A/N: Chapters in advance in Patreòn
Pa treon.com/HolyJoker
(Finished on Patreòn)
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Chapter 132: A Trip To The Future
***
Shanks glanced at me with a bewildered look. Sometimes life just throws unplanned things at you, and this was one of them for both of us.
If I had met him in any other place, I would have fought with Shanks and gave it my all to kill him. But right now, I was in too good of a mood to do that. Also while I was confident in defeating him… at the same time, the preparation for a battle like this was almost nonexistent.
Of course, that didn't mean I stopped the creepy smile that appeared on my face. It was amusing seeing Shanks so panicked. "You know, we never really had bad blood between us…"
"Except that one time you killed Zed and heavily injured me." I clarified, telling him that I knew he was the cloaked assailant at the time.
"Yeah… I can explain that. Ex-Admiral Zephyr was working on something to try and explode a secret location in the New World that would fill this part of the sea in Lava if it exploded." Shanks explained seriously. Well, I didn't plan to kill him. Even if I did, it would just be unnecessarily creating enemies for myself. Having Ben Beckman and the others go to help the World Government kill me after I killed Shanks would be troublesome.
There was no need to create enemies here. "Okay, okay, I understand. I would have killed Zed later anyway. So you kinda did the job for me."
Shanks smiled brightly, like a kid. "Hahaha, I am glad you are so understanding-"
"But you will have to let me punch you at least once to make up for it." I insisted, which brought his mood immediately down and he laid his head on the table. What's he, a kid? Right, I forgot that Shanks had a childish demeanor. "Hey~ be prepared for it, or I might kill you if you're off guard."
"This is such a pain~" he complained, getting up and taking a defensive stance. But he didn't pull out his saber.
"Don't say that to the guy you cut like a pig."
"Listen, I already apologized for that. So we should be equal."
"Yeah, and I will apologize after punching you. So everything will be well." I got up from my seat and entered my dragon-hybrid form. I could see a bead of sweat roll down Shank's forehead. Since his Observation Haki was more advanced than mine, by now he had probably seen what would happen.
"Can you go a little easier on me?"
"Nah," I shrugged.
"Fuck."
<Soru>
Fwish!
Within an instant I was in front of him, Shank's eyes didn't move. Meaning that he hadn't physically seen me move. But the way his Armament Haki traveled around his body, I knew he had seen where I was going to attack.
***
From the other people's view, Max's speed wasn't something that could be seen physically by most people.
Suddenly he appeared where Shanks was with his fist extended in a punching motion. But Shanks was nowhere to be seen anymore.
BOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
Suddenly the mountaintop of one of the mountains far away exploded. Negan smiled widely. "Damn~ you smashed him through a mountain."
Max on the other hand seemed pissed off. "That fucker! He jumped back at the point of impact."
Jumping back would decrease the damage, initially, if he had taken the hit fully he would have smashed through the mountain in the middle and not just the top of it. But what annoyed Max a little was just how uninjured Shanks came out of the clash.
If it had been any other previous Yonko, they would have taken that hit head-on because they believed that they would win. That kind of confidence in themselves was what made their Haki so strong. Do you think Kaido ever doubted himself that he would lose? No, never.
But Shanks was different, he was a prideless creature and knew when he would lose in a strength clash. So he dodged.
It was at strangely inconsequential times like these when Max's petty real feelings showed the most. When it came to things of real consequence, he was calm, calculated, and downright cold. But in contrast, unimportant things like rat racing with Negan, he will be super competitive and play dirty as soon as an unfavorable situation occurs.
***
On Fishman Island, the Strawhats saw something amazing. An awakened Alpaca Zoan, its body was fully covered in Haki and it destroyed Hody Jones, and some of the strongest fishman on the island.
Jinbe smiled at this, as he saw Joey get serious. "Luffy, do you think you could beat someone like that in arm wrestling?"
The Straw Hat captain wasn't listening as he had something else in mind.
"Oy! Joey! Wanna join my cre-"
Before he could finish, Jinbe moved at speeds he had never moved before and covered Luffy's mouth. The panic on the ex-Warlord's face was evident. "Luffy! Don't ask something like that."
"Huh? But Joey seems pretty cool, and he is pretty strong too." The huge innocent smile on the captain's face made the fishman sweatdrop.
"I understand where you are coming from. But never ask something like that to someone who is already in Max's crew. They are extremely loyal." Jinbe explained nervously. Even though in comparison to a Pirate King, a Yonko would be nothing, but if there was one man closest to finding One Piece, it was Max.
Even Kaido's crew who were previously known as monsters who only respected power now follow him diligently. The charisma and ability to draw in people like that was something more dangerous than any Devil Fruit out there.
Luffy had similar charisma that drew people in, but Max used his words to convince hundreds of thousands of people. Even once he took over a rowdy crew like the Beast Pirates, there hadn't even been one revolt against him. That said more than any spy could ever discover.
"Please… just be careful about this," Jinbe was serious. "We don't want Max to come and hunt us in the New World."
***
At the same time, in the New World, Wano. Upon the now burned down and destroyed castle of Oden. Something strange was happening, a light shone brightly and five figures appeared out of thin air.
"Aahhh!!" A crying Momonosuke fell on the ground, as he saw the burned castle around him. Though twenty years had passed, he had just lost his mother. A few seconds ago she was in this very same building as it was burning twenty years ago.
Kinemon, Kanjuro, Raizo, and Kikunojo all shed tears as they saw their young master cry. They too couldn't hold themselves back, Oden was dead and so was Toki. Wano had been taken over by Kaido.
Kanjuro looked into the distance and was surprised by the sight. There were no weapon factories and no Beast Pirates in sight. Orochi should have kept some guards around here which would cause them to split up in the future. That had been the plan.
Seeing that there was nothing but lush trees around, Kanjuro immediately knew that something unprecedented had happened.