December 22, 1500, Age of the Sea Circle
High up in the skies, Orion was flying at full speed, encased within an air bubble shaped like a paw, thanks to the powers of Kuma's Devil Fruit. A week had passed since his encounter with the pirate Donquixote Doflamingo, and during that time he had managed to settle all his affairs in the North Blue.
After successfully escaping from Doflamingo's clutches, having stolen two Devil Fruits along with all the treasure from his ship, Orion was in excellent spirits, though he had not let his guard down entirely. Now that he had enraged this madman, it was possible that the pirate would seek revenge against Orion, and against the Revolutionary Army as well, since they too had taken part in the actions carried out against him on this occasion.
For that reason, once Orion and Kuma returned to the headquarters of the Northern Army, they immediately began to evacuate everyone stationed there, preparing to abandon the hideout and establish a new base.
There was no other choice, since the location of this "secret" base had been compromised, and if they stayed they would become easy targets for the pirate's retaliation. With the current strength of the Northern Army, there was no way they could withstand an assault from Doflamingo and his crew, leaving no option but to keep a low profile and avoid confrontation for the time being.
Furthermore, Orion had made use of his Prism Eyes and Evaluation Cards, which he had acquired from the system's kingdom shop, to examine every single member of the Northern Army in search of potential threats within their ranks. The results had been grim, for Orion uncovered more than fifty spies from different organizations.
It was to be expected that an organization just beginning to take its first steps and growing at such a rapid pace would be somewhat permeable to infiltration, yet the situation within the Northern Army was particularly dire.
In the Southern Army, under Ginny's command, every new member was personally screened by Orion before being admitted to the headquarters inside his kingdom, which made that branch far more secure. On the other hand, Karasu had long been living with the sword of Damocles hanging over his head, and it was hardly surprising that the original commander assigned to this Blue had been eliminated after only a year in office.
Fortunately, Orion had carried out an inspection now, exposing all of these moles, for otherwise the situation could very well have ended in tragedy someday.
Karasu blamed himself bitterly for the matter, convinced that he had failed in his role as a leader, but neither Orion nor Kuma had any intention of reproaching him. The state of affairs in the North Blue was abnormal, and the cause was none other than the presence of the pirate Donquixote Doflamingo, whose tentacles gripped this sea with an iron hold.
Orion did not spend much time on the traitors, leaving it to Karasu to deal with them as he saw fit. After all, the shy revolutionary was the leader of this branch, and Orion was only there to lend a hand. It was not his place to make such weighty decisions here, even if he was a founding member with a higher rank than Karasu.
Once Orion had helped with the identification and purge of these spies, he employed his Pocket Dimension and his inventory to assist in relocating the base. With the combined help of Orion and Kuma, the process was far quicker than usual, and in only two days the new Northern Army base was fully operational.
At last, however, the time came to part ways with Kuma, as he needed to return to the West Blue to attend to his responsibilities as leader. Kuma had been absent for nearly a month, if one counted all the time spent traveling across three of the four Blues, and he could no longer afford to remain away from his new home in the West Blue.
Although Orion had not been able to complete the mission related to Kuma, and felt he was still far from achieving it, he believed he had made significant progress during this time with the gentle revolutionary. Some matters could not be rushed, and Orion would need patience, slowly wearing down the invisible chains that bound Kuma.
Opening a Space Gate, Orion first allowed Reira, Garride, and Baby 5 to return directly to Pacific Kingdom. His plan was still to make the journey home aided by Kuma's Devil Fruit powers, so as to further explore the hidden parts of the map in the system.
The distance from the North Blue to Pacific Kingdom was vast, and the route would take him across a large portion of the North Blue, then through the second half of the Grand Line, two Calm Belts, the West Blue, the Red Line, and finally a part of the South Blue.
The journey was unimaginably extensive. Orion would be able to uncover vast stretches of the map that were still shrouded in darkness, and perhaps encounter some Named Characters along the way. It was simply a voyage he could not resist, given the countless possibilities it held.
