Exchange

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As the crew continued to sail the New World. Lucas had started to become unsettled due to the fact that he had been taking a long time in this era.

He really wanted to go to Wano and find Momonosuke's mother to get her to send him back.

Truth was, Momonosuke's mother having this ability was still under speculation back in his time before he was sent here.

The last thing Lucas remembered reading was Luffy and the rest leaving Zou. He has no knowledge of Wano and what happens next.

It would be a lie to say that Lucas didn't feel scared. But this was something he was going to face sooner or later. There was no use in dwelling on the feeling for long.

What he needed to do remains the same.

One day, Roger and the rest landed on another island and was attacked by marines once more. But this time, Garp or Tsuru wasn't present.

Though there was still a Vice Admiral present on the marine's side, Roger was able to easily beat him.

Lucas had joined them as well in order to take his mind off things and just let loose. He was still dissatisfied with how fast the battle ended.

Roger was feeling the same as well as he held the marine by the scruff of his neck.

"Go summon Garp or Sengoku! You lot are just boring me."

"Ghh…!"

Suddenly, Buggy shouted from the top of a huge boulder behind.

"Captain! Captain Roger! Whitebeard's ship is on the other side of the island!"

"We just fought a battle, Roger."

Rayleigh knew what Roger was thinking as he saw his smirk so he tried to dissuade him. Needless to say, Roger didn't quite listen to him at all.

"Whitebeard eh? It's been a while."

"Ehehehe!"

Shanks laughed while eating some chocolates he found somewhere.

Lucas looked at the chocolate bar and wondered how long had it been since he last ate one…

While Shanks was distracted, Lucas swiped a piece and took a bite as he lifted his helmet for a bit.

"Hey!"

"Come on Shanks, it's just a small piece. Still...Whitebeard eh? Meeting him again...is kind of awkward…"

Lucas remembered how familiar Whitebeard was with him and had a thought. It seems...this would be the time that Whitebeard meets him huh?

Roger tossed the marine aside and grinned.

"Alll right! Let's have a little fun, then! A battle to the death, because we're both so very alive! As it is, I don't have much longer! This may well be the last time we see each other, Whitebeard!"

Lucas sighed when he heard what Roger said.

A few months ago, Crocus had diagnosed that Roger had a deadly disease and did not have much time left.

That time, Lucas had stepped forward to tell him that he could heal him but Crocus stopped him. Even without telling him about it, it seems he was able to tell the side effects of Lucas' healing and told Roger.

When Roger heard about it, he became mad and started to attack Lucas.

'Bastard! I forbid you from using this power on me! I will kill you if you do!'

Since then, Roger had also started to ignore Lucas like a kid throwing a tantrum.

Before Lucas could speak again, they felt someone seemingly charging in straight towards them.

Roger laughed excitedly.

"Here he comes! The samurai! The one we heard about!"

At the distance, a man with a huge knot behind him and a weird hairstyle that went to both sides of his head appeared in front of them while wielding two katanas.

"Nitouryuu Oden...Gan Modoki!!!"

"Guaaah!!!"

Lucas frowned and disappeared from his spot. The next moment, he reappeared in front of the samurai while wielding a huge black scythe!

This was something that he had come up with during his training with Roger. To clad his water with Armament Haki and solidify them into whichever shape he wanted!

"Water Arms: Black Scythe!"

The samurai's eyes flashed and he waved his two swords towards Lucas.

"A knight, huh!?"

*Boom*

Their clash caused a small shockwave with them at the center. Just as the samurai was about to acknowledge Lucas for his strength, the two of them were suddenly thrown away by a huge blast!

"Huh!?"

"Gh-!?"

The two crashed to a nearby tree but that didn't stop the samurai as he quickly got back on his feet and shouted as he ran.

"What the hell was that!? Incredible!"

"Ah, hey! I won't go there if I were you!"

"Hm?"

Lucas saw the samurai heading to where the blast originated so he tried to stop him. Naturally, the samurai didn't listen at all and still went.

The moment he did, he saw Roger and Whitebeard crossing blades...well, maybe not quite 'crossing' exactly.

"They aren't even touching!!!???"

Right, both Roger's sword and Whitebeard's naginata were still about a meter or so apart but it was already considered to be a 'clash'.

Another huge blast came from between the two and pushed everyone back.

Both Roger and Whitebeard grinned as they faced each other and didn't care how everyone was blown away!

"You look good, Roger!"

"How many years has it been, Newgate!?"

""Give me everything you have!""

"Gurararararara!!!"

"Uahahahahahaha!!!"

Seeing the two all pumped up and raring to go, Lucas laughed dryly instead.

These damn monsters...can't they at least mind their own crew!?

No one seemed to pay attention to him as both sides got ready for war.

"Come on, men!"

"Loot them!"

The Roger pirates VS the Whitebeard pirates.

The battle between these two great pirate crews...lasted three days and three nights...with the upper hand constantly shifting from side to side!

Lucas tried to hold back a bit as he could see that everyone was doing the same. No one died in the battle and it seemed like this was all just a friendly competition between the two.

