October 11, 1501, Age of the Sea Circle
Orion examined the wound on Shanks's eye, confirming that it was indeed quite severe. Just by looking at it, Orion could tell that Shanks had used his Armament Haki to protect the eye and keep from going blind, though the skin of his face had not been able to withstand the force of the strike, leaving a deep wound composed of three gashes across his left eye.
However, even though the initial injury Shanks had received wasn't so dangerous thanks to his use of Armament Haki, the wound had worsened over the days, and this was because it had never been treated by a professional doctor.
From what Orion remembered, Shanks didn't have a doctor in his crew, and until now he had never needed one. But with the red-haired man about to lose his eye to the infection that had begun spreading, Orion couldn't help but feel a wave of irritation at the pirate's careless attitude.
"How's the wound looking, Orion?" Shanks asked with his usual carefree smile.
"How is it? It looks like shit!" Orion snapped back with obvious irritation, not pausing in his work as he continued tending the pirate's injured eye.
"For starters, why didn't you seek medical attention right away? Judging by the progress of this infection, I'd say it's been several days since you were hurt. Do you actually want to lose the eye?" Orion went on, scolding Shanks's attitude.
"Hahaha, don't worry so much, isn't everything fine now that I came here for you to treat it? I knew that if I came all the way here, there wouldn't be any problems," Shanks replied, still in his relaxed, carefree tone.
Orion didn't bother answering the red-haired pirate, who seemed to have deep faith in his abilities, and instead concentrated solely on the treatment, making sure there would be no long-term issues with the man's eye.
If Shanks were to lose his eye at this moment, his combat strength would certainly drop considerably, and that was not something Orion wanted to see happen, no matter how often he felt the urge to give him a beating.
What Orion didn't know was that his presence had once again slightly altered the course of the original timeline. Because of this wound, Shanks would go on to recruit a doctor for his crew, who would later become one of the most important members of his band.
Still, since Orion hadn't directly intervened or willingly changed that outcome, the hidden forces that guided the flow of this timeline would "correct" the event. In other words, Orion's mere presence hadn't erased Shanks's recruitment of a doctor, it had only shifted the date.
Obviously, Orion was unaware that this was happening and simply remained focused on Shanks's treatment.
"If you were to lose your eye, you would no longer be a worthy rival to me," Mihawk suddenly said from the side, where he had been silently watching.
"Ha ha ha! Mihawk, always so humble! Don't worry, even if I were missing an arm, I could still take you down!" Shanks shot back with a fierce grin, not the least bit intimidated by the swordsman's words.
"Orion, you may not know this, but this strange sideburned fellow is recognized as the greatest swordsman. Still, he has never been able to defeat me in a duel!" Shanks added, his arrogant tone tinged with a hint of playful exaggeration as he pointed a finger at Mihawk.
"That's because you use your Haki every time you're about to lose…" Mihawk replied calmly, unfazed by Shanks's attempt to provoke him.
"Ha! That's just an excuse! The truth is you can't admit that—ah! Damn it, that hurts!" Shanks cried out suddenly as pain shot through his eye.
"Instead of chattering like a parrot, why don't you stay still and let me work? Or do you really want to lose the eye?" Orion growled, casting a dark glare at the red-haired pirate, who, despite being seriously injured, still behaved as if nothing were wrong.
Seeing Orion's grim expression, Shanks cleared his throat and, after muttering something unintelligible, fell silent, allowing Orion to continue his treatment. Still, he kept making faces at Mihawk, who simply ignored him and maintained his usual composure.
After a few minutes, Orion finished the treatment and, after giving Shanks some medicine, he sighed with relief, knowing at least that the pirate wouldn't lose his eye to this incident.
"What happened? Who injured you like this?" Orion asked, unable to hide his curiosity.
