Chapter 15 – The Black Wolf, Advice and Rusukaina Island

[Kaienreki Calendar 1504, August]

Suddenly a three meter tall black wolf with piercing blue eyes appeared in Bell-mere's vision.

The boy-turned-wolf simply grabbed his bag with his massive maw and threw it onto his back, were strands of his fur just grabbed onto it tightly as if they had a life of their own.

Shocked at the display, but remembering the boy's words, Bell-mere kept herself in check.

Nojiko, on the other hand, had never seen something so interesting and was simply fascinated at the beautiful creature before her.

Lupin approached the wounded Marine and simply crouched down on the floor, signaling her to get on his back.

Hesitating for only a moment, Bell-mere climbed onto his back, still holding onto the girls.

Once she found herself seated comfortably, the fur around her suddenly started shifting and wound itself around her legs to ensure her safety.

Getting the hint, she placed Nojiko, who she had held in her right arm, also onto the wolf's back right before her. The fur again shifted to grab onto the girl's legs and waist, while Bell-mere kept Nami in her arms tightly.

A moment later, Lupin got up from the ground and his wolf form began to grow to twice its size, adding further to Bell-mere's shock and Nojiko's fascination.

The little girl had already began to stroke the fluffy coal-black fur of the wolf.

Still, the next thing that happened would forever be one of the most amazing scenes they had witnessed in their entire lives.

The giant black wolf they sat on, simply stepped on the air under its paws and began to rise into the sky.

Only a few short moments later, they were already several dozen meters high in the air, where Lupin simply used Kamisoru to sprint towards the direction he knew the Conomi Islands were – his own former home.

Ignoring Nojiko's childish laughter and the girly scream Bell-mere emitted at the sudden flight.

He was moving at a very fast pace, shielding his passengers with a thin shield of Haki from the air resistance. He also used Seimei Kikan to move a part of his fur and wrapped it around Bell-mere's wounds to stop them from bleeding, until she could get some real medical treatment in her home town.

He estimated that at his own speed, they would reach there in only a few hours. He had no problem in keeping up his speed and shield of spiritual energy that long.

His physical stamina would allow him to move like that for over a dozen days without problems, his spirit being the same at this point.

…

As they neared the Conomi Islands a few hours later, a storm was raging in the whole area.

Still, Lupin wasn't bothered by the storm, as the shield of spiritual energy he had erected around them was enough to keep the rain and cold from invading the bodies of his passengers.

The navigation through the storm was bit more difficult, but he simply used his Observation Haki to pinpoint the location of the island and Cocoyashi Village.

Having lived here himself, he knew the rough directions of where each village was located.

*THUD*

Only a few short seconds later he landed on the shore near the village, causing a small shockwave to spread under his paws.

There he simply crouched down and used his control over the fur to place Bell-mere and Nojiko down softly, while still shielding them from the rain.

"What island is this? Where did you bring us?"

Bell-mere who didn't know where Lupin had brought them, was asking the wolf while the storm was still raging.

Nojiko was simply clinging to the giant wolf's front leg, not willing to let go off the warmth and safety it brought her.

Gently pushing the girl towards Bell-mere, Lupin simply took a few steps back and grew to his full size of nearly eight meters at shoulder height and jumped back into the sky.

Moving with terrifying speed, Lupin reached the eye of the storm shortly after. The next thing he did was inhaling deeply.

And then he howled, while using the full force of his Conqueror's Haki.

"HOOOWWWLL!"

The palpable pressure he exuded directly shattered the atmosphere around him and collapsed the whole storm from the inside-out, while his howl rang throughout the whole Conomi Archipelago and the surrounding islands.

A few short moments later, the storm vanished without a trace.

Letting the sun shine down on the shores of the Cocoyashi Village, as Bell-mere finally recognized her surroundings.

"How is this possible... how did he know my hometown?"

At this point Bell-mere wasn't even sure if what had happened wasn't just a dream.

Still, from this day on Bell-mere would tell her daughters the story of the black wolf.

A mystical creature that traveled the world, saved innocents and vanquished storms with his howl.

…

Lupin on the other hand, after a using a short burst of Observation Haki to confirm that Kindred wasn't in the village, left the island.

