Chapter 70: Chapter 65: Wano

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Chapter 65: Wano

Before Lucas separated with Roger’s crew, he approached Shanks and handed him a piece of paper.

“? What’s this?”

“It’s...shall we say, instructions. I know you’re not simple, Shanks. I hope that when the time comes...you can protect them.”

“...Them?”

“Yes. You will understand when you read the note. I trust you won’t tell anyone about this.”

Lucas looked at Shank’s eyes with seriousness.

Shanks looked at the paper then back to Lucas.

“I understand. I’ll see what I can do. But don’t blame me if I can’t do it!”

“Haha, I know you can. Well then, till we meet again...hopefully, in about 26 years into the future.”

As Oden sets off with Roger together with his family, Lucas on the other hand, stayed on Whitebeard’s ship with a weird expression.

He still can’t believe that Roger would just forget about him just like that…

That damned captain…

Lucas sighed and turned towards Whitebeard.

“Right, you mentioned this Toki girl? Where can I find her?”

Whitebeard gave him a side glance before chugging on his drink again.

“You already met her.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you know? Toki is Oden’s wife.”

“...”

For a moment, Lucas stood there with his jaw on the ground, unable to move.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT!!!???

Wait! If Oden is Toki’s husband...then that kid he was carrying is Momonosuke? But who’s the other baby girl? Was it mentioned that Momonosuke had a sister?

Lucas tried to think but he can’t quite remember the facts...all he knew was that there were speculations of Momonosuke’s mother having the power of time...he didn’t know about Oden or anyone else related at all!

Ughh...there goes my chance…

Lucas looked at the distance again with a sigh. Whitebeard saw this and waved his hand.

“If you want to go back, get out.”

“...No, it’s fine. An agreement is an agreement. Besides, I can just wait for them in Wano.”

“Suit yourself then.”

Whitebeard no longer cared as he stood up and shouted to everyone.

“Time to go kids!”

Time flew by as Lucas sailed with the Whitebeard Pirates. At first, the crew didn’t really accept him as a crewmate but after a few expeditions and a few more months together, they gradually accepted him as a part of their family.

Lucas still hasn’t shown his face to most of them, but he did show his face to Marco, Jozu, Vista, and the other future Commanders that he knew about.

It wasn’t just the Whitebeard crew that paid attention to him. The marines also became fearful when they heard that the Shark Knight had switched to Whitebeard. This combo...was simply too fearful!

At times, Lucas would also ask for a spar with Whitebeard only to end up losing again and again like with Roger. Still, the fights had made the two closer and Whitebeard eventually acknowledged him as a son.

Finally, the crew arrived at Wano where they dropped off Lucas.

“You sure you don’t want to come with us?”

Whitebeard asked.

“Un. I need to wait for Oden and Toki to come back...I must return to my time.”

“...Fine then. I’ll see you when I see you. In the future.”

Whitebeard laughed and was about to board the ship when Lucas called out again.

“...Whitebeard!”

“Hm? What is it?”

Lucas’ mouth opened and closed but no voice came out. He had grown rather fond of this old geezer and wanted to warn him about Blackbeard but...Lucas knows that without any evidence, events will still happen as it had.

Finally, he forced out a smile and shouted back.

“...Make sure to take care of your health, damn geezer!”

“Gurarara! Are you cursing me already, brat!?”

On that note, the two separated once more and Lucas was left behind in the shores of Wano.

Looking around, Lucas felt unfamiliar to the place and decided not to stick out too much. Lucas bought a plain black yukata and a red haori which he found in a shop nearby.

After dressing himself like a local, Lucas didn’t know where to go next so he simply wandered around.

Since he’s also not sure if being recognized here would do something to the future, Lucas wanted to go look for a mask. After all, wearing a helmet here would be pretty weird…

While walking around trying to look for a mask shop, he saw a stand at the side selling demon masks.

Being too lazy to look for another shop, Lucas went and bought one. It’s a red demon mask with fangs protruding on the sides.

After wearing the mask and looking at his appearance in the mirror, Lucas smiled wryly.

Well, he’s bound to stick out with this getup…

Anyway, after settling his appearance, Lucas found an inn and stayed there in the meantime.