Shanks met his gaze for a moment, keeping quiet as if weighing whether or not to tell him what had happened. At last, he sighed, shrugged, and replied,
"A guy named Teach, from Whitebeard's crew. He's dangerous, Orion. If you ever cross paths with him in the future, don't let your guard down"
With that curt response, Shanks stood up from the rock where he had been sitting, walked over to where Uta was, scooped her into his arms, and tossed her high into the air with delight, clearly with no intention of discussing the matter any further.
Orion had no intention of pressing him either, since it was obvious Shanks didn't want to delve into it. Even so, he recalled his own encounter with Marshall D. Teach during his visit aboard Whitebeard's ship, and he made a mental note to exercise special caution with this man.
After all, someone capable of injuring Shanks was not an ordinary person, and the strangest part of all was that Teach wasn't one of the famous pirates in Whitebeard's crew, but rather just someone who kept himself hidden among the ranks of the legendary captain.
There was definitely something very suspicious about that individual, and coupled with the fact that he was a Named Character (VIP), Orion surmised that he was probably someone quite troublesome. Fortunately, for the time being, Orion had no connection to him, as their spheres of action were completely different.
However, Orion was destined to one day compete on the same battlefield as the most powerful people in this world, so a possible clash with Teach was not something that could be entirely ruled out.
With the arrival of the red-haired pirate's crew, the situation on the small island grew even more chaotic, since this colorful band of individuals immediately abandoned their "serious mode" and began to celebrate as if there were no tomorrow, drinking alcohol like sponges and devouring the delicacies that Lucky Roux had volunteered to cook.
"Hey kid, your food is delicious!" one of the pirates said cheerfully.
"Yeah, you should join our crew as a cook! We've been looking for a good one for a while now, but Shanks is never satisfied with the candidates!" another pirate chimed in, stuffing his cheeks with rice balls.
"Guys, don't cause trouble. Roux is part of Orion's crew, don't you think it's a bit bold to ask him to abandon them and join us instead?" said Benn Beckman, who as usual acted as the voice of reason among the pirates.
The pirates turned to look at Orion, who was watching them with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, and a shiver ran down their spines.
"Ha ha, it was just a joke, right guys?" said one of the pirates who moments earlier had been urging Lucky Roux to join their crew.
"Yeah, yeah! Just a little joke, ha ha ha!"
"We were only testing his loyalty!"
"Who would want a fucking fat guy like that on our crew anyway?!"
The pirates immediately began nodding and retracting their earlier invitations, though some went a bit too far in their attempts to take back their words, blurting out things that were practically insults directed at the plump youth.
Orion merely shook his head and went on celebrating with the pirates, drinking rum merrily, while Hototogisu leaned against him, trying to seduce him with her alluring curves.
Truth be told, when Orion heard the pirates inviting Lucky Roux to join them, he had briefly considered sending the teenager along with them for a while. It was obvious that Roux had grown much stronger lately, but his experience was still very limited.
In the peaceful and remote South Blue, there weren't enough challenges for someone with the talent of Lucky Roux or Gab to truly expand their lacking experience. If they could actually join Shanks and travel with him through the Grand Line, they would undoubtedly discover a new world, and all the hours of training they had endured under Orion's command could finally shine.
If such a situation were to happen, Orion had no doubt that both boys could become much stronger in a short amount of time, which would certainly be a great benefit to him and to Pacific Kingdom.
Even so, these thoughts were fleeting, and Orion eventually dismissed the idea, since he had no intention of letting two of his most talented subordinates serve under the hateful Shanks, with whom he had a certain rivalry—though Shanks himself had no idea about it.
"Hey Orion, this little nakama of yours eats quite a lot!" Shanks said, lifting Lily up by her shirt.
In her miniature state, she had been running across the large table full of food, devouring anything she came across and stealing dishes right out of the hands of many of the pirates present.
"Ah! Let me go, let me go! Help me, Orion!" Lily cried with tears in her eyes, struggling to break free of Shanks's grip.
