103 Chapter 102: Island of Zou

Soren then started leading Haku back towards his boat that was waiting along the shoreline, the whole time Haku was following Soren he felt a tinge of fear towards Soren. After Soren thought of what to say to Haku he then turned towards him and spoke.

[Haku… I'm sorry I killed your parents… I had no clue that they were your parents nor that you all could think and talk like humans… I hope that you can forgive me]: soren

Soren had apologized to Haku for killing his parents, but what Soren didn't expect was what Haku's next words were.

[Don't worry about them… I had never saw my parents as how Humans see their parents… As you seen earlier, my mother left me just to save herself… And my parents couldn't form the human language like I can, I was one of the Enlightened Beasts]: haku

Soren heard Haku's words and felt less guilty about what happened but still felt a bit guilty for tearing a child away from its parents. When Soren heard the part about Enlightened Beasts from Haku he got curious and asked.

[These "Enlightened Beasts"... Are they rare? Do they only appear in your race?]: soren

[Enlightened Beasts are any race of beast that has formed enough intellect and self awareness towards the laws of this world… I was lucky enough to break the threshold that blocked me and my family from reaching the Enlightenment stage]: haku

Soren took in the words said by Haku and pondered about them only to come up with nothing to show, Soren then thought to ask Sakura about it when she finishes updating. Soren then came out of his thoughts and began to take off his blindfold that has been tied around his head since he began his training to raise his self conscious awareness, when Soren saw Haku's appearance he felt that he was just a cute oversized Black dog, Soren then spoke which spooked Haku but not as much as before Soren apologized for his actions.

[Haku… Would you like to join me in my adventures? I could use a guard dog like you hehe]: soren

When Haku heard Soren call him a guard dog he felt a bit angry that all he amounted to was just a mut in Soren's eyes, but Haku would never dare to reveal these thoughts. Haku sat for a moment so he could decide on either to take Soren up on his offer or decline and live alone for the rest of his life. Haku would never admit it but due to him being an Enlightened Beast he felt just a tad bit connected to his parents, he did feel a little pain when they died but it quickly went away, Haku didn't want to start living alone now that his parents are gone. After Haku though over every aspect of Soren's offer Haku decided to take the offer, even if it meant becoming Soren's slave or if Soren decided to kill him later just for some food, Haku then spoke up.

[I will accept your offer and join you on your journey, it beats staying on this boring island reigning at the top of the food chain… So where will we be going next Master?]: haku

When Soren heard Haku call him master he felt uneasy so he spoke up to correct Haku.

[There's no need to call me Master, I haven't enslaved you… Just call me Soren]: soren

When Haku heard Soren's words he felt relieved, Halu then started to smile, he then closed his eyes and aimed his head towards the ground and started to shake. Soon Haku's whole body started to glow with a blinding light, and after the light disappeared the giant Haku that was a towering 4 meters was now only a little puppy at 32cm. When Soren say this he started to question Haku.

[How are you able to transform into a cute little puppy?]: soren

[Enlightened Beasts can shapeshift into anything they want and the smaller they go from their original size their power will condense and become stronger]: haku

Soren was taken by this power and thought on how powerful he could become if he had the same power, this was yet another thing he would have to look into when Sakura comes back. Soren didn't waste anymore time and brought Haku on board his ship and started getting ready to sail to the next island. Misha then came out of her room and saw Haku next to Soren and couldn't help but rush up to Haku and take him into her arms hugging and squashing him between her 2 melons.

[Oh what a cute dog!... Husband! How did you know Misha wanted one?]: misha

Soren turned to see Haku in Misha's arms with a tinge of red forming on his cheeks, he then thought to himself.

'Can he even show a blush? Due to the fur and it's color being Black, how can Haku even show a blush?... No, must be Anime Logic at work here': soren

Soren quickly snapped out of his thoughts and spoke to Misha about Haku and about everything that happened, after about 2 hours of storytelling Misha understood everything that happened and then welcomed Haku aboard. Soren then started sailing aimlessly throughout The New World stopping at some island to restock on food and water supplies, Soren then thought it was time to start heading back towards the first half of the Grand Line or also known as Paradise. After a day of leisurely sailing Soren could see far into the distance a giant Elephant walking through the ocean, Soren quickly started heading towards it knowing full well what it was.

[Looks like I can stop at Zou next… Maybe I can push my Observation Haki to the next stage, I have been stuck at a bottleneck for a while… If I can break through then I will be able to see 3 seconds into the future]: soren

Soren then start to sail as close as he could to the giant Elephant. It took him about an hour and a half before he got a good distance to the Elephant, Soren then started rising from the boat before using his hand to cover the boat in Armament Haki which reached the next level where it became completely Black with no glow or shine to it, the boat turned completely Black shocking both Misha and Haku but when they found out it was just Soren their worries went away. Soren then started to lift the boat out of the ocean and fly up towards the top of the Elephant where the Island of Zou was located, once he reached the top he started to fly towards the Island landing in a forest clearing, Soren then put the boat down and went back on board to tell Misha that he would be gone for a bit. Soren then left the boat leaving Haku with Misha for protection while he went to go make friends with the Islanders, after walking for 10 minutes Soren got out of the dense forest and came to a clearing where some houses were built, he then started walking further towards the town that was right ahead. Once Soren was spotted someone shouted which drew everyone's attention, soon Soren was surrounded by warriors, some with Swords, some with Spears and some with Guns. Soren didn't want to fight and make enemies so he just put his hands up in surrender, the warriors surrounding Soren then started to poke him to make him walk back to base so they can process and jail him.

[Guy's… There's no need to poke at me, I came here to talk with your leader and make friends]: soren

Soren tried smooth talking his way out of his situation but to no avail, the warriors don't know who this person who showed up was, all they knew was anyone who can come up here without invitation was definitely up to no good. Soon Soren was sitting in a chair with some stolen Marine handcuffs cuffed around his wrists, there was a Rabbit girl with a Yellowish Orange hair wearing an Orange one piece dress with a green cape sitting behind a desk going through wanted papers while occasionally looking up at him only to shake her head and go back to looking at wanted posters.

'So they got Carrot looking for my wanted poster… What luck, I wonder if I can sway her into a conversation': soren

Soren then broke the silence with a cough and started speaking.

[*Cough* Hello… My name's Soren. What's yours?]: soren

Carrot the looked up once more then looked down again while shuffling through the papers a 3rd time before grabbing one and shouted.

[Ah Ha! I found it… Lets see…]: carrot

Carrot then came before Soren with 2 wanted posters and showed them both to him while asking.

[Are these both you?]: carrot

Soren looked at the posters, one was Blue Reapers bounty which was raised from 100 million to 400 million berries, and the other one was a picture of his beautiful face with flowing blue hair, it had a bounty of 60 million. The crimes for his second one were stated at Running from the government and probable cause of terrorist attacks against the Marines under the name Blue Reaper. Soren looked at both wanted posters and spoke.

[Yes… Both are me… But they are completely wrong, I was attacked by the Marines and was just defending myself… I'm quite surprised actually… How has the Bounty on Blue Reaper gone up like that?]: soren