4 days later…

"What an outrageous shirt! Where did you get it!?"

"Wait a minute, you're drinking too much! We agreed everyone would have the same amount!"

"This southern sake is just too good!"

"I'll give you three crates for it!"

Looking at the scene beside Rayleigh, Lucas sighed.

"Does this happen often?"

"With the Whitebeard crew, yeah...it always ends in a gift exchange…"

Beside them, Shanks and Buggy were also having a discussion.

"Hey Shanks, do you see that guy with the hat?"

"Yeah?"

"He didn't sleep during the truce we had for the last few days."

"Huh? Why?"

"I heard he's never slept in his life."

"Huh? How is that even possible? I'm jealous. You would have twice as much time to enjoy your life if you didn't need to sleep!"

Hearing what Shanks said, Lucas almost slipped.

...Is this really Shanks? Is anyone wearing that Strawhat an idiot at one point or something?

Buggy also thought the same as he said.

"It's not that simple, idiot! He's a monster."

Lucas fell silent as well as he looked at the guy they were discussing. This was none other than Blackbeard himself as a kid.

In fact, Lucas did indeed think of killing this guy during the confusion but figured it may bring even bigger problems.

At the moment, he still hasn't defected and is just a child. Even if he were to explain the reason, Lucas has no doubt that Whitebeard would still kill him for it.

Maybe he can get out of it somehow...but it wasn't worth the trouble.

Thinking back on it, when he met Blackbeard before, he didn't seem to recognize Lucas at all. This was why he was able to easily kill him back then.

Knowing that, Lucas decided to be more careful when he's around.

Another thing worth noting was during their fight before, Lucas had used his Steam Burst attack to...so to say, lightly blow away some Whitebeard members. However, Marco had gotten in the way and accidentally made the explosion a lot bigger than it was supposed to be.

Thankfully, Lucas knew what would happen when his Steam Burst combined with Marco's flames, so he was able to quickly divert his attack elsewhere...causing a huge chunk of the island to disappear.

This was actually what caused the fight to stop 4 days ago…

Lucas sighed again and looked back to where Roger was sitting with Whitebeard and the samurai. After thinking for a bit, he walked towards them as he needed to say something.

That samurai is connected to Wano. Maybe he can help with Lucas'...time problem.

"Hm? Ah, Lucas. You're here. Come and sit."

"Ah, you're not ignoring me anymore Captain?"

"Shut up! Don't make me hit you again!"

"..."

Lucas chuckled while shaking his head and sat next to him facing Whitebeard and the samurai.

He was still wearing his helmet but since Whitebeard knows him already and he wanted to request something from the samurai, Lucas figured it should be fine to show his face around them.

His back is turned from the others anyway.

Whitebeard saw Lucas' appearance and scratched his chin.

"I thought you had a shark head?"

"Uahahaha! Well, he certainly looks like a rascal!"

"Hey! You look even more like a rascal than I am, damned captain!"

Which part of me looks like a rascal!? Aren't I very handsome!?

Author: Says who!?

…

Lucas started to explain.

"Well, it's like this. I needed to hide my face from the marines and everyone else as it would cause some...troubles in the future."

"Hm? Are you sure it's fine to tell them about this?"

Lucas nodded when Roger asked him.

"Whitebeard knows who I am anyway. It should be fine to tell him."

"I know you?"

"Err...sort of. You see, I'm from the future."

"..."

Whitebeard and the samurai looked at each other and started laughing!

"Gurarararara! Future eh? You sound just like that girl!"

"Hahaha! Right, Toki also said she's from 800 years ago!"

Lucas didn't mind about their laughter and caught on to what they said.

"Toki? She said that? Do you know where I can find her!? I need her help to send me back to my time!"

When the two heard this, they finally stopped laughing and raised a brow instead.

It seems...this guy was serious?

"You're saying...you really are from the future?"

"Yes. About...I think 26 years from now."

Right. It has been 4 years since he found himself back in the past. As such, Lucas is a bit impatient to get back now.

Whitebeard fell in deep thought before asking again.

"You say I knew you?"

"Right. We...fought side by side in a war that would change the era...one of your sons was taken and was about to be executed. I was there with my captain and Roger's son to help...I was supposed to die that day. Yet for some reason, I find myself 30 years in the past."

Lucas wanted to tell him more about Blackbeard's betrayal...if he did, it would only backfire on him and would change the whole thing.

Whitebeard was about to speak again when Roger suddenly grabbed Lucas' shoulders with a glare.

"Hold on! Back up!...I have a SON!?"

"...Ah…"

Oops~?

Seeing Lucas with a 'tehe' expression with his tongue out only irritated Roger as he smacked his head!

"Don't just 'oops~' me! What did I say about telling future stuff!?"

"Ah, are you going to kick yourself out, captain?"

"I'm kicking YOU out!"

As if to prove his point, Roger planted his feet on Lucas' face and kicked him away!

Only after a while did Roger calm down and started smiling weirdly.

"A son eh? Hehehe~"

"..."