Ever since the last time she had seen the red-haired man, when he had released a hint of his Conqueror's Haki to warn Orion not to lay hands on Uta in the future, the little giantess had felt somewhat frightened of Shanks.
For that reason, now that she was being held up in the air by him, she didn't dare fight back too violently, and had no choice but to call for Orion's help in tears.
"Shanks, let Lily go. If you bully her, I'll poison you the next time I give you medicine," Orion said, still drinking happily.
Shanks immediately burst into laughter at Orion's words and simply let Lily go, who bolted away at full speed. With some timidity, she then declared,
"D-don't think I'm afraid of you! I am a warrior of Elbaf!"
Then the tiny giantess began to grow, returning to her natural size before the astonished eyes of the pirates.
"Hey, that little girl was a giant!"
"How interesting, no wonder she had such a big appetite."
"From this angle I can see her panties!"
The pirates began chatting animatedly while watching Lily, though some of them were far too focused on certain parts of her body that were particularly easy to see from the ground.
"Elbaf… that reminds me, Scopper Gaban is there," Shanks said suddenly, a pensive look in his eyes.
"Scopper Gaban? Master Roger's left hand?" Orion asked in surprise, since he had no information whatsoever about the whereabouts of Roger's former companions, except for Rayleigh, who according to Revolutionary Army intel was in Sabaody.
"That's right. Apparently, he fell in love with a giantess and they had a child. I've been planning to visit him when I have the time," Shanks replied with a broad smile, recalling his days sailing alongside Roger and the others.
On the other hand, Orion brought a hand to his chin, thinking that Scopper Gaban was truly a man of culture and an example to follow. He too wanted to one day visit the legendary nation of the giants and "battle" with the beautiful warrior women there—though perhaps not anytime soon, as he had no intention of venturing into the New World yet.
Amidst the lively atmosphere, the celebrations continued for many hours until the sun began to set on the horizon. Just before daylight faded completely, Mihawk decided to make his move.
"Shanks, what about the duel we agreed to have? In your condition, you won't be a match for me," said the swordsman, sipping wine from an elegant glass that he seemed to have brought with him.
"Ha! If it's a fight you want, I've got no problem beating you down right now. Or are you planning to use the wound on my eye as an excuse not to fight?" Shanks said, planting his foot aggressively on the table. After hours of drinking, he was already quite drunk.
"In your current state, I'm not very interested in a fight, though we could postpone it a few days," Mihawk replied, taking another sip of his wine.
Then he fixed his gaze on Orion and added,
"Although I'm rather curious about your friend. Is it true that you lost a duel against him?"
The smile vanished from Shanks's face, and he immediately stood up on the table, raising his arms to the sky as he shouted,
"No! That was just carelessness! Are you trying to provoke me, you bastard?!"
Mihawk took another sip of wine and ignored the red-haired pirate completely. Looking at Orion with his usual calm, he said,
"So, what do you say, would you like to duel me? The rules will be the same as your duel with Shanks, and once I win, it will prove that Shanks is inferior to me."
Although Mihawk was much more serious than Shanks, he shared certain traits with the redhead, such as his competitiveness and pettiness. Orion would never have expected such a proposal from Mihawk the first time he had seen him, but now that he had interacted with him a little, it didn't seem so strange.
"Alright! Sounds good!" Orion said, standing up and walking toward the lakeshore, where there was enough space for a little sparring.
However, just as Orion and Mihawk were about to begin their duel, a bell rang in his mind, and new notifications appeared on the system screen.
*Ding*
*New Special Mission available*
*Do you wish to accept this mission? Yes/No*
Orion read the notifications and noticed a small timer beneath them, counting down, with only one minute left!
Evidently, he had just one minute to decide whether to accept this "Special Mission." Yet, this was the first time Orion had ever received such a mission, so he had no idea what he might encounter if he chose to accept it.
Moreover, the system offered no additional information about the mission, and it was likely that such details would only appear once he agreed to take it. Clearly, the system was pressuring him to accept, even without providing any information at all.