Moreover, if any trouble arose along the route, he could always use his Space Gate to return immediately to his kingdom, making it unlikely that there would be any real problems.
Even so, this was quite a long journey in its duration. Even at the great speed Kuma's powers sent him flying, it would probably take around ten days. Since Orion would be traveling without Kuma on this occasion, he couldn't stop midway to rest inside his Pocket Dimension as he had done before, since once he stopped the power of Kuma would dissipate.
For this reason, Orion decided to send his three companions first through the Space Gate, so they wouldn't have to spend two weeks locked up inside the Pocket Dimension.
After his subordinates crossed the portal back home, Orion didn't dissolve it immediately, since Kuma would also be going through it to reach his kingdom and send back to the North Blue the members who had been transported to Pacific Kingdom to save them from Doflamingo.
It should be noted that this group of revolutionaries was "clean," since Orion had already conducted a round of analysis on the group that had accompanied Karasu on the mission to steal the Buki Buki no Mi. In that group there had been two of Doflamingo's spies, whom Orion had eliminated after forcing them to send false information to the pirate.
It was that very information that had made Doflamingo overconfident and attack Karasu, neglecting his ship and allowing Orion to strip it bare, so one could say his own spies had been used against him by Orion.
Although Doflamingo was a brilliant schemer, he was still green, and he still had much to mature before becoming the powerful pirate he would one day become. Perhaps Orion had taught him a valuable lesson this time.
Finally, Orion said farewell to Kuma with a strong hug, agreeing to see him again in a few months, and the gentle revolutionary smacked him hard, sending him flying through the skies at full speed, before jumping through the Space Gate just before it disappeared.
Now, five days later, Orion was halfway through his journey across the skies on his way back home, and was peacefully taking a small nap. However, he was about to run headfirst into an unexpected event.
The paw-shaped air bubble was advancing through the skies at a great speed, and to the eyes of an ordinary person would be almost unnoticeable, but if there was one thing that could be found in the waters of the New World, where Orion was currently traveling, it was people far from ordinary.
Edward, who was drinking liquor with great satisfaction, focused his gaze in the distance, letting his Observation Haki expand explosively, covering an incredible range. At once, he showed a smile and the curious expression of a small child.
"Pops, what's going on? Why did you stop drinking?" said Marco, the crew's doctor, seeing his father look at the sky with great interest, though there was nothing there.
"Gurarararara, I just found something interesting!" Edward replied, and before his sons could ask him more questions, he raised his hand and closed his fist, making the clouds in the distant sky begin to shift violently.
Orion, who had been napping peacefully, immediately opened his eyes upon sensing the changes around him. Even though he was asleep, he never fell into a deep slumber, because he knew that was one of the stupidest ways to tempt death in this world full of dangers.
That was the reason why he only took short naps during his long trip back home, and this time his caution had been justified. Looking around, Orion felt a great force pressing on his body and on everything around him, though not in a fatal way.
It was clear that the person who was distorting the very air around him had no real intention of hurting him, but there was no telling whether Orion would end up as a puddle of blood in the sky with a small miscalculation from the wielder of this monstrous power.
Orion immediately activated his Prism Eyes, and he could see how the sky around him was cracked, as if it were a shattered window about to collapse. That wasn't visible to a normal person, but Orion's ability allowed him to see beyond what lay on the surface, peering into the true nature of things, even if only slightly.
The air bubble in which Orion was traveling collided head-on with the fissures that had formed in the sky and exploded without resistance, making a faint sound.
Pop!
Without the support of Kuma's ability, which had been canceled by the other power, Orion began to fall at great speed from the heights.
Since Kuma feared something like this could happen, he usually made sure the people he sent flying were as far from the surface as possible, and unless he was in a hurry when using his powers, he didn't make mistakes in that regard.
This time had been no exception, so Orion had been traveling at an incredible altitude. When he lost the support of Kuma's ability, the distance from which he fell was enough to kill him a thousand times. Even so, Orion did not panic, since with his abilities, controlling his descent would not be a problem. The problem was what he would find upon descending.
