"Luffy, let's return" Nami said with her voice on edge.
The air grew heavy with palpable danger. Nolan's usual lazy demeanor had completely vanished—his pink eyes now sharp as daggers as he assessed Blackbeard's crew. He mentally calculated the risks, this wasn't the right time or place. The real prize would be the future Teach who wielded both the Yami Yami no Mi and Gura Gura no Mi. Now that would be a proper test for—
"Nami's right," Nolan interrupted his own thoughts, voice uncharacteristically clear. "Let's turn back." His fingers twitched slightly—even wielding Vasavi Shakti in its suppressed state would drain him completely right now. Two months, maybe less, until he could unleash its true name without collapsing.
Blackbeard's grin widened, gold-capped teeth glinting. "Zehahaha! You think we'll just let our golden ticket walk away?" Behind him, his crew shifted into combat stances. "The Marines don't hand out Shichibukai titles for free!"
The atmosphere grew heavier as Nolan sighed. "Nuh-uh... you have to."
CRACKLE
A sound like shattering glass split the air as golden light erupted beside Nolan. The very space seemed to fracture as Vasavi Shakti materialized—a spear of pure divine wrath humming with barely-contained annihilation. Its shaft gleamed with otherworldly metals, while the blade pulsed with energy that made the surrounding air distort.
The townspeople and even some of Blackbeard's crew stumbled back instinctively. Burgess dropped his cocky smirk, muscles tensing. Doc Q's camel reared up in panic. Van Auger's sniper scope fogged up from the sudden humidity change caused by the weapon's presence.
"Van Auger," Nolan drawled, casually spinning the spear with one hand while keeping his gun trained on the sniper. "You fucker... wanna try your luck?" The Third Eye's barrel glowed faintly, its lethal promise undeniable.
The sniper's finger hovered over his trigger, sweat dripping down his temple. He'd analyzed countless weapons, but this—this defied logic. A gun that erased matter? A spear that warped reality just by existing? His marksman instincts screamed that no dodge or armor could save him from these.
Teach's beady eyes darted between the spear and his unnerved crew. The math was clear—even if they won, the casualties wouldn't be worth it.
"Zehahaha...!" His laugh came out slightly strained this time. "No need to get testy, friend!" He spread his hands in mock surrender. "We'll catch up another time—when you're not packing celestial artillery, eh?"
With that, Blackbeard and his crew melted back into the shadows of Jaya's alleys—but not before Van Auger cast one last, longing look at The Third Eye. The weapon haunted him already.
As the tension dissipated, Nolan exhaled sharply, the spear vanishing as suddenly as it appeared. His knees nearly buckled from the brief exertion.
Luffy caught his arm. "You okay?"
"Hella tired," Nolan mumbled, already half-asleep against the captain's shoulder.
"Rooobin!" Luffy called out as the ever smiling archaeologist appeared and grabbed the dozing Nolan off.
"Let's go," Luffy declared, already sprinting toward Cricket's ramshackle hut before anyone could respond.
The reunion with the Saruyama Alliance was surprisingly cordial despite their earlier... disagreement over the eternal pose. After profuse apologies and promises of shared adventure, Cricket launched into his tale—part family legacy, part drunken rant—about the Knock Up Stream and Sky Island.
"This is interesting" Nolan mumbled, finally rousing from Robin's arms. His pink eyes narrowed at the crude drawings Cricket was scribbling in the dirt.
Yet as Cricket explained the Montblanc family's shame and dreams, even Nolan found himself reluctantly intrigued. The crew's excitement grew palpable—until the reality of modifying the Going Merry set in.
The Saruyama Alliance's "ship upgrades" turned out to be... underwhelming.
Luffy tilted his head at the makeshift wings now bolted to Merry's sides. "Looks like a turkey that ate too much," he observed.
"Turkey-ship! Turkey-ship!" Chopper chanted, bouncing around the deck.
Nolan, meanwhile, had claimed his new throne—the sheep figurehead. He draped himself over it like a lazy prince, patting the wooden head affectionately. "Good girl, Merry... take us to the sky, yeah?"
"HEY! THAT'S MY SPOT!" Luffy launched himself at Nolan, only to find the man somehow molded to the wood like glue. Their tussle ended with Luffy dangling upside-down from Nolan's leg while the latter continued petting the figurehead undisturbed.
As the Knock Up Stream's predicted time approached, Nolan suddenly stilled. That eerie, knowing smile spread across his face—the one that usually preceded either miracles or disasters.
Before anyone could react, he stood and—to the crew's collective horror—began stripping his upper clothes.
"Nolan what the FUCK—" Nami's shout went ignored as he tossed his shirt aside, revealing that unfairly sculpted torso that made even Zoro look away grumpily.
The townspeople froze as the blue-haired man casually strolled into their midst. Women fainted. Men wept. Children asked their parents if angels were real. Every step sent ripples through the crowd as people instinctively cleared a path.
When he reached the town square's center, the air itself seemed to hold its breath.
Then he spoke.
"Listen up, you sack of shit-stained sea monkeys." His voice carried like a cannon shot, every crude syllable dripping with divine authority. "Forget being pirates—you're all fucking terrible at it anyway. Turn this piss-stain island into something worthwhile. A place where kids don't gotta grow up scared of dickheads like Bellamy."
He paused to yawn, the casual gesture somehow making his words hit harder.
"Here's the rules, Anyone starts shit? Break their knees. They do it again? String 'em up by their balls until the seagulls pick 'em clean. Make this place so safe even marine pricks would send their grannies here on vacation."
A beat of stunned silence.
Then—
"FUCK YEAH!" A fishmonger smashed his stall in religious fervor.
"WE'LL BUILD A SCHOOL!" A former bandit sobbed.
"BURN THE PIRATE FLAGS!" A bartender roared, already torching his own establishment's Jolly Roger.
The revolution spread like wildfire—former cutthroats hugging, gamblers donating ill-gotten gains, even the local marine outpost joined in after their captain fainted from Nolan's proximity.
Back at the docks, the Straw Hats watched the chaos unfold.
Robin chuckled. "Well. That's one way to leave a mark."
Nolan, now mysteriously fully dressed again, shrugged. "Meh. Better than... whatever the fuck they were doing before."
As the Knock Up Stream's first tremors shook the island, no one noticed Blackbeard's crew watching from the shadows—Van Auger's sniper scope trained unblinkingly on Nolan's back.
Van Auger adjusted his rifle scope, watching the distant chaos in town through the lens. "Fascinating," he muttered. "A single speech turning pirates into civil reformers. That one's dangerous in ways I've never seen before."
Teach's booming laughter echoed across the beach as he waded into their makeshift raft. "Zehahaha! Makes you wonder what he could do with an actual army, eh?" He scratched his belly, eyes gleaming. "But we'll see them again soon enough. Speaking of which—Lafitte better have sweet-talked his way into that meeting by now."
Jesus Burgess cracked his knuckles, the wooden raft creaking under his weight. "Boss! You really think those crazy bastards will survive riding a geyser to the sky?" His eyes shone with perverse excitement. "I'd pay to see them splatter across the clouds!"
Doc Q's camel coughed wetly as the sickly man wheezed out a laugh. "Oho~ I'd give them 30% odds. Maybe 35% if that blue-haired devil works another miracle."
Teach's grin turned sharp as he hoisted himself onto the logs. "Nah, they'll make it. That Nolan... there's something about him." His voice dropped to a gravelly murmur. "Like he's playing a game the rest of us don't even know the rules to."
"Zehahahaha!! Enough chatter!" Teach suddenly roared, slapping the raft so hard seawater sprayed everyone. "Move your asses, you lazy shits! We've got a war to prepare!"
The ramshackle vessel lurched into motion, carried by some unseen current as if the sea itself wanted them gone.
---
Going Merry - Knock Up Stream
"AAAAAHHHH—WHY DID WE THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!" Usopp screamed, his face stretched comically by the g-forces as the ship rocketed skyward.
Nami clung to the mast for dear life, watching in horror as their makeshift "wings" splintered under the pressure. "ROBIN! NOLAN! STOP WHATEVER LOVEY-DOVEY SHIT YOU'RE DOING AND HELP!"
Across the deck, Robin had Nolan cradled against her like a particularly lazy trophy. "Hmm? But Navigator-san," she teased, fingers idly playing with his blue hair, "we're contributing. I'm preventing our heaviest hitter from being swept overboard."
Nolan blinked up at her sleepily. "Am I... heavy, Robin...?"
Robin's breath caught for half a second—those pink eyes were lethal at this proximity. "Not at all," she murmured, pulling him closer. "I could carry you forever, sloth-san."
"GODDAMMIT!" Nami's scream reached new octaves as a wing tore completely free. "I SWEAR TO—LUFFY! STOP LAUGHING AND GRAB THAT ROPE!"
The captain in question was having the time of his life, whooping as he stretched to secure debris. "THIS IS AWESOME! HEY NOLAN, YOU SHOULD—WHOA!" He narrowly avoided a flying barrel.
Nami finally snapped. With strength born of rage, she stomped across the bucking deck and yanked Nolan upright by his collar. "YOU! Hold this rope! And YOU—" She jabbed a finger at Robin. "—Reinforce the railing with your powers before we all die!"
The two offenders exchanged a look before complying—though Nolan made sure to "steady" Nami by wrapping an arm around her waist in the process.
"Wha—I didn't mean—ugh!" Nami's face burned crimson, torn between outrage and the warmth of his touch. "Just... ugh! Never mind!"
Robin watched with amusement as she sprouted arms to brace the hull. "My my, Navigator-san. If you wanted him to hold you, you need only ask."
"SHUT UP!"
Their bickering was suddenly cut short as the ship burst through the cloud layer into blinding whiteness. The violent shaking ceased as if they'd crossed some celestial threshold.
Usopp peeled himself off the deck, trembling. "We... we're alive?"
Before them stretched an impossible sea of clouds, glittering in eternal sunlight. Luffy's awed whisper said it all,
"Sky Island..."
Nolan, still draped half-over Nami, yawned. "Told you... we'd make it."
The resulting punch to his arm was totally worth it.
---
A/N: Sorry for the disappointment boys, the war would not start without Teach.