Sabaody Archipelago.
White Ghost had been back for a while now. After the great war, he'd only stayed out cold for a single day before waking up.
In the days that followed, he slowly pieced a few things together.
Lately, the auction house had been dealing with a constant stream of "incidents"—pirates causing scenes, pirates using Rokushiki.
Heh.
Originally, Sengoku had wanted to promote him to vice admiral on the spot.
White Ghost refused on the grounds that he was "too lazy."
Sengoku spent half an hour screaming at him over the Den Den Mushi.
After that, a rumor began circulating around Headquarters:
White Ghost had gotten too full of himself. He looked down on everyone. He refused a vice admiral post because he wanted to jump straight to admiral.
When Sengoku heard that, he immediately launched an internal investigation.
In the end… nothing concrete turned up.
White Ghost didn't care. He stayed home to recuperate:
Healing Kuro, Jango, and Ain.
Guiding Uta, Hiyori, Wanda, and Pedro in their training.
Life became quiet and strangely peaceful.
Until the day a man in a fundoshi with a giant axe on his back showed up at his door.
"White Ghost, sir!" Sentomaru called. "The things you requested are ready."
He held out two bracelets.
White Ghost took them, removed his old storage bracelet, and carefully checked each new one. Finally, he nodded.
"Did the doctor say anything else?"
"This, uh… this…" Sentomaru scratched his head, suddenly awkward.
White Ghost frowned.
"Spit it out."
"Yes, sir!"
The moment that oppressive aura rolled off him, Sentomaru's spine turned to jelly. It wasn't entirely his fault. Ever since White Ghost's awakening, his Dragon's Might and Conqueror's Haki had started bleeding together. His control still wasn't perfect.
"T-the doctor said… he'd like a blood sample from you. Just one tube—for research."
Sentomaru watched White Ghost's face like a hawk, every muscle ready to bolt.
If the guy even twitched wrong, he was gone. In Sentomaru's mind, this man was the strongest creature in the world. Just a bit of leaked aura was enough to make his heart skip.
White Ghost simply nodded and pulled out a prepared vial of blood.
"I have one condition."
"Name it!" Sentomaru snapped ramrod straight.
White Ghost narrowed his eyes.
"If the doctor figures anything out… I want the details."
"Understood! I'll report it to Dr. Vegapunk right away. I'm sure he won't refuse."
The moment the vial hit his hand, Sentomaru spun around and sprinted off like a demon was on his heels.
White Ghost stared after him.
"Am I really that scary?"
Stella walked out, sat beside him, and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"You're the one leaking Haki everywhere," she said mildly. "Honestly, if we weren't used to it—and if you weren't trying to hold it in—we'd be just the same.
"Did you forget the other day?"
She still remembered it clearly.
They'd all been sitting around chatting. Everything was normal. Then suddenly her chest had felt tight, her breathing shallow. Hiyori and Uta had straight-up fainted.
It wasn't until White Ghost forcibly suppressed his aura that the pressure vanished.
Ain, Kuro, and Jango had handled it better, but their faces had been pale back then too.
White Ghost sighed.
"I've got it mostly under control now. No more random flare-ups."
He slipped an arm around Stella's slim waist.
"I actually think you have more presence now," she said softly. "Before, you always felt… like you didn't really belong in this world.
"Now… you do."
"Is that so?"
They looked at each other.
One breath.
Two.
Their heads drew closer and closer—
And right before their lips met, White Ghost abruptly stopped and pulled Stella into his chest instead.
She blinked, confused. She was shy, sure, but she wasn't going to push him away.
Then—
Click.
The door opened.
Ain stepped into the courtyard, just back from a mission. She paused at the scene in front of her, cheeks reddening slightly.
She didn't know why, but ever since White-bro had returned from the war, the way he looked at her and Stella had gotten… weird.
Like he was staring at… food.
At first she'd wondered if something was seriously wrong. She'd dragged Stella aside and grilled her in private.
White Ghost's explanation had been:
"After fully awakening, something about my bloodline changed. I don't know the details yet.
But I can promise this—I'm still me. I wasn't taken over by the fruit's consciousness."
Ain had been suspicious for two days.
But those two days passed. He never lost control. He never turned into some crazed beast. He was still the same annoying White-bro, just stronger.
Then Stella had quietly explained that problem to her.
And Ain had suddenly understood.
She'd been embarrassed ever since.
"Welcome back, Ain," Stella said quickly, jumping up, cheeks still pink. "I'll get started on dinner. The others should be back soon."
Having a good woman in the house… was really something else.
White Ghost watched Stella vanish into the kitchen and felt unreasonably pleased.
"What?" Ain's voice came from beside him. "Can't hold back anymore?"
White Ghost smiled at her.
"Yeah. I really can't. Dragon nature is… apparently very lusty."
"I'll go help Stella," Ain blurted, fleeing to the kitchen.
These days, White Ghost had been constantly teasing both her and Stella—handsy, flirty, always running his mouth—but never actually crossing the last line.
Watching the two women disappear through the doorway, White Ghost cursed inwardly.
Damn it.
He hadn't expected that fully merging with Yinglong would come with this particular downside.
Strength? No complaints.
But the whole "dragons are naturally lecherous" thing?
That was real.
For days now he'd been forcing himself to hold back. It wasn't that they'd refuse him—they wouldn't—but the idea of just… using them to scratch an itch and having them quietly cooperate made his skin crawl.
If it was going to happen, it wasn't going to be some sloppy, half-feral thing.
He wanted them to want him too.
As the sky darkened, Hiyori, Uta, Brook, Wanda, Carrot, and Pedro all returned, arms loaded with shopping bags.
They'd gone out to wander the grove.
Later still, Kuro and Jango came back from handling business. White Ghost liked having the house full at mealtimes. It reminded him of "back there."
"Welcome back. Wash your hands, then let's eat," Ain called from the doorway.
"Thank you for your hard work, Big Sis Stella, Big Sis Ain!" Hiyori and Uta rushed in to help with dishes.
The others chatted and laughed their way into the living room, gathering around the table.
After dinner, everyone moved out into the courtyard to drink tea and enjoy the evening breeze.
That was when White Ghost spoke.
"I'm leaving the Marines."
Not a single face looked surprised. He'd hinted at it before.
"The World Government? They've already started squeezing the Marines."
White Ghost leaned back in his chair.
"The balance was fine before. Then I showed up and broke it. Now they're scared. They don't want the Marines getting too strong and slipping the leash.
"The auction house. The mess at Headquarters. It's all them."
"I'm coming with you," Kuro said immediately.
"Me too, White-boss," Jango said, expression firm.
Ain didn't say anything. She just walked over and stood quietly beside White Ghost.
He nodded.
"I always planned on taking you with me. But Sengoku's not going to just let us walk."
"What's the price?" Kuro asked bluntly.
White Ghost reached into his storage bracelet and pulled out three boxes.
"Buffalo-Buffalo Fruit. Scythe-Scythe Fruit. Hawk-Hawk Fruit."
Jango let out a low whistle.
"That's a heavy price."
All three were solid, no-nonsense Devil Fruits:
A buffalo Zoan with brute strength and defense.
A scythe-themed Paramecia with deadly combat potential.
A hawk Zoan with air superiority and scouting ability.
Raise them right, and the Marines would have three future vice admirals.
But that was how it had to be.
Without something like this on the table, Sengoku wasn't just going to "approve his resignation."
He'd explode.
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