As for where he got the money, it was from the pickpockets he encountered while roaming around. All he needed to do was pickpocket them back. It’s actually pretty easy with his ability too.

Now, all he needed to do was wait.

Thankfully, he only needed to wait for a few weeks to get the news of Oden’s arrival.

Hearing the commotion outside, Lucas left the inn and silently followed the several people rushing to the beach. He recognized two of them being Kinnemon and Kanjuro.

Sure enough, Lucas can indeed see Roger’s ship on the shore and Oden coming down while carrying his wife.

Looking at her complexion, she seems to be sick.

Seeing Oden, Kinnemon, Kanjuro, and 3 other people all got on their knees and greeted him.

“Lord Oden! We’ve protected Kuri in preparation for your return! Please become Wano’s RUler once again!”

“Silence!”

The one who shouted wasn’t Oden, but his wife who still looked sickly.

“Haven’t you considered Oden’s feelings? He’d feel awful if his adventure ended because of me! So..”

“Enough! I’ll continue to travel!”

After dropping off Toki, Oden turned around and no longer looked back. He could tell...that if he turned around, he won’t be able to leave anymore…

Looking at this, Lucas sighed and finally decided to reveal himself.

“It’s alright, Oden. I’ll take care of them.”

“Hm? That voice...I see. Then I can rest easy.”

Roger also noticed Lucas and waved.

“You’re also here! How’s that bastard Newgate? Still alive?”

“He’ll live longer than you, damned captain!”

“Uahahahahaha!”

Lucas sighed again. Seriously, Roger doesn’t seem to be taking his own well-being seriously…

Meanwhile, Kinnemon and the others were confused to see Lucas who wore a demon’s mask.

“Who are you!?”

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“I’m a friend. Don’t worry. Just call me...Akaoni.”

Lucas didn’t feel like revealing himself to them at the moment as it may cause some issues in the future. Still, it should be fine if he tells at least Toki.

It seems that Roger and the others are only here to copy the Road Poneglyph in this country and leave.

Roger seemed to be close to reaching his goal...and also close to reaching his end…

Lucas saw them off before following Toki and the others back to the castle.

Once Toki was settled in, Lucas touched her hand and used his powers to heal her.

He could’ve done it on the shore but if he did, Roger would get mad again and go on a rampage.

Kinnemon and the others were first alarmed to see Lucas touch Toki but after seeing Toki’s complexion return to normal, they all celebrated.

“Amazing!”

“What was that? Is that the so-called Life Transfer Jutsu!?”

...What life transfer jutsu? Is that a thing?

...Well, he’s not entirely wrong though.

The one who said that was the one wearing ninja clothes and a large head called Raizo.

There was also a fishman among the group wearing a cone straw hat called Kawamatsu.

Then there’s the male with a heart of a woman, Kikunojo.

Luckily, Kinnemon had told him about Kiku’s gender so he didn’t make any mistakes…

The cat and dog, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi had also stayed behind this time around and didn’t follow Oden back to Roger’s ship.

The next day, Lucas found Toki again and asked her about her ability.

She was playing with Momonosuke and the baby Hiyori when he arrived. Once he made sure there wasn’t anyone else in the room using Observation Haki, Lucas removed his mask.

“Let me reintroduce myself again. My real name is Lucas. I’ve been wanting to meet you, Lady Toki.”

“Ah, no need to call me Lady, Oden had told me about you. The man from the future, is it?”

Lucas had already expected this so he nodded.

“Yes. I was also told that you had come from the past? 800 years ago?”

“Un. That’s correct. Then...you finding me, I take it that you want me to send you back to your time?”

“Yes. about 26 years from now...I hope that you can help.”

Listening to Lucas’ request, Toki appeared to be hesitating before finally sighing and answered.

“Unfortunately, I am not able to control this power yet...I don’t know if I can send you 26 years from now or...maybe 800 years from now…”

“8...800…”

Lucas laughed dryly. If that did happen to him...what is he meant to do then?

Thinking about it, why would Toki even travel so far into the future? Was it really because she couldn’t control her power and she ended up going too far in time?

