June 5, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
Orion emerged from the space-time tunnel, appearing high up in the sky amid the dark clouds of a storm. This was the place he had "chosen" to exit his Space Gate, although the process had not been particularly smooth.
When Orion had focused his mind on the space-time properties within the tunnel that connected to the anchor point in Dressrosa, he had been able to sense the location outside the tunnel in a vague way.
For that reason, all he had really done was choose the point that felt closest to his entry position in the Grand Line, so he could avoid being thrown into one of the four Blues or something of the sort.
Falling from the gray sky, Orion used Geppo to steady himself and halt his descent, reaching the surface of the ocean without any trouble. Then he took out one of the small sailboats he kept in his inventory, and, standing on its deck, he opened the system map to observe his exact current position.
Due to Doflamingo's attack, his Space Gate was deactivated, meaning he could not use it to travel to any of the anchor points. Because of that, he needed to be in a location relatively close to where he had been before, otherwise he would have to spend a great amount of time and effort returning home, or wait for Kuma to arrive and assist him.
The result of his voluntary manipulation of the tunnel's exit coordinates was finally revealed before his eyes with a glance at the system map: he was still in the New World and not too far from his previous position, the place where he had fought Doflamingo and Vergo.
If he were lucky and weather conditions were favorable, he could probably reach his prior location in a month and a half or two, so Orion immediately let out a relieved sigh.
While it was true that navigating the treacherous waters of the New World was considerably complicated, at least he had not been thrown into a distant location. Even so, Orion was always prepared to call Kuma to help him if necessary, although for the moment he did not consider himself to be in such an emergency.
Now that he had obtained the Ope Ope no Mi, Orion was not in a particular hurry to return home, and he planned to use this opportunity to explore a bit of the area he was in and expand the world map displayed on the system screen.
Right now, he was in an unexplored region of the map, submerged in darkness, so even though he did not intend to remain here for long, he could certainly dedicate a bit of time to exploring before returning to the West Blue to look for Roux, Yukimura, and his beloved Victoria.
Orion expanded the visible area on the system map a little more, and soon found the presence of a marker not too far from his current position. When he looked at the name of the Named Character that had just appeared, Orion raised his eyebrows in surprise, for it was the name of someone he knew: Charlotte Broyé.
Unlike other times when he had encountered other children of Big Mom, on this occasion Broyé was traveling alone, without any of her siblings, since otherwise their names would have appeared on the system screen.
Obviously, she was probably traveling with a crew of subordinate pirates, but the probability of running into someone powerful who was not a Named Character was low.
It wasn't that every strong person in the world had to be a Named Character, but rather that in the crews of Named Characters like Broyé, any strong individual would probably be a Named Character as well, and therefore the absence of additional markers indicated to Orion that there wouldn't be any particularly powerful people accompanying Broyé.
Of course, it was also possible that there were very powerful people with Broyé who simply hadn't appeared in the original story, and such cases were much more likely when it came to secondary Named Characters or those who were not well known.
Unfortunately for Orion, he had never seen the original One Piece story, and thus he could not know how famous Broyé actually was. Still, considering she was one of the eldest daughters of the legendary Big Mom and that she was very powerful, he believed she was probably an important character in the story.
After arriving at these conclusions, Orion decided to go to where Broyé was in order to greet her. He had seen her about eight years earlier, when he had saved her younger sister Charlotte Galette from the hands of the navy.
On that occasion, Broyé had been the most reasonable of the Charlottes present, and Orion had a rather good impression of her. Broyé had even given him a Den Den Mushi so he could contact her if he ever needed her help, as a way to repay the debt of gratitude for saving her younger sister.
During that encounter with the Charlotte sisters, Broyé had kept calm and had not attempted to attack him at all, which is why Orion thought that if he went to see her now that he was so close, there would probably be no issues, and perhaps he could even get news about the current state of Galette and Poire.
In the end, if Broyé truly became hostile toward him, Orion felt confident that he could at least escape from her successfully. After all, he was no longer the same person he had been almost a decade ago. After years of training, his power now placed him in the upper-middle tier of this world, and although he might not yet be on the level of people from the New World, he wasn't that far off.
Determining the direction in which Broyé was located, Orion adjusted the sails of his small boat and began sailing toward her while pulling out a Den Den Mushi to contact Giolla in Pacific Kingdom and inform her of his current situation.
