...
Duramos Island,
The seaside town,
Gone were the peaceful days of old. Every household had their doors and windows locked tight.
On the road outside town,
the kingdom's regular army slowly approached, led by several nobles.
Against New World pirates, they'd fold like wet paper—just seeing a pirate flag could make them sprint three miles.
But facing unarmed civilians, they transformed into war gods, brandishing swords and spears.
Don't want to pay taxes?
One slash to kill your rebellious spirit!
In his younger days, Old Kik was confident he could slice through these scrubs seven ways to Sunday. But now he was old,
too old to even use Haki anymore.
"Hey! Old bastard!! Give up now!
To think one old fool could cost the kingdom so much money..."
The lead noble squinted, greed flashing in his eyes.
"Count, His Majesty wants us to wrap this shit up quickly. The World Government officials will arrive soon."
Another noble approached, leaning close to whisper in the old noble's ear.
"Got it."
The old noble straightened his collar. "Then, all forces attack!!!"
Whoosh—
The moment his words fell, dust suddenly kicked up from the front of their formation, making the old noble frown.
"What the hell's happening?!"
But no one answered him.
In his vision, a scrawny figure slowly emerged, dragging the body of a soldier who'd been instantly killed,
swaying as he appeared in sight.
It was Old Kik.
"Where'd this old geezer come from! Too old to chew tofu without breaking teeth, still trying to act tough.
I think you want to die!"
The old noble stared at that aged figure like he was looking at a corpse.
"Already this decrepit, what are you still dreaming about!"
He immediately ordered all soldiers to raise their weapons and charge at that old figure.
Just one washed-up pirate—the king was being way too cautious.
Remembering all the king's warnings before departure, he wanted to laugh.
Something about "World Government investigations found suspicious shit in this town, we might need to gather more intel"...
Ridiculous.
Just take this town and they'd have enough money to join the World Government. That's how their rule would last!
The old noble gazed at the still somewhat prosperous town in the distance, already calculating how many Belly he could pocket.
Meanwhile,
the sturdy soldiers charged at Old Kik, making his pressure skyrocket.
Behind him, the townspeople's makeshift militia was shaking like leaves,
fighting kitchen knives against swords and spears—how could they possibly win!
"Damn it!! Upstart scum..."
Old Kik gritted his teeth, watching the circles of so-called "elite soldiers" surrounding him.
These scrubs wouldn't even beat pirate fodder on the seas.
A fallen tiger bullied by dogs!!!
"If Aus were here, how could you insects be so damn smug!"
"Scared into babbling nonsense? You old fool, I'll just..."
"Thud—"
"Thud—"
"Thud—"
"..."
Before his threat finished, the previously vicious soldiers began dropping in waves.
The old noble's words stuck in his throat, cutting off like a broken record, his face freezing instantly.
"What the..."
Along with his final whisper before losing consciousness, the commanding noble also face-planted into the dirt.
This bizarre scene left Old Kik, who'd been ready to fight to the death, standing frozen in place.
But having seen plenty of the world,
he immediately caught on, his face flushing red as he began looking around frantically.
"Hey! You little shit!! Is that you?"
But no matter how Old Kik looked left and right, he couldn't spot that figure he'd been dreaming of day and night.
Unknown to him,
the brat he'd been thinking about was still thousands of meters away at sea.
"Better to arrive at the right time than early..."
Aus saw everything happening on the island and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Good thing Amazon Lily wasn't by South Blue, or the old man and neighbors really would've been screwed.
"Your Conqueror's Haki control... is getting more precise, Aus."
Seeing the Conqueror's Haki lightning released from kilometers away precisely knock out a group of people, Mihawk praised genuinely.
But Aus wasn't really listening, just getting some black lines on his face.
You're the one who's precise...
After searching everywhere and seeing no one, it was a coastal resident who told Old Kik that a red ship had appeared on the shoreline.
A red ship???
After a moment's thought, Old Kik immediately bolted toward the shore.
Sure enough, that distinctive spiked bow and mermaid figurehead...
"Hey!!! Old man!!!"
At the ship's bow,
Aus saw that jumping figure on shore and waved back.
In a blink, the Oro Jackson teleported to the dock.
"It really is Aus!!!"
"Haven't seen him in so many years, almost didn't recognize him!"
"Hey, Jessie, is that still the same Aus? He must be over three meters tall now..."
The residents erupted in unprecedented welcome and surprise seeing Aus's entrance.
Only Old Kik, who'd been bouncing around, suddenly went still.
He just stared straight at that high-spirited figure.
This presence, so damn similar...
Not physically similar, but that pure aura of strength was so similar...
to that man he'd once followed.
The three-meter-tall imposing figure suddenly appeared beside Old Kik,
honestly making him feel like he was dreaming.
But looking at that face, similar to the brat in his memories...
"What's wrong? Old man, don't recognize me?"
"You little shit..."
Looking at Aus crouching down to meet his eyes, Old Kik had planned what to say when they met, like:
"Why did you sneak off with Roger! Don't you know he's my enemy!!!"
"Hahaha, you brat, you've made it big now, beating up the Marines and becoming a sea overlord!!!"
"You haven't come back to see this old man in so long, you've forgotten where you came from!!!"
"..."
But when he actually saw Aus appear before him with a smile, looking at this brat he'd raised with his own blood, sweat, and tears, the waterworks started despite his best efforts.
In the end, all that came out was:
"Looks like you're wearing clothes properly, and you've grown pretty strong...
That's really great."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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