "That the parents pass it down to their children?"
"Yeah."
Kuina looked even more confused. "So?"
"What do you mean 'so'? That's the reason you can't learn it!"
"So is it like a clan technique?"
Dan's patience diminished slightly, prompting him to massage his eyebrows. "... What? No. Listen, you just aren't able to learn it, that's all."
However, it seemed his answer only deepened Kuina's frown.
"Even though I beat you and proved myself better... in the end you also think like that?"
Dan's eyebrows twitched. "I don't make the rules... what do you want me to do?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Just because I'm a woman..." She hissed under her breath.
Dan blinked upon catching that part.
'Right... forgot about that whole deal for a moment.'
He wasn't very invested in others' business, apparently—even if they were canon characters.
He was just focused on getting stronger quickly, and only planned to intervene when the 2,001st duel happened, so he could stop her from falling down the stairs.
Sighing, he looked back at her.
"... By hereditary, I meant something only people of my lineage are able to do. It's not something teachable. Think of it like the exact same thing that makes your hair weirdly blue, or Zoro's green. It's something your parents passed down to you, and that you can't teach, right?"
Her hand reached for her hair, looking a bit surprised and confused by it.
"So it's not because I'm a woman?"
Dan sneered slightly. "When you know the monsters out there, the village's views don't seem very sound. Physically speaking, the strongest human alive is actually a woman, if I'm not wrong." He muttered the next part under his breath, "Though I'm not sure she's fully human..."
Although it was said Big Mom was human, she was a bit too big. So much so that it made one think otherwise.
Even if there was a chance Kaido was stronger physically—which he wasn't sure about, the guy was an Oni and not human, so the point still stood.
Whitebeard, on the other hand, was getting on in years, his strength diminishing even if still monstrous.
As for Garp... he supposed the same applied to him? Honestly, he wasn't so sure anymore. The old guy was just that crazy.
Regardless, it didn't really matter all that much. Big Mom was the clear example of the absurdities that human bodies could accomplish in this world, regardless of gender.
A true freak of nature.
Kuina blinked. "The strongest human is a woman?"
"... She may not look like it, but she's a woman... I think."
Kuina looked confused—but a bit interested.
"Who is she?"
Dan was about to answer—but recalled this point in time was still years before the show.
Was Big Mom even in her fully grown state at this point?
'Well, she should be...' Dan thought, not totally certain but not about to care much either way, so he described her to Kuina. "It's this pirate that governs a part of the distant seas. Big Mom, a Yonko."
Kuina nodded, looking pensive. "I think I've heard that name from the adults..."
She seemed to fall into silence for a second, absorbing the piece of information, before her gaze fell back onto Dan—this time, however, not as stern or guarded as before.
Even a little hopeful.
"Then, you think it would be possible for a woman to become the greatest swordsman in the world?"
"I don't see why not." Dan shrugged.
He hadn't gotten to see any super overpowered swordswoman on Zoro's level by the point he'd been in the show, but surely it was possible. Even though not world-level, there were plenty who were crazy strong, and who probably didn't even have the goal of becoming the best swordsman.
Kuina frowned. "Even though my father says otherwise?"
Dan deadpanned. "Is your dad the strongest swordsman?"
"... No?" She answered with a bit of uncertainty.
He spread his hands as if the answer were obvious.
"Then that's that."
Maybe within the constraints of the rules of physics from his old world, such a thing could have had more foundation to it, given the different structures and limits that made one better at swinging metal sharp sticks than the other—and he was purely speculating.
But here? Where people punch mountains and flatten them in the process? Where entire ships are cut apart in single sword swings? And where strange things such as Devil Fruits and Haki exist, closing any physical difference that may exist?
It'd be mind-blowing if Koushirou was right.
"..."
Kuina looked a bit overwhelmed by the reality check. But she didn't look upset or troubled—instead, she looked rather relieved.
"Is that so?"
Dan smiled flatly. "Yeah. Anyway, you get it now. You've got your specialties, I've got mine—in my case, the ability to put exhaustion off."
He clapped and began walking away.
"So, let's each do our best to achieve our goals and respect each other's space."
"You have a goal?" Kuina asked, ignoring his obvious attempt at getting away, and stopping Dan in his tracks.
"... Yeah," he said as he turned.
"What is it?" Kuina asked, looking at him curiously.
"I prefer to keep it to myself, if you don't mind."
Kuina's eyebrow creased slightly.
"Hmph." She huffed. "Very well, keep it to yourself."
"I will, thank you."
And without further delay, he entered his house and closed the door behind him, leaving a stunned Kuina standing there alone.
"Jerk."
…
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-To Be Continued...-
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(A/N: Classes got cancelled because of rain, yepee!)