Edward, who had just used the powers of his Devil Fruit to interrupt Orion's journey, stretched out his hand again, ready to save the figure who had been flying through the skies and bring him over. But before he could do so, he observed with some surprise how Orion twisted in the air and then began running through the skies as if he were running on solid ground.
"Geppo," Edward muttered, narrowing his eyes. That was a technique generally used by marines and Cipher Pol, though it wasn't exclusive to them. Edward stopped his movement to help Orion descend and simply crossed his arms, watching with interest as the young man came down from the skies until he reached his location.
On the other hand, Orion wasn't in such a carefree state of mind, since while descending from the skies he had opened the system map screen to take a look, and had discovered that there was a large number of Named Characters in this location. Counting all the markers in the place, there were nearly twenty Named Characters, which was truly impressive.
However, what put the most pressure on Orion was one of the markers, a name he had heard countless times from the mouth of his master Roger: Edward Newgate, also called Whitebeard!
This was a legendary pirate, who stood at the same level as his master Roger. Moreover, in recent years his influence had grown immensely, to the point that almost everyone in the world knew who he was, and he was publicly recognized as the strongest man in the world!
Orion knew that Whitebeard was not an unreasonable pirate, and that he would not try to eliminate him immediately, but even so he couldn't help but feel immense pressure when standing before such a legend. After all, Newgate truly could erase him with a simple flick of his finger.
Doing everything possible to control his emotions, Orion descended with elegance and finally landed on the deck of the great ship shaped like a whale, under the curious gazes of all present.
As usual, Whitebeard's pirates were having a grand feast with alcohol and delicious food, and Orion's arrival presented itself to them as an interesting novelty. None of those present had any worry over Orion's sudden appearance, since they were at the pinnacle of power in this world. Some might call it arrogance, but in reality it was simply the absolute confidence that only the powerful can possess.
"Hey, brat, what are you doing flying through the skies like that? Did you piss off someone you shouldn't have?" said Whitebeard, looking Orion up and down with a smile.
As usual, Orion was maintaining his adult form thanks to his Age Change ability, so his current appearance was that of a young man of about twenty years. To Whitebeard's eyes, however, he was still nothing more than a brat like any other.
With his vast experience, Whitebeard immediately recognized the powers of Kuma's Nikyu Nikyu no Mi, since the shape of the air bubble created by the ability was unmistakable. For that reason, upon seeing Orion flying through the skies at great speed, asleep, the first thing that crossed his mind was that he had been attacked by the user of that Devil Fruit and condemned to fly until his death.
Despite being a pirate feared by many, Edward Newgate was quite a kind man by nature, so his idea in interrupting Orion's path had been to lend him a hand to free him from Kuma's ability. Of course, he had also done it because he was a bit bored, and it was always fun to meet all sorts of strange people like Orion.
For a moment, Orion didn't know how to respond to Whitebeard. However, seeing that the pirate had no hostility toward him, Orion relaxed a little and answered with the truth.
"No, the user of that Devil Fruit is my friend, he simply used his powers to send me home," Orion said with a smile. Then he took a step forward, and with a small bow, continued:
"My name is Orion Lysander, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Newgate, my master spoke a lot about you."
Whitebeard was quite surprised to see that Orion did not appear afraid of his presence, since usually people would tremble just from the aura he naturally radiated. Years of piracy had given him a particular charisma, but also an aura that could intimidate ordinary people.
"Gurarararara, your master spoke about me? And who is this master you speak of?" Whitebeard replied casually. However, Orion's next actions truly surprised him.
"My master is Roger!" Orion said with a smile, and then raised the palm of his hand, and with a thought he pulled out his cutlass Ace from the inventory.
As soon as Whitebeard saw the sword materialize in Orion's hand, his eyes narrowed until they became small points, and frowning, he stepped forward in a threatening manner.
"Damn brat… where did you get that sword?" Whitebeard said, looking at Orion seriously. His eyes seemed to pierce into the depths of his being, examining each of his gestures in search of lies.
When a person reached a level of Haki mastery like Newgate's, it was easy to filter out falsehoods in people.