The countdown ticking away second by second pushed him to think that he would lose an irreplaceable opportunity if he refused.
Mihawk watched Orion curiously, as he suddenly stopped walking toward the beach and wore a somewhat somber expression. However, before he could voice his doubts, Orion turned around and dashed back toward the table at full speed using Soru.
This sudden movement came from Orion's decision to accept the mission, even if it was a gamble. But after the mission was accepted, he did not receive the information he had expected; instead, the timer kept running without pause, while another notification appeared.
*The Special Mission has three possible difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard. Select the difficulty before the time limit, or one will be assigned at random (the greater the difficulty, the greater the rewards).*
Orion's mind began racing, and he finally decided to choose "Normal" difficulty. After all, he was already gambling just by accepting the mission, and he didn't think it wise to raise the stakes even higher in such an unknown scenario.
What if the system once again placed him in a situation like the one in Wano, where he had to face a monster like Kaido? In that case, if he chose the maximum difficulty, he might not survive long enough to enjoy the rewards.
After so many years of training, Orion had a fair amount of confidence in his current abilities, and he didn't believe the system would throw him into something quite that extreme, yet he was not willing to risk everything over a careless choice.
After choosing the difficulty, new notifications appeared.
*Difficulty selected: Normal*
*You will be transported to the mission location in 10 seconds*
"Fuck!" Orion thought with frustration, once again receiving no further information. Yet he had no time to waste, since in just ten seconds he would be transported elsewhere.
He immediately sprinted toward the table in the distance under Mihawk's curious gaze, reaching Hototogisu and the tiny giant Lily—who was perched on the girl's shoulder—and without a word of explanation, he grabbed the expressionless girl by the arm and hurled her into a Space Gate, sending her back to Pacific Kingdom.
Then he turned and looked toward Lucky Roux and Gab, who were celebrating cheerfully in the distance. However, it was already too late, as the timer struck zero.
"Shanks, take care of my two Nakama until I return," Orion said with the last second he had left, staring seriously at the red-haired man before vanishing without leaving a trace.
Orion fell through the space-time tunnel, transported as he had been so many times before. Glancing at the system screen, he saw that 25,000 SP were deducted from his more than 150,000 SP already accumulated. Clearly, even though the system hadn't mentioned it, it was impossible to be transported without paying a price.
*Ding*
*The system will be locked for the duration of the special mission. Good luck.*
"Fuck!!" Orion shouted in sheer frustration, realizing that this time the situation was truly abnormal.
Not only had the system just been locked, but he had received no information whatsoever about his objectives! How was he supposed to complete the mission if he didn't even know what he was meant to do?
Orion's journey through the space-time tunnel did not last long, only a few seconds, which at least gave him some information about his destination: he was not that far from his previous position in the Grand Line.
Suddenly, Orion was expelled from the tunnel, crashing headfirst into some iron bars with a loud clang.
Rubbing his head with indignation at the system's inefficiency in transporting him properly, Orion looked around, only to find a scene that made him furrow his brow.
In the dark stone chamber, countless cages were packed with all sorts of people. Most of the individuals in this place radiated a palpable resignation, though it was not the only emotion Orion could perceive. Terror, anger, disgust—the negative emotions among these people were plain to see, without him even needing to activate his Prism Eyes.
Suddenly, a door swung open in the distance, and a man carrying a club stormed in aggressively.
"Who's making so much noise?! Do you want to die? Don't you know where you are right now? This is Mary Geoise! If you don't want to be eliminated immediately, you'd better not make me angry!" the man shouted furiously, though Orion could clearly sense that he too was terrified.
However, Orion had no time to concern himself with the emotions of this man who had suddenly appeared, for the words "Mary Geoise" had left him utterly stunned.
"Fuck! How did I end up in the middle of enemy territory?!" Orion thought in dismay, realizing that this time the system had sent him to a truly dangerous place.