Lucas sighed.

Since this was the case, there are 3 options available for him.

The first option is to take the long route...spend 26 years in this world. If he did this, he can at least prevent the deaths of those characters that had died early. But, he would be an old man by the time he sees his own kid...and he didn’t want that.

The second option is to try and awaken that ability in him that allowed him to time travel. Which he doesn’t even know where to start or if he can really do it. This option is unreliable, but still worth trying.

The third option is to wait or train Toki with her powers so she can send him back to the future more accurately.

Well, there’s also that Rainbow Mist thing but Lucas has no idea where to look for that or if that is even real in this world.

In any case, he can go with options 2 and 3 simultaneously and if all else fails...then he has no choice but to go with option 1.

Having decided as such, Lucas decided to remain in Wano to help Toki access her powers and also train his own.

During the day, Toki would help out the townspeople in any way she can. If someone dares to cause trouble, Lucas would be there to back her up.

His appearance as a demon has been well recognized by the people of Kuri as an object of fear. Parents would say to their kids that if they don’t behave, the Red Oni will come and eat them!

When Lucas heard about this, he would always sigh dejectedly.

No matter what, he can’t let his own kid go to this place…

However, he is quite popular with Momonosuke and Hiyori. Even with the mask on, Hiyori doesn’t seem to be quite frightened while Momonosuke just thinks he’s cool.

After dinner, Lucas would look for Toki again when no one else was present and they would both practice on accessing their powers.

There was an...unsettling rumor that had occurred because of this so Lucas had no choice but to stop his night visits.

Toki is indeed beautiful, but Lucas is not so lustful that he would take someone else’s wife.

One day, several armed men arrived in Kuri.

You only need to look at them to know that they came for trouble.

Kinnemon and the others quickly arrived and stopped the intruders.

“Stop! What is your business here!?”

“Kekeke, of course, we have business here. We’re here to collect the money for Lord Orochi!”

“Nonsense! We already paid the tax for this month!”

Kinnemon gritted his teeth and shouted back but the intruders only chuckled coldly.

“The price just rose up. You’re still lacking some more.”

“!? This isn’t right! He can't just increase the tax whenever he likes!”

Seeing the situation about to become ugly, Toki quickly stepped up and pulled Kinnemon back.

“Kinnemon! It’s fine! We’ll pay the remaining tax! Don’t fight them!”

“But Lady Toki…!”

“No buts! Listen to me!”

Toki asserted her tone more as Kinnemon gradually calmed down. Still, you can see from his clenched fist that he has not entirely calmed down at all.

The intruders saw this as well and continued to laugh as they approached Toki with lecherous eyes.

“Hehe, that’s right. Listen to the pretty lady. Well, if you can’t pay up, we don’t mind being paid in another way. Kukukuku!”

One of the men was about to grab Toki’s hand when another hand had reached out first to grab his.

“Huh?”

The man looked confused and was about to shout at the person who grabbed him only to see a man wearing a demon’s mask glaring at him coldly.

Suddenly, the arm which grabbed him started to release steam and a sizzling sound could be heard.

“Ah-!? Hot! Hot! Hot!!! Let go of me!!!”

“Sorry, is the water too hot for you?”

Lucas clenched his fist, destroying the hand completely as the man squealed in pain.

The other men finally reacted and they were about to draw their swords but they were all blown away in a fraction of a second.

Before they could regain their senses, a black scythe appeared from Lucas’ hands which he used to slice down everyone last one of them...well, except for the last.

Looking at the trembling last man crawling on the ground, Lucas gave him a kick and pushed the bodies of the rest to him.

“Pick them up and return to your master.”

“Y-you’re letting me go...!?”

“Of course, after all, I need someone to send the message.”

Lucas nodded and retraced the black scythes.

The last man asked, still trembling.

“M-message?”

Lucas smiled and remembered a particular phrase from a movie in his homeworld. He had been looking for a good excuse to say something like this and now he can.

“Right. Tell your master. Kuri is under my protection. If you are looking for tax, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a...short but deadly career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you...If you don’t make a move on this land, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you. I will not pursue you...But if you don’t, I will find you...and I will kill you.”