Additionally, he had sent Gloriosa and Daz Bonez away without warning in order to protect them, so he also needed to discuss that matter with the people back home. Above all, it was necessary for him to speak directly with Gloriosa, since otherwise the troublesome girl could easily end up causing a scene or an incident in his homeland.
...
Feeling the cold wind brushing against his cheeks, Orion displayed a relieved smile, and his muscles relaxed involuntarily. Only now could he truly feel the calm that came from having escaped yet another life-or-death situation.
Suddenly, he remembered that he had left several mercenaries—including Kiko, the leader of Green Kamakiri—inside his Pocket Dimension in order to protect them from Doflamingo's attacks. With a motion of his hand, he opened a Space Door, allowing the mercenaries to slowly begin emerging one by one.
In the end, the number of mercenaries turned out to be far larger than he remembered, and he had to retrieve another ship from the system's inventory in order to have enough room for them.
The mercenaries, who had been privileged spectators to everything that had happened from within the Pocket Dimension, looked at Orion with fear and nervousness. In their minds, someone with Orion's level of power—someone capable of facing a vice admiral like Vidar Lund—was definitely a person who could eliminate them at any moment and on a whim.
Even so, among this large group of mercenaries, there was one person who felt no fear at all. Pushing his way through the crowd, he walked straight up to Orion and pulled him into a rough, friendly hug, relief overwhelming him as tears of gratitude welled in his eyes.
"Orion! You have no idea how relieved I am that everything turned out well!" said Kiko, feeling like the survivor of a great tragedy.
"For a moment I thought I was going to die at Doflamingo's hands. I have to thank you for saving me! I promise I'll repay this debt of gratitude in the future!" Kiko added emotionally.
Orion showed a gentle smile and, patting Kiko's shoulder, said,
"There's nothing to thank me for! After all, we're friends, aren't we? Besides, if I hadn't done anything to help you, Kat wouldn't have forgiven me."
The other mercenaries watched the interaction between Orion and Kiko, remembering that all of them had indeed been rescued by Orion from Doflamingo's grasp.
Thinking about how moments earlier they had feared that Orion might harm them, the mercenaries felt a twinge of shame, realizing that they were inferior to their leader Kiko, who was capable of distinguishing kindness from malice without hesitation.
It was impossible to say who initiated the action, but all the mercenaries knelt on the spot, and with multiple voices roaring through the quiet surroundings, they said,
"Thank you for saving us!"
Orion saw that the mercenaries had calmed down somewhat and were no longer acting as frightened as when he had first taken them out of the Pocket Dimension, and he nodded in relief, thinking that this spared him many problems.
Looking at Kiko, the mercenary leader who was still crying with snot running down his face as he clung to Orion's neck in a friendly embrace, Orion thought that perhaps the man did possess certain qualities for leadership after all.
In any case, Orion accepted the mercenaries' thanks and explained the current situation clearly. They were in the New World now, deeper than before—farther from the West Blue than they had been—although he planned to return by crossing the Calm Belt once again.
Immediately, the mercenaries shouted loudly that they would follow him to the ends of the world, and they began working to control the large ship according to Orion's instructions.
Now that they were in such dangerous waters, their only option was to cling to Orion and hope he could bring them back home. Both Orion and the mercenaries knew this, although neither side stated it explicitly.
Orion had no intention of abandoning these mercenaries, since some of them had shared multiple missions and meals with him during his time working as a mercenary in Green Kamakiri.
His plan was simply to take them back to the West Blue with him, and once there, they could decide what to do. Orion was planning to form a new mercenary company, so if they wanted to work for him, he could invite them to Pacific Kingdom when the time came. For now, however, he was focused solely on meeting with Broyé and heading back to the West Blue.
Besides, Orion also wanted to go see Whitey Bay if the opportunity arose, although that would only happen if the pirate was still in the same area where he had fought Doflamingo before.
The mercenaries controlled the ship with great skill, while Orion guided the route using the system's map. He also checked the progress of the absorption of the Ope Ope no Mi, discovering that it was only at ten percent.
This was probably the longest a source of power had ever taken to be assimilated, and Orion didn't know whether that was good or bad, but considering the somewhat exaggerated abilities of this Devil Fruit, he leaned toward the first option.
