After wrapping up with Morgans, Aus didn't give the matter another thought.
In his mind, defiance was straight-up impossible—not if those so-called "underground world kings" wanted to keep breathing.
With Morgans under his thumb, worldwide intel, unlimited teleportation, and Conqueror's Haki coating, he'd become a walking delete button.
...
All good things had to end.
Old Kik knew that better than anyone.
At Duramos Island's harbor, a massive red ship sat docked at the pier.
Old Kik stared up at the vessel and shook his head in disgust.
Roger's shit was cursed!
At the port's edge, Aus in his dark red suit with that black coat draped over his shoulders had just finished his call.
Supply crates were getting hauled onto the ship. Old Kik supervised personally when a shadow suddenly swallowed the area around him.
"Time to go again?"
Old Kik didn't turn around. Just clasped his hands behind his back, face hidden in shadow, voice rough.
"Yeah, pretty tight schedule. Need to get there by noon at the latest." Aus nodded.
Mihawk said nothing, already aboard the Oro Jackson checking inventory.
"Then... when you're not swamped, come back and visit. You're this country's prince—all this will be yours someday!"
Hearing that, Aus couldn't help laughing.
The whole setup was just for the old man's retirement anyway. He couldn't care less about some tiny kingdom.
Hell, even guys like Crocodile and Doflamingo went after major powers like Alabasta and Dressrosa.
Him targeting some backwater island nation?
"Ah... then you better keep an eye on things, old timer. Don't go croaking on me."
Maybe catching Aus's real meaning, Old Kik suddenly grinned wide:
"Course not! I'm waiting for you to come back and take care of me in my golden years!"
"Good... well, I'm out."
Aus crouched down and pulled Old Kik into a hug.
The old bastard immediately started bitching, calling him sentimental and telling him to get lost before he ruined his mood.
"What's with the hugging? Get going already. You're a damn sea emperor acting like some kid. Your crew's gonna laugh their asses off..."
Watching Aus's back as he boarded, Old Kik went quiet.
The ship pulled out slowly, heading for open water.
That serious expression held until the Oro Jackson nearly vanished from sight. Then it finally started cracking. He whispered:
"Come back and visit more, Aus..."
The moment those words left his mouth, a shout echoed from the distant horizon:
"Count on it! Stay strong, old man!"
...
"Hahahahahaha..."
Through his Observation Haki, watching Old Kik curse "damn brat" while looking embarrassed, Aus laughed his ass off.
Seeing Aus so happy, Mihawk sipped his wine and reminded him:
"If you want to catch them, better get there before noon. No telling when they'll bail."
"Yeah, yeah... I know. Moving out now."
Aus snapped his fingers. An Eternal Pose materialized in his palm.
The people he was about to meet were two characters who only got major screen time in the endgame. Aus was pretty hyped.
One was Garp's son, Luffy's dad, future Revolutionary Army leader who'd crossed paths with Aus once in Loguetown—Monkey D. Dragon.
The other was the scientist centuries ahead of world technology, the suspected One Piece Einstein and true Brain-Brain Fruit user—Vegapunk.
Dragon didn't really interest Aus much—just another idealistic kid wanting to overthrow tyranny. History was full of those types.
But they usually couldn't break the cycle. This world still ran on strength.
In Aus's view, as long as monopolistic powerhouses existed, true equality was impossible.
Even if some region briefly achieved it, it wouldn't last.
But if the guy wanted to chase his dreams, that wasn't Aus's problem. He couldn't be bothered to care.
Dragon's subordinate, though—now that was interesting.
Or rather, a key player in his entertainment plans:
Emporio Ivankov, the Okama King!
Even if Aus couldn't recruit this freak directly, he absolutely had to control those abilities.
Not just for performing "surgery" on pirates and people who pissed him off, or providing endless workers for the red-light districts while cutting labor costs.
More importantly,
he couldn't let his underworld queen Crocodile turn into some rough bastard "Crocoboy" because of Ivankov.
As for Vegapunk, Aus just wanted to see those high-tech toys.
Maybe get his gun upgraded while he was at it.
Thinking about all the fun ahead, Aus couldn't help squinting with that gentle smile.
His gaze drifted toward Mihawk practicing nearby...
Nah.
Never mind.
Hawk-Eyes would definitely chase him to the ends of the earth with a sword—that proud bastard.
If he became some delicate, sexy woman and missed out on being the world's greatest swordsman,
even if Aus was his closest partner, there'd be no forgiveness. Ivankov would definitely get diced into confetti.
"What are you staring at?"
Maybe sensing Aus's gaze, Mihawk's sharp swordsman instincts kicked in. Those cold eyes locked onto Aus.
Something felt wrong.
"Nothing. Just thinking we might have a new crewmate soon."
"Is that right."
Only then did Mihawk turn back to his sword, continuing to slice sword energy across the ocean. Fish corpses split perfectly in half bobbed on the surface.
He didn't care what kind of person Aus dragged aboard, as long as they didn't mess with his training.
Besides,
whoever it was couldn't escape being part of Aus's twisted games.
So far, everything Aus set his mind to had worked out perfectly.
As for his methods...
that new crew member better pray for luck.
"Alright then... full speed to West Blue! We'll be back in the New World soon enough!"
Like a ghost ship in broad daylight, the Oro Jackson cut through the seas, using Conqueror's Haki to cross the Calm Belt,
heading straight for Ohara.
Just an hour or two later,
in the waters outside Ohara,
a shadowy speck appeared like a phantom on the horizon.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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