"YOU? Shakky? On Hachinosu Island???"
The hand holding the wine glass paused, a ripple spreading across the surface of the drink. Whether it was Rayleigh or Shakky—smoking with amused interest—both froze for a moment.
"Hey hey hey!!! You should be the same age as Shanks, Orin. When Shakky was on Hachinosu Island, you hadn't even been born yet!"
Rayleigh waved his hand, indicating that this was absolutely impossible.
"Well… that's indeed true."
Orin walked to the bar and sat down. Shakky rested her cheek on one hand while pouring him a fruit wine with the other. She took a drag of her cigarette.
"Ahh~ if someone as charming as little Orin had been on Hachinosu Island back then, maybe I would've ended up like all those former Kuja Empresses~"
"...It's not that exaggerated."
Orin took a small sip of his drink.
"I once relied on Vegapunk's device to briefly return to the past. I even stayed with the Rocks Pirates for a period of time."
A look of nostalgia flashed in his eyes. Back then, Rayleigh and Shakky still looked like a young man and a great beauty.
"Eh? Seriously? There's something that magical in this world?!?!"
Rayleigh was shocked. Shakky's eyes widened too, though she still managed to maintain her composure.
But it wasn't too hard for them to accept—after all, the wife of their old companion Kozuki Oden had possessed a similar ability to travel through time.
They both turned toward Orin, waiting for him to continue.
"Yes…"
Orin lowered his head, looking at the reflection of his calm and handsome face in the wine.
"I wanted to challenge the formidable old generation of the previous era to push my limits. The God Valley battle was an opportunity. When I was in my twenties, I stayed in that era for two years, and I even became a captain within the Rocks Pirates."
This completely captured their interest.
"So that means… little Orin even met the younger versions of us?"
"Of course. Not just you two—also the Rocks Pirates, the Roger Pirates, and the Marines."
Back then, Shakky was extraordinarily captivating—she was the dream of every woman-loving man on the sea. Her charm even surpassed that of Hancock now, even after eating the Love-Love Fruit.
At the very least, Hancock could not enthrall more than half of the true apex monsters on the sea purely with her natural charm.
And during his long life in the One Piece world, as a charm demon who attracted both men and women alike, Orin had summarized a consistent rule—
Or perhaps it could be called: the "Urban Legend Rule" of the One Piece world.
Which was:
Women of status and presence in this world will never fall for a man just because he gets heart-eyes upon seeing them. Instead, only by showing composure and strength would they truly fall in love.
That's why the Empress would never love men who were petrified—only someone immune to her petrification.
Shakky would never love those who ogled her with heart-eyes, even if that man was Rocks, Roger, or Whitebeard.
Instead, the calm young Rayleigh of that era eventually won Shakky's heart.
And Orin belonged to that calm and powerful category.
He wasn't uninterested in women, but he would never show heart-eyes just because he saw a beauty. He always maintained an unshakable cool handsomeness.
Thus, wherever he went, he was always the most charming demon.
"Then did the young me fall in love with you, little Orin?"
Shakky couldn't help smiling teasingly.
"Not exactly love, but we did have a pretty good relationship back then. It was Groliosa…"
Thinking of that former former former Kuja Empress who clung to him nonstop within the Rocks Pirates, Orin couldn't help having a headache.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Rayleigh and Shakky burst into laughter at that. The three clinked their glasses.
"As expected of you, Orin… Regardless of the era, you're always someone who can't be ignored."
Rayleigh raised his glass, eyes filled with nostalgia for that time—an era full of terrifying monsters. Even Orin must have…
"So? You must have fought the strong ones of that era, right?"
Orin had already said he went back to challenge powerful foes to break his limits.
Of course he would've fought those monsters.
"Yep. Back then, I fought Captain Roger, Garp, Garling, and Rocks all at once. The pressure was pretty huge~"
"???"
Rayleigh and Shakky, who were listening with interest a moment ago, suddenly felt their minds go blank.
"Nani?"
"It's just a pity that I suffered severe injuries in the end and only managed to kill Rocks by going all out."
"???"
"Wait…"
Rayleigh was stuttering.
"You're saying that when you were in your twenties, you fought those four alone, and then killed Rocks?"
"Yep."
The two fell silent. Only after Orin gave a detailed explanation did they gradually calm down.
"In terms of pure Haki and swordsmanship, the twenty-something you was actually similar to the young Roger and Whitebeard of that era. You only won because of the Warp-Warp Fruit."
"Well, of course~"
Orin downed his drink.
"Those guys were all terrifying monsters~ How could I possibly fight them head-on?"
After chatting for a while, Orin stood up to leave.
After all, he hadn't returned to his main base for a long time.
...
While Orin returned to the red-light district to enjoy earthly pleasures…
Luffy's crew had successfully left Skypiea. After defeating Foxy's group, they arrived on a small island.
Not far from them, the Blackbeard Pirates were preparing to pursue.
"Zehahahaha… What great luck! We actually ran into Straw Hat Luffy this quickly.
Hades, I didn't know you had a talent for navigation!!!"
No response.
"Captain, Vice Captain Hades is spacing out again."
Teach turned around. Hades was lying on his chair, once again drifting into a daze, an inexplicable look of pleasure on his face—
As if he were getting a massage.
"Zehahahaha… Leave him be. Most of the time, Hades is reliable."
With Hades's "divine intuition," the Blackbeard Pirates quickly found the Straw Hats' trail.
Powered by telekinesis, they soon reached the island where the Going Merry was docked.
Just as they confidently prepared to disembark and cause trouble—
A piercing cold wind swept across them.
In an instant, everyone in Blackbeard's crew shuddered violently. They turned around in disbelief. Cold sweat poured down Teach's face as his pupils trembled.
"Th-This… this is…"
"Marine Admiral… Aokiji!!??"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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