At the dock, crew members watched this whole shitshow unfold, laughing their asses off—including Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban.
"What the hell?!"
Buggy had zero clue where this random brat learned his name, but that didn't stop him from being pissed at the kid's instant familiarity.
"Do I even know you? You just roll up here going 'What's up~'"
Buggy's face went red while he mimicked Aus's cheerful greeting. His impression was so dead-on that Shanks doubled over laughing, and the other crew members started cracking up too.
"Don't be like that, Buggy!"
Aus had skin thicker than ship armor. Facing a vessel packed with the New World's most dangerous killers, he showed zero fear, still grinning like an idiot. "My Observation Haki doesn't lie. We're gonna be best friends for sure."
Aus had long black hair that almost hit his waist. His face still had some baby fat, but you could already tell he'd be a heartbreaker. That smile could melt steel.
Shirtless, showing off faint scars and developing muscle, wearing simple military pants and boots with no fancy shit—just the bundle slung over his shoulder.
Vice-Captain "Dark King" Rayleigh's eyes went razor-thin at those words.
"Observation Haki awakened this young? And it seems like a special variant too."
"Like Redfield's?" Roger perked up, finding this interesting. He strolled over, hands gripping the ship's rail, staring down at the long-haired kid on the dock. "Oi! Brat, what brings you here?"
"To join you guys, obviously!"
Aus knew these top-tier monsters inside and out, so he answered with pure confidence.
Call him: The Sea's Charmer - Aus!
"Kid, why do you absolutely have to get on our ship?" The man who buried the world's greatest treasure at the sea's end—Pirate King Gol D. Roger—asked with genuine curiosity.
For this question, Aus happened to know the perfect answer:
"Hahaha... To flip this whole damn world upside down, of course!"
"HAHAHAHA!!!"
Hearing Aus spit out those words with such a baby face, Roger and Rayleigh went blank for a second, then locked eyes and exploded into laughter.
Both flashed back to their first meeting—the whole reason the Roger Pirates existed in the first place.
They saw their younger, hungrier selves in this cocky little shit.
"Hahaha! If you're not scared of dying, then get your ass on board!" Roger was a simple guy. Pure gut instinct made him wave his hand and green-light Aus's request.
Rayleigh, for once, didn't raise any objections, letting his captain's crazy impulses ride.
But Gaban and the others looked confused—this felt way too sudden. "Oi, Captain, our ship's turning into a damn nursery."
"Having such a whimsical captain... nothing we can do about it~" Other crew members just shrugged, showing helpless acceptance.
On the Roger Pirates, everyone shared one iron rule:
They could joke around, drink, and brawl all they wanted normally, but once the captain made a call, every single crew member backed it without question.
And that right there was Roger's insane charisma.
Watching this play out, Aus thought: No wonder this bastard had Golden Lion completely pussy-whipped. That leadership game was unreal.
Just like that, Aus successfully wormed his way onto the Pirate King's ship as a trainee.
Old Kik—former Rocks underling turned small-town mayor after Roger's crew demolished that empire—had just gotten home.
He'd been daydreaming about raising some monster like Whitebeard or Golden Lion who'd carry him to the top someday.
Seeing his house looking like it got hit by a tornado and spotting the note on the table, he went dead silent. Then absolutely lost his shit:
"Roger, you piece of *****!"
...
Aus watched the coastline shrink away. Some figure on the beach was jumping around like a maniac.
Even with his natural Observation Haki's limited range, his sharp eyes could make out what looked like the old mayor going apeshit.
"Oi! See ya later! I'll take care of myself!"
Aus saw the old man bouncing around to send him off, thinking the geezer was heartbroken about him leaving. He waved back just as hard, tears starting to blur his vision.
Nine years together—hell, even raising a dog would create some feelings.
"Always so hard on me, but finally showing some love when I'm leaving... you old bastard..."
Aus's emotional display caught Shanks and Buggy's attention. Seeing their fellow trainee getting all weepy, both came over and slapped his shoulders.
"Don't get all sad on us. From now on, we're your family and brothers!" Shanks smiled like he meant every word.
"Real men of the sea don't cry like babies, you idiot..." Buggy had a razor tongue but a marshmallow heart, trying to comfort him in his own twisted way.
Only Rayleigh, sipping his drink nearby, had his mouth twitch weirdly while eyeing the "old-school version of the three stooges."
After mulling it over, he kept his smart-ass comments to himself.
With Observation Haki strong enough to navigate the Calm Belt blindfolded, he could obviously sense what the old man was actually screaming—something like:
"Damn Roger, murdering people and crushing souls, I'll chase you to hell, you ##..."
Plus some stuff about someone's mother.
But since it involved the new crew member's family, Rayleigh decided to play deaf.
"Roger you #@**#, goddamn it... Hey! Aus, remember to wear a shirt so you don't freeze your ass off!!!"
Old Kik shouted through clenched teeth, wiping tears as he watched the Oro Jackson vanish into the sunset.
Days blurred into nights, sea breezes kept blowing.
Several days flew by.
Honestly, even with mental prep, life at sea was way more mind-numbing than Aus expected.
Nothing but endless blue ocean, Sea Kings that occasionally surfaced just to get knocked unconscious by the ship's Conqueror's Haki, non-stop parties and never-ending cleanup duty.
If he didn't have two buddies to shoot the shit with, Aus figured he'd go completely insane.
"Oi, Aus! You're slacking off again! And sleeping in my damn bed!"
The cabin door exploded open.
Buggy, fresh from scrubbing the deck, stormed in and grabbed Aus by the collar, baring his teeth like a rabid dog.
"Chill out, Buggy. I'll throw you some cash for the trouble!"
Getting ragdolled by his shirt, Aus didn't give two shits about Buggy's attitude. Instead, he fished some Belly from his pocket and stuffed it into Buggy's with a grin.
Watching Buggy's eyes turn into dollar signs, Aus straightened his collar. On this ship, probably only Buggy acted like an actual pirate—greedy, sneaky, but loyal as hell.
A little bribe money always cooled Buggy's jets.
That way he could catch some extra Z's.
Right then, a young voice hollered from outside:
"Aus! Buggy! Get your asses out here for training!"