All he could do was wait to see what kind of benefits he would obtain this time, although he would undoubtedly gain a new ability that would allow him to treat Toki's medical condition. After all, the system had informed him that he needed the Ope Ope no Mi to bring her out of her current vegetative state.
The beautiful woman he had rescued in Wano—who had the necessary compatibility to be registered as Main Wife in the system's "companions" screen—had been unconscious for three years, and throughout all that time she had not required any care from Orion.
The body of the beautiful woman with striking green hair was in a "state outside of time" due to the excessive use of her powers, so technically it was as if she were outside the current timeline. Orion did not know the full details of the procedure to return her to normal, but he had instructions from the system, and once he obtained an ability thanks to the Ope Ope no Mi, he would be able to return to Pacific Kingdom and heal her.
Moreover, Orion knew that the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi were extremely useful for medicine in general, since they allowed him to operate on diseases he could not treat without highly advanced technology. He still had a mission related to Whitebeard's health that he wanted to attempt to solve with his new powers derived from this Devil Fruit.
Finally, he also wanted to try doing something about Dragon's wife's situation, as she was affected by a strange illness that covered her body with scales resembling sapphires.
The importance of the Ope Ope no Mi to Orion was truly monumental, and that was why he had been so concerned about obtaining it over the last few years. Now that he had finally managed to acquire it, only the final step remained before he could begin addressing all those previous problems.
…
June 10, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
Five days after Orion began sailing together with the mercenaries through the waters of the New World, he finally reached the location where Charlotte Broyé was.
Without wasting too much time or making any complex plans, he instructed the mercenaries to enter the Pocket Dimension and stored the ship they had been using in his inventory.
Even though they had been sailing without trouble during the last few days, Orion had not lowered his guard, always remembering that they were in the dangerous New World. He had no intention of leaving the mercenaries alone in this place while he met with Broyé, since that could result in their complete annihilation.
But it was also problematic to take them with him as he sailed toward the pirate. If she believed for some reason that it was the attack of an enemy crew, the mercenaries would probably not survive the assault of one of the strongest crews in the world, even if it was only the weakest subordinates within Big Mom's crew.
For that reason, Orion simply told them to enter the Pocket Dimension, and once he finished his audience with Broyé, they could emerge again to continue their journey home. Obviously, the mercenaries would not dare to defy Orion's orders, so they obeyed and entered the alternate dimension.
In any case, the Pocket Dimension had everything necessary for them to live comfortably, although they would probably suffer from vitamin D deficiency if they spent too much time there.
Using Geppo, Orion openly approached the large ship where Broyé was. He was not coming with hostile intentions, and considering the pirate's personality, there probably wouldn't be any problems.
At the same time, Broyé was on the deck of her ship, seriously training with her sword. She was returning home after a trip to collect tributes in her husband's land, and she was somewhat irritated from having had to deal with the diplomacy of the entire matter over the previous days.
Fortunately, all of that was behind her now, and she was on her way back to the island she governed within her mother's territory, Meringue Island. Once there, she could once again focus on her training and on creating new delicious dishes.
She was a serious woman with a rather high position within her family. Moreover, due to her calm personality, she maintained a good relationship with most of her siblings, which further reinforced her status. The only blemish in her life was the arranged marriage her mother had prepared for her, which had bound her to a cowardly man who could not even look her in the eye.
Even so, she knew that this marriage was nothing more than a formality, as shown by the fact that she had never once shared the marital bed with her husband.
Suddenly, Broyé opened her eyes, losing concentration on her sword movements, and looked toward the horizon, where a tiny figure was rapidly approaching.
With a hint of curiosity, she raised her eyebrows, revealing a beautiful smile. In these waters so close to her mother's territory, anyone approaching her so openly could only mean one of two things: either the other person was an ally, or a fool.
And considering the fact that she had received no notice whatsoever of any sudden visit, she could only conclude that it was someone looking for trouble who didn't know how to die properly.
"Heh, maybe there's something interesting to do here after all," Broyé said as she sheathed her sword and walked toward the edge of the ship's deck.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a certain kingdom had been attacked by pirates, and after overwhelming it with sheer force, the pirates had won in direct combat, taking five hundred soldiers from the realm as hostages.