He knew Kindred had probably left the same time he had with Ina. Probably to settle down somewhere else so Cypher Pol wouldn't find him and use him as leverage against Lupin.

For the next month he explored the East Blue a little, but soon decided to leave for the Grand Line to find a better training spot.

He already had several different ones in mind, like Fishman Island. The deep sea pressure would be ideal for further body training

Or maybe Raijin Island in the New World. The lightning would probably be good for training his resistance and some new techniques, though he had no idea where that place was.

There were others he wanted to visit at some point like Skypiea, Dressrosa, Water7, Little Garden, Rusukaina Island, Amazon Lily, etc., but he decided to just leave it to chance.

Lupin just went and crossed the Calm Belt without a set course. And so it happened that he arrived at Water7 just a few weeks later.

The whole city looked like a giant fountain. It was an interesting and beautiful sight, especially in comparison to the villages he had seen almost exclusively since his reincarnation.

Over the last month he had sold some Sea King meat to a few villages and merchants in the East Blue, giving him a substantial sum of a few million Berry.

He had left the money Kindred had given to him with Ina, so she would not have to worry about that for the next few years.

And so, as Lupin strolled the busy city, where the world's best ships were built, he stuffed himself with all the street food he could get his hands on, while making sure to not lose his manners while eating.

Still, Water 7 had a slightly lifeless vibe to it, as Lupin suddenly remembered this being the reason that Tom was allowed to build the Sea Train, so it could help revive the city's economy and spirit.

But it wasn't as bad as Lupin remembered from the show, probably because a major part of the Sea Train had already been finished, which helped massively in boosting the trade and defensive capabilities of the island.

A few hours later at midday he came across that very Fishman at a building site.

He also saw his two apprentices and a giant frog helping the master craftsman with his work. Well, more than a building site, it was somewhere on the sea, where the four of them worked on some train tracks.

Lupin came across them on his way to leave the island. He had no need for a ship and all the weapon sellers on the island had only crappy longswords, so he didn't stay long in the city.

Probably having sensed his stare, Tom turned around and looked at Lupin in surprise as the boy simply stood on the ocean surface like it was flat ground.

"Hey, kid! You need something?"

The others also looked at him at this point, with Franky freaking out at seeing him standing on water, and shouted at him.

"Hey, brat. How are you doing that?!"

*THUD*

"Stop, being a rude ass, Franky."

For which he was promptly clubbed over the head with one of the tools by Iceberg.

Lupin on the other hand ignored the two and decided to be honest in his answer.

"Tom, the world's best shipwright, and builder of the Oro Jackson. Nice to meet you, I admire your work quite a bit. Just as much as I admire your decision to keep the plans for Pluton to yourself and not making a profit off them."

Suddenly the whole atmosphere changed, Franky and Iceberg stopped quarreling and Tom looked at him with a serious expression on his face.

"Who are you, kid? And how do know of Pluton? This isn't something to be spoken off lightly. Just knowing about its existence is a danger in itself."

"My name is Lupin D. Black."

"'The Monster Child'.". Tom said in astonishment.

"So you have seen my bounty poster."(Lupin)

"It's not everyday that a kid from nowhere gets a 20 million Berry bounty, while just being seven years old. And especially not in the weakest sea, where Roger himself was born."

"I suppose you are right... Well, I will be on my way then, bye Tom.", Lupin shrugged in nonchalance, before continuing, "And one last piece of advice. They won't give up on Pluton that easily Tom, don't let yourself be fooled by their acts. The real decisions of the World Government don't happen in court."

After saying his piece, Lupin simply vanished from sight using Kamisoru.

Tom himself was surprised by the boy's words, but ultimately put them to the back of his mind and continued his work.

"Hey, where did that brat go?! How did he just vanish like that?!", Franky shouted in surprise.

"How would I know, you idiot! Just forget about him and go back to work.", answered Iceberg equally exasperated.

Still, there would come a day where Tom remembered those words, but at that point it would probably already be too late.

…

[Rusukaina Island, Kaienreki Calendar 1506, Early January]

Lupin had been living on Rusukaina Island for over a year and a half now, it was the island where Luffy had trained with Silvers Rayleigh and lived by himself the following two years.