Lucas, Whitebeard, and the samurai showed weird expressions of disgust as they looked at Roger.

Noticing their looks, Roger coughed and changed the topic.

"Ahem, anyway, continue that time travel conversation later! This is more important! Look!"

"..."

Lucas sighed and gave up on it temporarily. He'll just look for them later when Roger's finished with whatever he wanted to say.

Roger pulled a huge piece of paper with ancient markings on it.

"Hm? These are...from the Poneglyphs? I thought you weren't interested in this stuff?"

"If I showed interest in it, Olvia won't be getting off my ship! You have no idea how troublesome it is to have that woman on board the ship! Besides, I was trying to dissuade her not to pursue this path since the World Government had banned it! She will only get into more trouble if she continues that path."

"..."

No no, I completely get you. It was only natural to get rid of that demon…

Lucas shivered when he remembered what she did to him before...let's just say it was better not to think about it. Ever. Again.

The samurai picked the paper and started to read it which surprised Roger and Lucas.

"Can you read it!?"

"Yes, I can. I can translate it for you...but why did you transcribe this? These symbols are a secret code. The way to decode them was passed from generation to generation to the firstborn of the Kozuki clan from Wano."

Roger nodded and explained.

"We took this 13 years ago. We were able to do what no one else had done. Reach the end of the Log Pose. The Island Road Star! But, when we finally got there, I realized...it wasn't the last island! Our log pose couldn't guide us further because the needles kept spinning! But..."

Roger became more and more excited as he spoke.

"I'm sure there's one last island! An island you need to reach in order to travel the whole world! A feat never done before!"

Roger took the paper once again and pointed at it.

"It has these inscriptions marked on four special red stones. I believe they're clues to the final island but...the World Government banned the deciphering of Poneglyphs long ago! I used to think they were ordinary objects, so I was surprised when I discovered that they were essential reference points for achieving our goal."

Roger stretched both his arms wide and laughed.

"That means the World Government doesn't want anyone to reach the final island! Their actions only confirm the legends that there's a huge treasure hidden there! If we can get there, surely we'll be the biggest pirate crew in the world!"

"The biggest…"

"That's right! And then I'll be…!!!"

…

""...What!?""

Hearing what Roger had said, Whitebeard, Lucas, and the samurai stared at him dumbfoundedly.

The next moment, Whitebeard started to laugh loudly.

"Gurararara! What a load of crap, Roger! Are you a kid by any chance!?"

"Uahahaha!"

Roger didn't care about it and simply laughed as well.

The samurai still had his mouth open, completely speechless to the point of being unable to move.

Lucas laughed as well and shook his head.

Having finished laughing, Roger stretched his hand with his index finger pointing up.

"Please let me borrow Oden for one year, Newgate! This is my last request! Unlike Olvia, he's strong! There's no problem with bringing him along! With him by my side, I know I can get to the Final Island!"

"Hey! Why are you deciding this by yourself!?"

Roger even started to bow down.

"I beg you Oden! Please sail with us for one year!"

"Stop it! This is shameful! You shouldn't bow to me!"

However, seeing him like this made Whitebeard even more irritated.

"Quit screwing around, Roger! Do you really think I'll let you take a member of my family!?"

With his anger, the sea started to shake and huge waves formed around the island!

Oden felt conflicted.

What do these stones have to do with the Kozuki clan? Was this meeting with Roger a mere coincidence?

Before he could even think straight, he was already bowing to Whitebeard as well.

"Whitey-chan! I want to get to the bottom of this! Please let me go with them!"

Whitebeard had the same disgusted look he had earlier now directed at Oden.

"You look disgusted!!!"

"No kidding! Of course I hate the idea! We're brothers, aren't we!?"

"But it's only for a year, Whitey-chan...please!?"

Looking at the weird scene in front of him made Lucas think as if Roger was trying to get the approval of his wife's father to live with him in the city but the father wasn't willing...

Having that weird idea in his head, Lucas shook his head to get rid of it and spoke up as well.

"How about this...aren't we having an exchange gift? I'll go with Whitebeard and Oden can go with Roger."

Anyway, Lucas didn't want to reach the final island with Roger's group. It was better and a lot more fun if he did it with Luffy and the others.

Plus, if he sticks with Whitebeard, he can learn more about this Toki girl.

"Good idea! Let's go Oden!"

...Oi! At least show some reluctance, you damned captain!!!

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AN: Man...Lucas has no idea XD Imagine his face when he finds out that Toki is coming with Oden on Roger's ship...XD

If anyone asks why Roger didn't just ask Olvia if he's that desperate, I already wrote the reason above.

Olvia is weak and if the WG finds out her involvement with finding the last island, it may only lead to the advance bombing of Ohara (Which Roger doesn't even know will happen anyway). Plus, Roger knows he's about to die. He can't protect her too.

As for Oden, he is strong, lives in an isolated island that's not part of the WG, and is a Kozuki.

So.

Yeah.

Also, to that guy in webnovel who's been commenting about wanting Hancock in the harem. Still no. :P

See ya next chap!