Chapter 10: Whitebeard

It was quite the ordeal to escape from Vegapunk. Dante nearly lost his mind despite his status as a being above godhood, the crazy scientist went crazy once he witnessed the fact that inside Sefirah Castle he had access to unlimited resources.

As long as Dante had a sample of it, Sefirah Castle could produce an infinite number of historical projections. Even though they would vanish after some time, that time being several decades to centuries, they interacted with the world in the same way the original, would.

It saved the genius scientist billions of berries and allowed him to improve his understanding of the world by leaps and bounds. So much so, that he felt confident in being able to replicate even a logia fruit!

"I'm intrigued and afraid of what would happen if that old man got his hands on the potions belonging to the Paragon or Hermit pathways."

A frightening thought indeed.

Shaking the terrifying thoughts out of his mind, Dante approached the first devil fruit on his list.

The fruit was already consumed and was part of the strongest man in the world. His power rivaled that of the late pirate king and he supposedly holds the power to destroy the world.

"Edward 'Whitebeard' Newgate... A man among men!" Dante held nothing but awe and respect for the half-giant. Despite his strength and influence, he used them not for himself but to give those lost on the sea a place to belong.

Someone worthy of being called 'Pops'!

Dante teleported right onto Moby Dicks' deck. This time he didn't steal the pirate's perception of him but instead allowed them to sense his arrival.

The 15 division commanders all surrounded Dante in the blink of an eye. Whitebeard sat on his chair, his lush blonde hair still looking healthy but the tubes attached to his arms begged to differ.

"Who are you?" Marco, Whitebeard's first commander and his first mate asked the intruder. His voice was calm and relaxed, he had full confidence in the fact that nobody could beat his captain.

Dante let a small chuckle slip before reaching out into the historical void. While the weaker commanders were on the verge of acting, Marco and Jozu gave the signal to wait. Using observation haki had allowed them to see what the intruder was about to do and despite it confusing them, he didn't mean any harm as of yet.

Dante retrieved a comfortable one-man couch and made himself at home. He conjured the historical projections of a small desk, a dozen of the finest wine bottles he had ever seen, a small glass for himself, and a giant-sized glass for the man sitting opposite him.

He poured down eleven of the twelve wine bottles into the giant glass while he half-filled the regular-sized glass.

"It's the finest wine I've seen. I hope it's to your taste." Dante raised his glass, and the old legend observed the stranger for a while. He scanned him from top to bottom not finding anything suspicious except for the fact that he appeared out of nowhere.

He then took the giant glass filled with wine and took note of its smell.

His eyes locked once again with Dante's before the giant captain returned the favor and raised his glass. The two men shared a drink amidst the baffled pirates standing around them.

"Pops, it could be poisoned!" Marco cried out as he witnessed the old man drink the wine without a care in the world.

Whitebeard laughed and waved his first mate's worries off.

"You younglings should go play. Don't worry, nothing will happen."

Marco and the rest of Whitebeard's commanders left but not without voicing out their discontent. As they walked away, swearing under their breath, Whitebeard and Dante continued their silent drink off.

After an extended period, Whitebeard was the first to break the silence.

"So, are you gonna tell me who you are or did you just happen to pass by?"

"The name's Dante. Nice to meet you, Newgate." Dante performed an exaggerated bow while placing his top hat against his chest.

Dante had opted for the classical Gherman Sparrow look for his dealings with pirates. The more time he spent in the One Piece world, the stronger his desire to adopt multiple persona and give each of them meaning and their own story. He wasn't sure if it was due to the Fool's characteristics influencing him or if he had always been that way and he was now able to let that side of his shine thanks to his new powers.

He regretted the fact that he didn't think of it when he first arrived in this world. His identities were all jumbled up and made up on the spot, something he was intent on changing once he entered a new fiction.

"Since you already know who I am, how about you tell me why you're here?" Whitebeard took another rich gulp of wine, clearly enjoying the rich flavor.

"Well, I came with two offers for you. I think at least one of them would be of interest to you." Dante glanced at Whitebeard who nodded for him to continue.

"The first offer is to become a follower of the great Fool, the beacon of hope and redeemer of evil!" Dante spoke exaggeratedly while accentuating his words with the flailing of his arms.

Whitebeard scoffed, he had traveled the world several times, witnessed many atrocities and the prayers of countless people were left unanswered. 

"How come the world is drowning in corruption and oppression if your lord calls himself the redeemer of evil?"

Dante smiled, he had anticipated that question and already knew the answer he would give.

"My lord doesn't involve himself with the matters of mortals, he believes we should handle our problems by ourselves or we'll lose out on the experience and enlightenment gained through it. Instead, he guides us, knowingly or unknowingly, to a path that leads to freedom. But just because he leads us there doesn't mean we'll always follow through. Many fall to temptation or the cruelty of fate.

Your old friend Roger was one who gained the Fool's guidance yet fate had put an end to his life before he could reach the end of his path.

Monkey D. Garp was given the chance to change the oppression and corruption from within."

Whitebeard frowned at Dante's words, were Roger's decisions all guided by that deity? If that was the case then what about his own? 

"Are you saying that your god is playing us like puppets? Putting us on paths he thinks best for us?"

Dante shook his head, the confident smile never vanishing from his face.

"He doesn't force us to choose our path. He only presents us with the choice, but in the end, the decision of whether to take it or not still belongs to us."

"And what does this Fool want with me? Does he want me to go around preaching about him? To make any pirate I see convert to his beliefs?" Whitebeard mocked Dante's preachings as if he had heard similar words before.

"The great Fool does not force anyone to believe in him. To him, all that matters is a fair exchange. He does not bless you for the amount of prayers you speak or the amount of people you convert, but rather for the acts you perform and their consequences on the world.

Serve the Fool in breaking the chains of oppression, in ripping down the world nobles from their haughty throne and he'll free you from your illness. Serve the Fool and he shall protect you and your family from all harm. 

That!... is the first offer I present to you!"

Despite his old age and abundance of experience, something about Dante's words cracked his stubborn self. He couldn't pinpoint it but he felt himself warming up the idea of serving the Fool. 

"What about the second offer?"

"The second offer is to replace your devil fruit with the one created by the Fool. It won't matter to you and the effects will remain the same. This is something I could have done without your notice but the great Fool insisted on showing a man such as yourself the proper respect you deserve."