And even though the animals on the island were of no threat to Lupin at all, they were perfect not only as walking rations, but also for training his Haki control further.

Against the really massive Sea Kings he always went all out, but it was still hard to kill them, simply because of their sheer size.

Of course he often times injured them severely, before they escaped into depths where he couldn't follow even with his Haki. Well, at least for now he could not.

What these fights didn't teach him, was how to use the exact amount of strength necessary to kill an opponent and not waste his spiritual energy. It was what he trained while hunting the animals on the island for the last few months, along with a few other things.

Of course he did not neglect his normal training regime, still diving into the ocean and using the sea pressure for body conditioning and hunting the Sea Kings of the area.

He had also learned how to control and infuse his Conqueror's Haki perfectly into not only his weapon, but also his body including his hair.

He quite liked the look of it, like dark blue bolts of lightning surrounding him.

Another thing he did every so often was going to the nearby island Amazon Lily and fight some of their warriors whenever he needed new clothes or something else not available on Rusukaina.

And even though they all used some elementary form of Haki, he had already surpassed the level where their numbers were enough to defeat him. Even their strongest warrior, the Kuja Pirate Captain, was only on the level of an above average Vice Admiral according to Lupin's estimate.

So he had no problem coming and going as he pleased.

And while the inhabitants of the island still attacked him whenever they caught sight of him, they didn't show true bloodlust as they had in the beginning. They knew he wouldn't injure any of them and would only steal some clothes and food occasionally.

At one point they had even started to make clothes specifically for him and let them lay around the village, right next to some his favourite dishes, a.k.a. the dishes he stole most often. Which didn't mean that they did not come full force against him, everytime he was seen.

No, the Kuja tribe respected, tolerated and even liked him only because of his overwhelming strength.

During his interactions with the Kuja pirates, he had also met Boa Hancock and her two sisters, and he had to admit that her beauty was definitely something else even at her young age of twelve.

The young girl was also especially ferocious with her attacks and seemed to see it as a personal insult that she couldn't stop him from stealing.

She was a fierce little fighter, while her younger sisters were of a more demure nature and mostly just followed her around.

A few weeks or months ago, he didn't really keep track of time, a piece of news was disseminated that brought unrest to the whole world.

It was the concept of Emperor's of the Sea that the World Government had announced anonymously to cause infighting among the pirates in the New World.

The Marines were simply spread too thin to keep the peace in the world, so they decided to use another method.

For now only Whitebeard was announced as an Emperor, which was a natural thing to do considering the strength of the man.

The more important part of the news was a list of possible Emperor candidates, filled with the names of the strongest pirates in the New World. Of course Big Mom and Kaido were on the list, but there were several others Lupin had never heard of before, while Shanks wasn't mentioned at all.

This list would surely cause a conflict between the candidates to determine those worthy of the title 'Emperor of the Sea'.

Still, Lupin didn't care all that much about them, as he was sure that there wasn't a individual in the world anymore that could stop him if he wanted to escape. Especially since he could escape devil fruit users by diving into the ocean and now with the fighters on Garp's level all getting older and weaker by the day.

Even now he was sure that while he couldn't defeat the man, he also wouldn't have a lot of trouble retreating from a fight with him.

Lupin also already knew who would come out on top after several years of conflict.

Big Mom just needed to bide her time until her children reached their full power and she would have the top-level fighters needed to claim the position of one of the Emperors. Kaido was a bit different, as his force was already very strong and he was gaining stronger subordinates everyday.

His train of thought was interrupted on his way to the Kuja Village, as his Haki picked up something unusual. He failed to locate Boa Hancock, her sisters and several other presences, even though the rest of the Kuja pirates were on the island.

Admittedly he hadn't visited the village for the last three months, as he had been focusing on his training of Rokuogan, the secret seventh technique of the Rokushiki. His mastery of the other six techniques had long since reached the necessary level to start his training in that particular skill, but he had kept it off before due to his limited time.

Lupin remembered that the Boa Sisters had been kidnapped as children and sold to World Nobles, so he immediately assumed the worst.