"Fifty-six of them?"
Good grief.
So he's not just someone who's killed fifty-six emperors of the sea, but fifty-six kings of different eras now?
To gather that many kings to kill, he'd probably have to start all the way back from the Joy Boy versus the Twenty Kings era.
The bandits didn't even have the guts to lay a finger on Orin — he looked far too terrifying for that.
So Orin simply stood there quietly.
Even Shanks hadn't gotten angry — if he wasn't making a move, why should Orin?
At the same time, he noticed something —
Luffy, off to the side, had already finished chomping down the Gum-Gun Fruit.
To be honest, his focus just now had been entirely on Higuma. He hadn't paid attention to Luffy for even a moment, and in that short gap, the kid had already eaten the fruit.
Truly terrifying… the power of world correction!
Watching the group of bandits leave, Luffy was just about to get angry and demand to know why Shanks hadn't fought back —
But Orin stood up first.
He ruffled Luffy's hair, then patted Shanks's shoulder, and simply walked away.
Luffy was left completely puzzled, but Shanks — whose Observation Haki and control over his body were both exceptional — suddenly felt something was… off.
It was as if… something was missing.
...
Riding on the back of the King of Seagulls, Orin watched Foosha Village grow smaller and smaller behind him.
As for Higuma, the Lord of the Coast, and all the other "kings" of that story — Orin wasn't really interested in how it all ended.
Shanks had his own pirate career ahead of him, his own destiny to shoulder.
And Orin… had work to do as well. Plenty of preparations still unfinished.
"Next… the Whitebeard Pirates."
He took out the Dark-Dark Fruit. Orin intended to make a trip to find that chubby black guy — one of the key figures of the future.
In Orin's eyes, people like Teach were a necessary evil.
Because it's precisely thanks to scheming, ambitious men like him that adventures across the sea don't turn into childish games.
Just like how the old era wouldn't have been nearly as thrilling without Rocks.
After all, he was the final boss of the [God Valley] event.
As Rocks's son, Orin didn't fear Teach betraying him in the slightest.
In fact, he hoped Teach would make the future a bit less boring — add some chaos and excitement to the coming world.
The closer one's strength gets to the ceiling, the less one worries about profit and gain.
Instead, Orin cared about whether things would stay interesting.
And Teach… well, he had all the makings of a "protagonist."
Roger and Garp had defeated Orin's father.
After decades of endurance, Teach had sent his enemy's son to the execution stand and caused the grandson of that same man to suffer terrible wounds — and the loss of his brother.
He even left Shanks with three scars across his face, symbolizing Blackbeard's defiance of the Celestial Dragons' fate.
If you asked Orin, that was the true spirit of the D clan.
And just for that kind of resolve and decades of patience, Orin couldn't help but feel like investing in him — giving him the Dark-Dark Fruit.
Just… not yet.
Orin intended to do as Shanks had done — give the right fruit to the right person at the right time.
After all, you could even say the Dark-Dark Fruit had its own will when it came to choosing its eater.
It had, after all, guided Teach to kill his crewmate and consume it.
...
Evening fell.
The Whitebeard Pirates' banquet had ended for the night, and the crewmates all returned to their rooms.
Teach grinned his big goofy grin and lumbered back to his quarters with his belly sticking out.
In the pitch-black darkness, he fumbled for a match and struck it, a flicker of flame lighting up —
And in that faint light, a figure appeared before him.
A handsome man who had used "Observation Kill."
The moment Teach saw the figure, his expression changed drastically. Cold sweat poured down his face as he tried to scream —
"[Black Gun]Orin?!!!"
Orin sat calmly in the chair, completely unconcerned that Teach's shout might be heard.
"Don't bother. Even if someone scans your room with Observation Haki, they won't see me."
As for sound — Orin had already isolated the area in a vacuum. Not a single noise could escape.
Hearing that, the sweat streamed down Teach's round face even faster. His mouth hung open, pupils trembling violently — his expression not unlike when he'd faced Rayleigh in the original story.
The match burned out. Orin snapped his fingers, and a new flame appeared, lighting the kerosene lamp.
The dim light cast shadows across their faces — Orin calm as ever, Teach utterly terrified.
As a schemer, Teach knew how to bend and survive. He was already thinking about how to beg for mercy.
But Orin leisurely reached into his coat and pulled something out —
Instantly, the black fatty's eyes went wide, glistening with greed.
"Th-this is…"
Orin smiled faintly, tossing the item lightly in his hand. Seeing Teach's fixated stare, he placed it on the table before him — just one step away.
He could reach out and grab it!
"I came to make a deal with you," Orin said calmly. "I wonder if you're interested?"
Teach pretended to listen, but his thoughts were elsewhere.
If he just grabbed the fruit now, took a bite, and ran to find Pops for help…
Maybe he could let the old man hold Orin off while he claimed the prize for himself?
If Orin had mastered a heart-reading Observation Haki, he'd have surely said —
That's such a Blackbeard way of thinking.
Teach was confident that even if he couldn't beat Orin, he could at least stall for a few seconds — enough time for Whitebeard to arrive.
After all, this was the man who'd scarred Shanks.
Teach might have kept a low profile, but his mastery of Haki was nothing to scoff at.
And so — he acted.
Just as Orin was about to say something more, Teach suddenly lunged, snatching the Dark-Dark Fruit from the table —
He raised his hand, about to stuff it into his mouth —
But just before his teeth could close —
The fruit vanished, reappearing in Orin's hand.
Teach bit at empty air, his teeth aching from the shock.
"You're not being honest, Teach."
Orin's expression was half-amused, half-cold.
Teach, seeing the fruit gone from his grasp and back in Orin's hand, panicked.
"N-no… it's not like that! Let me explain—"
But Orin wasn't interested in listening. He already knew the kind of man Teach was.
So he waved a hand dismissively and continued,
"Promise me one thing, and the Dark-Dark Fruit is yours. Deal?"
Those words reignited the fire of hope in Teach's heart.
He bared his teeth in a grin.
"Zehahahaha! A man like you — needing my help?!"
"No matter what… tell me the condition."
Orin's lips curled slightly, his calm tone freezing Teach in place.
"I want to know what secret your father, Rocks, left you... How can one possess multiple Devil Fruit abilities at the same time?!!"
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo