114 4 Months Time
Yasopp wasn't in the slightest bit surprised hearing that, he merely looked at the rookie before him and asked.
"So what does the king of the rookies want with me?"
Ori smiled and said.
"I need to speak to Shanks!"
Yasopp raised an eyebrow at the request of the young pirate.
"You want to speak to the Captain? You do realise who you're asking to speak to don't you?!
If this is just about becoming one of our affiliated crews you don't need to speak to the head honcho, I'm enough to sort that out."
Ori shook his head as he replied confidently.
"I have no interest in becoming an underling of anyone, especially as in the future we'll more than likely be rivals. I just wish to speak to Shanks about a private matter. And I'm pretty sure he'll want to speak to me too!"
Yasopp frowned hearing that. At first he thought that the Heavenly Demon was somewhat interesting, but now he's realised that Vice-Admiral Kurogane was right, he just overestimates his own worth.
It wasn't just him who thought that, but everyone present. Surprisingly other than his crew, the only person who didn't think Ori was just being arrogant was, Captain Smoker.
[He's not the type to act cocky for no reason and he's definitely not the type to seek asylum under the umbrella of another…
What could he wish to speak to Red Haired Shanks about?]
Yasopp was done entertaining the delusions of a rookie.
"You can leave now!"
Ori knew that he must've seemed somewhat arrogant, but he was impatient. He desperately needed some form of news regarding his family ASAP.
"Before I go, please just call Shanks and tell him that Orion wants to speak to him and he promises it'll be a 'Joyous' conversation!"
Hearing the way he emphasised the word "Joyous" and seeing the sincere look in his eyes made Yasopp believe that maybe there was some truth to his words.
"Wait here. If I find you're just wasting my time, don't blame me for the consequences."
As he said that, he took a small den-den mushi that somewhat resembled Shanks out of his pocket and walked away leaving earshot.
Hearing that Yasopp was going to try and get in contact with Shanks, Ori sighed in relief. Hopefully Shanks recognised him from his name and wanted poster but even if he didn't, between all that and the 'Joyous' clue, Shanks should be able to put 2 and 2 together.
Everyone else in the crowd was surprised by Yasopp's reaction.
"What do you think, does he really have a secret connection to Red Haired Shanks?"
"Of course not, he's probably just trying to show off and climb the ranks by becoming one of Shanks' affiliated crews."
"I agree. He probably knows he's made too many powerful enemies and is now looking for top cover."
Whilst the majority of the crowd was discussing Ori's situation, those with actual power were the only ones not speaking. They were merely waiting quietly for the results.
A couple minutes later the same man who told Ori to leave for not knowing his place, came running back. As he did, he gave Ori a complicated look as he said.
"Boss Yasopp said to come over, the captain wants to speak to you!"
As he said that a myriad of gasps could be heard from the crowd and even the powerhouses in the crowd frowned thinking that there seemed to be a genuine connection between the Heavenly Demon and Red Hair Pirates.
Ori ignored the weird looks he got from the crowd and calmly lead his crew to where Yasopp was holding the snail phone.
Seeing Ori arrive he handed him the phone as he said with a calm smile.
"I guess you were right, the Captain really does want to speak to you."
Ori nodded and took the phone as he said calmly.
"It's been a while Shanks!"
"Hahahahahaha, 12 years to be exact! When I saw the wanted posters of you and Roman, I thought of you guys, but then I remembered that the last time I saw you, you were only 2 and little Roman was only 5 which would make you 14 and 17 today. When I thought of that I dismissed the idea. It wasn't until I heard your message for me from Yasopp did I realise it really was you…
Just like your fathers, you really are a pair of monsters. No you're even more monstrous than your fathers. Calling you the "Twin Demons" couldn't be more appropriate."
When he heard how friendly Shanks was being he was surprised as he didn't expect their relationship to be so close, but when he heard their ages Yasopp was gob smacked.
[14 and 17?! Their talents are in no way any less than that brat Murdock, in fact Ori's thoroughly surpasses his!
If the rest of the world knew their true ages then their bounties would easily rise another £100,000,000 purely off of their potential!]
Whilst Yasopp was lost in his thoughts Shanks continued.
"I heard you guys recruited a woman; Monkey D. Shaya?"
"Yeah she's now our sworn sister!"
"Hahaha from the sounds of things she fits in perfectly with you 2 little monsters. A few years ago I met a kid who should be her cousin in East Blue!"
Ori nodded with a smile as he said.
"We know, we saw the hat on him when we went to visit Ace!"
"You met him?!"
Thinking he was referring to Luffy Ori told a little white lie.
"Yeah, when we saw the straw hat I knew you gave it to him. He said you…"
Before Ori could finish his sentence Shanks cut him off.
"I meant Ace, not Luffy!"
Ori then remembered the connection between Shanks and Ace's dad. If Shanks was to say that he didn't have a soft spot for Ace it would be a lie.
"Yeah we promised Uncle Roger to look out for him after all. You know you should go and see him in the future."
When he said that, Ori could hear Shanks sigh on the other end of the phone.
"Unless fate wills it, I can't get too involved in Ace's future. Captain Roger made all of us promise that before he retired."
Ori didn't completely understand why Roger made them promise that, but he figured it should have something to do with the Will of D. But now he knew the true reason Shanks and Rayleigh didn't make more of an effort to stop Ace's execution in the canon, it wasn't because they didn't care but because of a promise.
Whilst Ori was thinking about the mysteries of the world, the sound of Shanks' voice woke him up.
"Anyway you must have a reason for getting in touch with me other than catching up."
"Yeah, I need to know where Uncle Rayleigh is."
"You, mean you want to know where Aunt Gaia is right?"
"Yeah…"
"I know you and Roman are extremely powerful for your age but getting involved in your parents business with your current strength is suicide."
Ori didn't reply at first as he knew Shanks was right, but he knew he couldn't just sit on the side lines this time.
"If it were just our parents we wouldn't get involved rashly, but we just found out our little siblings are involved. They didn't even have the option of staying out of it, so now we don't either. If anyone dares to lay a hand on either of them I'll show them a fate far worse than death!"
As he said that, a dense killing intent erupted from Ori. It was so dense it made even Yasopp shudder.
[Is this really the killing intent of a 14 year old kid?!]
Ori calmed himself down and retracted his killing intent.
Even though they were only speaking on the phone, Shanks could still feel his conviction. He let out a sigh before saying.
"I don't know where Rayleigh is now, but last I spoke to him he said he'll be back in Sabody Archipelago in 4 months.
Before you decide to go, I'll just warn you that it's not just Rayleigh. From the intelligence my sources have gathered there are other forces that are heading to Sabody Archipelago in 4 months from the likes of the World Government, to the Revolutionaries, and even some of the Underworld's Emperors.
The only people who won't be there are us actual Yonko as there is an unspoken rule that at no point are all 4 Yonko to gather in one place at any one time. Even though we can't go in person we can still send a representative like we did for the auction today. So if you decide to go just remember to be careful."
Ori nodded as he replied simply.
"Thanks, I owe you!"
After handing the phone back to Yasopp, Ori lead his group back to the auction house. Even whilst making their way back, the minds of each of the Heavenly Demon Pirates was on Sabody Archipelago. Ori tightly clenched his fists as he thought to himself.
[No matter what happens, I need to go to Sabody Archipelago in 4 months' time!]
