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An island split in two by a gargantuan green beam of light that didn't seem to recede, the scene was so catastrophic it was almost beautiful. The scattering energy of this will was still wrecking chaos around the island, creating tornadoes and thunderstorms.

A sense of pride was formed in Veyron whose shoulder was being held by Mihawk, 'I managed to improve her strength in a way... even if just indirectly'.

"Can you undo it, Mom?" He asked, if only she took away this leftover energy then perhaps they wouldn't have to move away from this island he was already habituated in.

"I haven't checked that out yet. This is my second time using this technique. The first time I used it in the sea just briefly but this time I made sure to give a proper strike".

"D-Don't you think I could have died?!"

"I never thought you'd die. I think anyone else except you would have died, Veyron" She clarified, "The 4th Will is stronger than even Conqueror Haki. I could only assume that only anyone capable of using this power could survive a strike from it. I trusted you to be strong enough to take it, and you were".

He sighed, 'What you say makes sense but didn't you think for even a second that it could have gone wrong?'.

"I discovered that what impulses the 4th Will is a strong desire".

"...?"

"I learned it from you... it is a strong desire to reshape the world, or to be more specific, its rules" As if to accentuate she created yet again that green energy around her arm and drew a line with it.

The line stayed there in place like a continuously cutting razor. When she put a branch through it, the branch was sliced into two. Veyron stared in awe, it was as if that specific spot in space was so sharp that it would cut anything it touched.

"What else do you think resembles this power, Veyron? A will capable of altering reality and its rules".

"D-Devil Fruits?" He said with a stutter and she nodded, a smile popping up on her lips.

"I think we discovered something we shouldn't have".

"Then the 4th Will... does it allow you to reshape the world?" He asked with confusion, so far this power was one he had been using as naturally as breathing, there wasn't any explanation needed, it just was there. He always wondered whether the origin of this power was tied to his race or some other hidden mystery.

"Reshape is rather ambiguous, I'd say: to manipulate it, to bend the rules of the game... you are a seven years old kid, but you don't think like one. Watching you every day made me realise that the hurdle between the Conqueror Haki and the 4th Will is a self-imposed barrier".

She started creating more lines with her green will until something was written in thin air, as sharp as the finest razor.

Mihawk & Veyron.

!!!

A blush crept up his cheeks when he saw that and couldn't help but look at Mihawk who seemed to momentarily realise what she just did and started pulling him away from there, her cheeks red.

"We believe the world works a certain way, following certain rules that can't be bent regardless of how much power we have... I have desired to become stronger and stronger but even then, there are things I can't do. There are things I can't cut".

"Then...?"

"[Slice Reality] is the concept behind my sword intent which I extracted from you. It gives me the capacity to slice through reality itself, something I believed completely impossible before meeting you and learning how you think".

"Huh? From me?" He felt something wasn't right, what could he have possibly done for her to learn such insight from him?

"Yes, because there is a clear parallelism between the world you originate from and this one: There are things possible here, that aren't possible in your world and hence, from your perspective, you were already bending the rules, Veyron".

!!!

He gasped audibly but the grip around his wrist just strengthened when she sensed his turmoil, she continued.

"That is why the moment you opened your eyes, I could feel you Haki. That was the precise moment in which your 4th Will awoke, the moment you realised that you were no longer in your world and hence... could bend the rules to your will".

"..." His eyes shook and his body quivered, 'She knows'.

Not only that, she said with such a powerful assurance and security. There was no way he could deny her claims.

"From your point of view, the moment you opened your eyes, the reality was already sliced and surreal, am I correct?" It was this question she wished to ask, the green light shone upon both of them during the night, brighter than the sun itself.

Veyron's downcast face pointed at the ground and nodded.

"... yes"

It was as she said, although not completely correct... he didn't know he was in the world of one piece the moment he opened his eyes, but he knew he wasn't in his own world. After all, how could he be alive after being killed? those bullets couldn't possibly be just a dream, all of his memories as Alexander Graham couldn't be a lie.

"That's why you didn't find it hard to alter reality itself with the power that's the most compatible with your mind, what you have always wanted to do".

"I always wanted to live in a world in which I was not limited by gravity, the speed of light, physical rules or thermodynamics... every day I write equations to try to understand them yet I can never break them; it is like shackles... I wanted to be free".

"And I wanted to be able to cut anything. That is the 4th Haki".

For a while there was silence with their eyes focused on the scattering soil of an island that was fated to be destroyed. She knelt down and rubbed his head.

"You don't have to tell me anything. Just answer me one question".

"..."

"You will stay here, right? You're not going back" Her gaze indicated she was ready to fight to the death anyone that wanted to take him away from her, thankfully... there wasn't such a person.

He shook his head repeatedly, "I'm happy here with you, I won't leave!".

A heartwarming hug was the end of it, he had secrets, she had secrets... and both respected that. She carried Veyron who was now reaching the height of her chest by now and placed him on her shoulders.

"Let's go and get your baboons, they won't survive on this island for long".

"Hmn!"

"Also, son".

"Yes, mom?~"

"What's your real age?".

"..."

"..."

"Hehe, could I not answer that?"

"Hmph, you might be older than me with how much of a perverted brat you are".

"Haha hahaha... what things are you saying mom, that's impossible..."