Orion was not intimidated by Whitebeard's change in demeanor, and recalling the past with somewhat distant eyes and a smile, he replied:
"My master Roger gave it to me before he died. It's the only memento I have of him."
Whitebeard released a bit of his Conqueror's Haki, though very faintly, pressing down on Orion as he continued to look at him intently. However, upon seeing the pristine clarity in Orion's eyes, he finally let out a slight sigh, planning to withdraw the Haki with which he was pressing down on him to see if Orion would crack and reveal something different from what he was claiming.
Yet just as he was about to pull back his Conqueror's Haki, a wave of energy burst forth from Orion's body, clashing directly against Whitebeard's Haki. It didn't manage to cancel out the pirate's overwhelming power, but it did cause small ripples before vanishing entirely.
Whitebeard looked at him with surprise, questioning with his eyes what Orion's intentions were in unleashing his Conqueror's Haki against him, while Orion, who had panicked, blurted out:
"Uhhh, it was an accident… I still can't control my Haki properly."
Orion wasn't lying. While he was indeed capable of unleashing his Conqueror's Haki at will and giving it some direction, that didn't mean he could control it completely. In this case, his Haki had instinctively reacted to Whitebeard's Haki pressing on the atmosphere around him.
"Gurarararara! What an insolent brat, I suppose you really do have a connection to Roger after all!"
Whitebeard laughed heartily for a few seconds, then raised his hand again and said:
"Oi, there's no need to get so tense, can't you see he's just a brat?"
Only then did Orion realize the situation around him. The rest of Whitebeard's crew, among whom were nearly twenty Named Characters, had drawn their weapons and were glaring at him with hostility, ready to cut him down if he made a wrong move.
After all, releasing his Conqueror's Haki in front of Whitebeard was, for the crew, practically a declaration of open hostility.
Upon hearing their father's words, the other pirates immediately put their weapons away and returned to the carefree posture they had had moments earlier, eating and drinking merrily while watching Orion with curiosity.
"Brat, your name's Orion, right? Come, drink with us!" said Whitebeard who, after identifying him as Roger's disciple, showed no resentment toward him.
Although Whitebeard and Roger were rivals, they were not bitter enemies. Their relationship was far more complicated than that, and much friendlier as well. Whitebeard had no reason whatsoever to feel hostility toward Orion, and with his relaxed personality, he immediately invited him to join the banquet.
In truth, Whitebeard already had a good impression of Orion after having interacted with him for only a few moments; otherwise, he would have told him to leave without another word. For people at the level of Edward Newgate, sometimes a single look was enough to know what kind of person someone was.
Seeing that the pirates of this legendary crew had put away their weapons and were once again celebrating joyfully, Orion let out a sigh of relief, feeling cold sweat run down his back. If he truly had been attacked by this group of monsters, he would have died a thousand times before being able to respond!
As for the reason he had revealed his connection to Roger to Whitebeard, it was because he needed to have a serious conversation with the legendary pirate before him, and he needed to establish some form of relationship with him in order to do so.
Knowing the bond between Roger and Whitebeard, and the personality of the strongest man in the world as told through Roger's stories, Orion had considered that revealing his status was the best course of action.
If there was something Roger and Whitebeard shared, it was that Oden had traveled with both of them as part of their crews. Right now, Toki was in a coma inside the Pocket Dimension, and Orion wanted to speak with Whitebeard about it, to tell him what had happened in Wano.
Although Orion had already leaked the information about what had taken place in Wano to the world through the Revolutionary Army, that country was completely closed to outsiders, and what happened there was beyond the reach of those in the outside world.
Orion did not know whether Whitebeard was aware of what had happened, but in any case, Orion planned to tell him what he himself had seen there with his own eyes, and perhaps he could gain the most powerful ally to face Kaido and liberate Wano.
Even so, Orion was in no rush to bring up the matter, and thought he should first get a little more acquainted with this legendary pirate. For that reason, he dashed toward the table laden with food and began eating cheerfully, along with the rest of the pirates present.