Even so, the pirates knew that attacking the fortified walls of the great castle that stood as the kingdom's final line of defense would be a bad deal for them, because they would lose many men in the process, even if they would likely emerge victorious in the end.
These pirates were ambitious, and they had been planning this attack for some time. The kingdom they had chosen as their target was small and weak, and even though it was affiliated with the World Government, they were pirates, and they cared nothing about whatever official status the kingdom might have.
Their intention was simple: they wanted to conquer the kingdom and become its new nobles. The captain of the crew would become king, while the other important members would receive all sorts of titles and lands.
That way, they could finally end their lives wandering the seas like dogs, and settle down as the lords of this kingdom!
Just imagining the benefits they would gain sent a tingling sensation through their bodies. After all, when a pirate committed a crime, he was a filthy, despicable criminal, but when a noble committed a crime, it was his divine right!
They could continue their usual activities as pirates while enjoying the power of nobility! They had even begun scouting the territories to plan the division of land, and had started kidnapping women to keep as their personal slaves, mercilessly killing their husbands.
This kingdom had lived in terror under these pirates for nearly a month, and the conflict had reached a critical point. The pirates were using the hostages to demand that the royal family surrender the kingdom to them, installing their captain as the new king.
While the royal family found themselves in a dire predicament and were showing signs of capitulating to the pirates' demands, a Cipher Pol agent arrived, sent by the World Government to resolve the situation.
If Orion had been present, he would have been shocked to see that the teenage boy the World Government had dispatched was none other than the psychopath Rob Lucci, the very person he had encountered during his time on Guanhao.
Rob Lucci had completed his elite agent training at a new facility after Orion had caused massive damage to Guanhao Island during his escape. He was considered the most talented agent in the organization's history and had already begun working on all kinds of missions for the World Government.
His Rokushiki level was much more advanced than Orion's current level, although that was partly because Orion had far too many abilities to train—Swordsmanship being his main combat skill—unlike Rob Lucci, who could focus entirely on his bodily techniques.
Even so, the current Rob Lucci was not the same as the one in the original timeline, though Orion would never be able to know that, lacking any reference for comparison. After encountering Orion, Rob Lucci had begun training far harder than before, with an excessive passion that bordered on obsession.
He could not tolerate someone his age being stronger than him despite starting from the same foundations, and for that reason he had pushed his body to its absolute limit, reaching incredible levels of power for his age. He had even developed both Observation and Armament Haki, and his control over his Devil Fruit abilities was more refined than in his original-timeline self at this point in the story.
Orion's actions could affect the world very deeply, but there also existed a correcting force that seemed to push the world's fate back toward a state as close as possible to the original timeline.
Whether the changes in Rob Lucci were due to Orion's direct influence or the world's corrective effect was difficult to determine, but the result was the same: Rob Lucci was developing far more power than his original self, and he saw Orion as an enemy.
On this occasion, Rob Lucci had been sent to resolve the situation in this kingdom, and true to his bloodthirsty and extremist nature, he had ended up killing not only the pirates but also the hostage soldiers, who by allowing themselves to be captured had aided the criminals.
The mentality of the young elite agent was extremely dangerous, and together with his monstrous and ever-growing combat power, he would become someone capable of causing major global upheaval in the future.
This time, Rob Lucci had not taken long to arrive and resolve the situation before immediately embarking on another important mission. He enjoyed missions of this sort, which allowed him to kill people to his heart's content, and he felt no exhaustion from working continuously, mission after mission.
After Rob Lucci carried out a large massacre in this small kingdom, he departed without looking back, escorted by several agents who served as his logistical assistants.
Meanwhile, from atop the castle walls, Stussy watched the young psychopath, thinking that it would be best to get rid of such a man as soon as possible, although she could not do so without drawing unwanted attention.
She had been sent as part of CP0 to monitor this new star agent of Cipher Pol and prepare a detailed report of his actions for her superiors.
However, considering the depraved nature of the people in charge, they were probably very pleased with the actions of the little psychopath Rob Lucci.
Sighing, Stussy thought she needed a vacation soon, then pulled a small Vivre Card from her cleavage. It was the Vivre Card of her troublesome little sister, Gloriosa, whom she hadn't seen in a few years, ever since helping her reach Amazon Lily to avoid being captured by the World Government.
"Maybe I could take some time off after the next mission to go see her…" Stussy murmured as she gazed at the horizon.