One month after the Battle of Edd War ended,
The Roger Pirates enjoyed one of their rare peaceful stretches, except for...
"Bang—"
"That bastard Barrett, still going at it like a maniac."
Knowing he couldn't win yet still fighting to the death—this was pure stubborn stupidity.
Aus felt these words perfectly described the current Barrett.
What made this guy think Roger was someone a punk barely twenty could beat? Especially charging in without even mastering Conqueror's Haki coating, getting one-shotted every damn time.
After watching long enough, everyone on ship got used to it.
Everyone figured this circus would go on forever, until one island landing by the Roger Pirates.
After Barrett got launched with another slash, his expression looked different—like he'd made some big decision.
Only Aus caught it.
"Leaving, Barrett?"
Aus chomped on a ham leg, leaning against the doorframe, watching Barrett pack his stuff.
Not much to pack really—few clothes, some headphones, and treasures.
"Yeah..."
Barrett turned around, facing Aus whose strength he respected. "Roger's dying. I've got zero hope of beating him in this lifetime. Time to bounce."
"What's the plan now?"
Though Aus asked, he already knew Barrett's choice.
As the final boss of Stampede, Barrett's strength was unquestionable—total hexagonal warrior.
The man who tanked multiple Marine Buster Calls, called "Devil's Heir."
Fourth Gear Luffy looked pathetic against him, swatting Supernovas like toys.
What impressed Aus most was that Armament Haki covering half an island—absolutely massive amounts.
Just took the wrong path later, obsessing over super-giant fusion robots, walking the dead end of bigger-not-stronger, becoming a pure punching bag for groups.
If he'd researched Conqueror's coating instead of massive Armament and giants, he'd easily be Four Emperor level.
"Plans? Don't know yet. Getting stronger first, I guess."
"And after getting stronger?"
"Challenge the next world's strongest."
Barrett spoke with conviction, eyes flicking to Aus, which made Aus freeze.
"Will you become someone who surpasses Roger? Doctor Aus."
"Uh... you're not thinking..."
Aus raised an eyebrow, bad feeling growing, kinda regretting coming to see Barrett off.
"I can see your spirit and talent—second to none. Once you hit the world stage, maybe we can throw down again."
"Huh? I don't want to carry Captain Roger's burden... go find Shanks instead."
Barrett didn't answer, but Aus could see in his eyes this guy hadn't changed his mind one bit.
But seriously,
Once Captain Roger's gone, you're coming after me? What kind of logic is that?
Though Aus felt he might join the world's strongest tier eventually, didn't mean he liked hunting for trouble.
Having known Barrett a while, killing him over challenges seemed excessive.
But even winning meant getting stalked, like Barrett clinging to Roger's ship—small challenges every three days, big ones every five. Annoying as hell.
After brief chat, Barrett actively left once they docked. Surprisingly, nobody tried stopping him.
Including Captain Roger, who just watched him go.
Aus was no different. Barrett was never really one of them anyway.
He didn't acknowledge crewmates, only believed in absolute personal strength. This clashed with everyone's beliefs on ship. Splitting up was inevitable.
Besides, even if Barrett stayed, they'd disband in two years.
Rayleigh stood by the ship's rail too, watching Barrett's figure fade in the sunset. Before he could build any parting sentiment, Aus interrupted.
"Vice-Captain, when you teaching me Conqueror's coating?"
"You little shit..."
Hearing this, Rayleigh lost all mood, looking at Aus with a headache, kinda regretting his casual joking promise.
"That power has no technique, Aus. Your Conqueror's needs sufficient strength first."
"Huh? How do I get sufficient strength?"
"As your power grows, your spirit improves too. Still too early now.
Childhood Conqueror's awakening geniuses existed before, but you seen any master coating at young age?"
Ah damn...
Aus was speechless. Thinking about it, that really seemed true.
Whether Doflamingo, Ace, Yamato, or Katakuri.
Some awakened even earlier than Aus, but none could master Conqueror's coating even in middle age.
Or rather, New World had tons of Conqueror's users, but coating masters were just those few legendary names.
Maybe this power really demanded serious talent.
Aus stayed quiet for ages, finally ditching his fantasy of mastering Conqueror's coating at twelve.
But Rayleigh wasn't totally bullshitting him—he explained how to wrap Conqueror's around body or weapons like Armament once his qualifications were ready.
Basically: I told you the technique, whether you can use it is your problem.
Bonus—it included Divine Departure techniques too. The synergy between Conqueror's coating and great swordsman skills, super valuable for Aus to learn.
Buggy and Shanks witnessed this scene from nearby.
Seeing Aus discuss stuff with the vice-captain they couldn't touch yet, both had weirdly similar thoughts:
Could they really catch up to that guy Aus someday...
"You two, what you staring at?"
Aus spotted them and came over, wrapping arms around both necks with a grin.
"Nothing... Captain Roger said hurry with supplies. We're sailing to the next destination."
"Where?"
"Wano Country."
Wano Country... they'd sailed this far already without realizing?
Looked like they really weren't far from the "end."
"I don't have much time left, Aus."
Behind the three kids, Captain Roger walked over smiling, patting the apprentices' heads. His words had zero twilight gloom or dejection a dying man should carry.
"Let's hit the islands in New World's second half. Who knows what surprises we'll find?"
Aus was speechless.
Because Roger really did find places and people who could read Poneglyphs in his remaining time.
Everything was fate's guidance.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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