Truthfully, even if Law had not brought it up, August had already been considering whether they should find a faction to join for the time being.
The two of them were simply too weak right now. They had almost no ability to protect themselves. Just a few beggars had nearly driven them into a dead end.
And if anyone ever found out they were survivors who had escaped from White Town, Flevance, then they truly would have no path left to live.
So if there really were some force willing to shelter them, that would actually be a good thing.
August might have a cheat, but if he wanted to make real use of it, then he would unquestionably need a huge amount of resources.
This time, he had been lucky. He had taken advantage of the chaos caused by the two pirate crews and pulled off a massive zero-cost haul, finally managing to get a four-star review for once.
But what about next time?
Who could guarantee he would have that kind of luck and coincidence every single time?
So he needed a backer too. A force strong enough to keep him safe and help him accumulate resources and strength during the early stages.
To be honest, the first "backer" that came to August's mind was actually the Marines.
Safest option, huge room for promotion, and incredibly abundant resources.
If the destruction of Flevance had not been inseparably tied to the World Government, then right now he might already have been dragging Law off to join the Marines.
But sadly, there was no such if.
What had happened could not be changed.
After everything they had gone through, it was not just Law who had begun to hate the Marines. Even August had lost all goodwill toward those two words, and had started questioning what kind of justice those people were even talking about.
If the Marines were out, then the remaining choices were not many, especially here in the North Blue.
Almost immediately, August crossed Germa 66 off the list.
And the reason was not because they were hard to find, nor because Law already had a bad impression of them.
Objectively speaking, Germa 66 was no small force. They had once ruled the North Blue, and a lot of the advanced technology in their hands was ridiculously impressive.
But the problem was that Vinsmoke Judge had something seriously wrong with his head, and he was an out-and-out tyrant.
Vanity, arrogance, cruelty, hypocrisy, and selfishness were all labels stuck firmly to that man.
More importantly, the Vinsmoke Family would never accept outsiders into their core unless it was through marriage.
So even if August and Law somehow found the elusive Germa 66, they would probably just end up as disposable modified soldiers. There was no way they would be valued.
The Donquixote Family, on the other hand, had developed extremely fast right up until the day the Straw Hats stormed their home turf.
During that stretch of time, August felt he could not only grow steadily under Doflamingo's protection, but also climb higher, work his way toward becoming an officer, and use the Donquixote Family's resources to complete the system's [Wish Orders] and strengthen himself.
If everything went smoothly, then maybe even replacing Doflamingo outright would not be completely impossible.
The moment that thought surfaced, the deeply buried ambition inside August immediately began stirring wildly.
The more he compared the options, the more obvious it became that approaching the Donquixote Family really was the best choice for his current situation.
Seeing August stay silent for so long, with his expression changing again and again, Law thought he was struggling with the decision, so he spoke first.
"This is the path I chose for myself. You don't have to come with me."
August let out a snort. "Give me a break. Without me, you'd already be dead. Before you pay back the two lives you owe me, even if you want to kill yourself, you still have to ask whether I agree."
"Uh... your meaning is...?"
"I just hope the Donquixote Family doesn't set the bar too high when recruiting people. And if they cover food and lodging too, even better."
Only then did Law finally understand what August meant, and he was immediately touched. He thought August had made this decision entirely because of him.
He had no idea that during that whole stretch of thinking, August had already been prepared to split up with him if the answer came out differently.
"August, you..."
"Enough. Go to sleep already. Tomorrow we still have to figure out how to get onto a ship. We can't stay in this place anymore."
August cut him off impatiently. He did not want Law to misunderstand, and he definitely did not want to hear some sappy speech of gratitude.
Because that answer really had been the result of serious consideration.
After some unknown amount of time, the night grew deep.
August suddenly opened his eyes and took a box of playing cards out from inside his clothes.
He had gone out of his way to find them on the way back.
Fortunately, a lot of taverns had the habit of gambling with cards, so they had not been hard to come by.
He casually pulled out the Ace of Hearts, held it in front of his eyes, and used the only skill he currently possessed without hesitation.
Magic Card Modification!
At once, a steady stream of mental energy poured into the card.
A few seconds later, a soft white light flashed, and the playing card changed completely.
First, the heart symbol on the front vanished entirely, turning the card into a blank one.
Second, the pattern on the back changed into a silhouette.
No matter how he looked at it, August felt that silhouette was probably himself...
Well, that part did not matter.
What mattered was that after using the skill, the card had gained a new name.
[Magic Card: Blank]
One-time consumable item
Description: A specially modified card that contains sealing power.
Effect: When the user activates an active skill, the effect of that skill can be sealed into the magic card. (Current sealable skill level: LV1)
Note: Skills above this card's level, as well as certain special skills, cannot be sealed.
....
Turning the new card over in his hand, August immediately fell into thought.
"This thing feels a lot like the magical scrolls in western fantasy novels. Like, tear it open and it fires a Fireball or something. It should be that sort of idea."
August felt his comprehension skills were pretty decent. It had to be something along those lines.
Once he learned more skills in the future, he could turn them into magic cards and let other people use them.
Or even...
Use them to complete Wish Orders!
August's eyes suddenly lit up. For example, if someone was in danger and unable to defeat an enemy, and a Wish Order got generated at just that moment, then he could completely trade over a magic card sealed with some kind of powerful skill and help that person out of the crisis.
That way, the cost would be nearly zero, while the rewards would keep pouring in!
But there was one major prerequisite.
He had to first master some extremely useful and powerful skills himself.
August glanced at his pitiful skill bar, stuffed the card back into his clothes, and rolled over.
Damn it, time to sleep.
At least in dreams, you could have everything.
That night, August dreamed that he had learned ninety-nine god-tier skills, then beat Kaido with his fists, kicked Big Mom around, and descended like a war god to grind that so-called Imu into the dirt.
And after he wiped out all the Celestial Dragons, Robin, Nami, Hancock, and a whole group of beauties all came running over, begging to have his babies.
Faced with a request like that, of course he agreed without hesitation!
And then...
Then Law shook him awake.
There was no helping it. If the dream had gone any further, the censor gods probably would have shown up to punish him.
(End of Chapter)
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