The New World. An unremarkable little ship cut across the sea.
Magnus had sailed—but as usual, only a few knew he was at sea. To most people, Magnus still remained on Sphinx, preparing to face the World Government.
Everyone believed today's peace was merely the calm before the storm.
Just like the ocean right now.
"Wahaha! I caught a big one! This fish is gonna be delicious!"
A girl's voice rang out. A pink-haired teen of fourteen or fifteen burst up from the water, straddling a monstrous fish dozens of times her size. The creature thrashed wildly.
"Hey! Behave!"
Sitting atop its fin, the girl gave the fish an impatient swat.
Then—
Its eyes rolled up. Glug, glug—the beast began to sink.
"Waaah—come on! That fragile?"
Fourteen-year-old Linlin was no longer that clueless little girl. She knew her strength was abnormal; even a greeting pat could be fatal.
Once, playing with a giant kid, she'd accidentally broken his leg. From then on she stopped messing around and began carefully learning power control.
In just two years, Linlin's strength transformed.
Even without life-and-death duels against top fighters—
Just sparring with Magnus, she'd earned his evaluation: on par with a typical Admiral-level powerhouse. If she fully mastered future-sight with Observation Haki and internal destruction with Armament Haki, she likely wouldn't lose to Harald. If she learned Conqueror's infusion, she might even be able to fight the current Magnus on even footing.
Of course—only if Magnus didn't enter his life-burn state.
In that state, his power was a tier above her—ordinary Admiral-class opponents would fold, and even her normal self wouldn't last long.
All told, Linlin hadn't fully mined that terrifying talent of hers yet—but she'd dug out most of it.
Compared to the "original future" version of herself, it was night and day.
Soul-Soul Fruit?
Not even a dog would want it!
Magnus had once considered giving Linlin the Azure Dragon fruit, but seeing her situation—she hadn't yet exhausted her natural talent—adding a Mythical Zoan would only split her focus.
So he dropped the idea.
The fish had fainted—
But underwater, Linlin hugged the catch and stomped hard.
Moonwalk!
The whole sea seemed to tremble, jolting Magnus from his cabin.
"Hey, Linlin, don't make such a racket—"
He didn't finish before Linlin came dropping from the sky with the massive fish. Something that size could have sunk the Millennium Falcon with ease.
Yet neither Magnus nor sunbathing Stussy showed a flicker of worry. As Linlin and the fish were about to slam into the deck, the fish visibly shrank.
When it landed—thud—it was only a few meters long.
Nearly a hundred meters of fish—
Down to a few.
Naturally, that was Ripley's fruit at work.
"Food! Let's cook!"
Landing lightly, Linlin threw up her hands in triumph.
Sphinx was fun, sure—but nothing beat being on the Millennium Falcon with Magnus.
Because Magnus was strong.
No matter how she fooled around, she wouldn't cause an irreparable disaster. All she had to think about was playing—and eating and drinking her fill.
"Hmph. Pull this stunt again and I'm not cleaning up your mess."
"Hee-hee, next time for sure."
Both Magnus and Linlin noticed a school of fish angling toward the ship. Linlin's earlier stomp had drawn several massive Sea Kings.
"Sorry—our kid's a bit rambunctious. Please forgive her."
With the Voice of All Things—and now that he could use Haki to converse—Magnus spoke with the sea's great beasts easily.
Two or three exchanges, and their anger cooled.
Not that it would matter if it didn't.
Haki-speech wasn't only convenient—it carried the weight of his will, letting beasts feel who they could and could not provoke.
So the Sea Kings "roared in anger"… and then stopped.
"Old man! Teach me that trick!"
"I refuse."
"Eeh? Why?"
"Because you're getting cheekier by the day. You used to call me Grandpa Magnus. Now it's just 'old man.'"
Magnus put on a pained face. Where had that obedient girl gone?
Though truth be told—
Obedient didn't mean compliant.
Back then, Linlin only looked obedient; most of the time she didn't even understand what people were saying, twisting meanings as they reached her ears.
Now, Linlin wasn't "obedient," but she was far sharper. She understood what others said and knew what should and shouldn't be done. Whether she wanted to do it—that was another matter.
A bearer of Conqueror's Haki naturally had her own will.
Like Rona—
They had been intimate, sparred often, and battled side by side, but she was neither Magnus's subordinate nor his vassal.
Linlin was the same.
Their closeness meant she wouldn't casually defy him—but if he forced her into something she didn't want—
That would poison her goodwill.
So Magnus did scold Linlin at times, but as she grew, he gave her proper respect. Raising her from childhood didn't entitle him to blind obedience.
"Bleh! Don't teach me then—you couldn't anyway."
Linlin stuck out her tongue. She wasn't stupid: talking with animals first required the Voice of All Things—like her own special constitution, a gift from birth. You either had it or you didn't. It wasn't something Magnus could "teach."
"Heh. Maybe I can't teach animal talk—but I do have a Devil Fruit that lets you converse with them."
Magnus grinned.
"That exists?"
Linlin blinked.
"Of course."
With the White Wolf Pirates' growth and their coffers full, Magnus had the leverage to acquire Devil Fruits.
Many were unidentifiable—effects unknown—so he wouldn't hand them out lightly.
But some were obvious at a glance—like the Whisper-Whisper Fruit he meant now.
A fruit that let you speak to animals—widely considered useless. The procurement team picked it up for under five million.
"Well? Want a bite?"
"No way!"
Linlin refused without a thought. To talk to animals at the cost of never swimming again?
Hard pass.
Besides, Devil Fruits were infamously foul. As a gourmand, Linlin swore she'd never taste one.
Magnus had expected that.
He'd bought the Whisper-Whisper Fruit for the lantern-fish keeper anyway. Sphinx's inner island now lay in the lantern-fish's belly; while simple commands worked, its own needs weren't so easily heard.
As always, Magnus preferred to bind others with favor and interest—not brute force.
The lantern-fish might be a fish, but it had a child's wits.
If you only squeeze and command, disaster will come.
The interlude ended, and Linlin hauled the stunned fish toward the galley. The others didn't stir.
Because, in the last two years, Linlin's greatest progress wasn't combat—
It was cooking.
One night Linlin craved cake, but it was late and the pastry shop was closed. She pestered Magnus ceaselessly—
Until he caved.
"If you want cake that badly, make it yourself."
And so Linlin set off on a path entirely unlike her "original future."
Half of her combat growth since then—
Came from being too strong. Even the simplest kitchen "mischief" sent egg splash everywhere.
So to beat eggs—and to knead dough—she learned delicate control.
When Linlin emerged in chef's hat and apron, even Magnus did a double-take.
He'd never imagined this development. He'd been thinking of hiring a cook for the ship, but now there was no need.
"Here—try my grilled fish!"
Linlin offered neatly sliced fillets, eyes full of expectation. Magnus bit in—crisp skin, tender flesh. Bone picked clean with expert technique. Pure, luxurious mouthfeel.
"Delicious."
He couldn't help but sigh. In less than two years, Linlin's cooking had far outstripped his own.
He only ever cooked to survive—enough to suit his palate, without deeper study.
Linlin cooked for love.
A foodie with masterful craft—
Whatever the future held,
Hers would be a life rich with flavor.
But—
"Hold up, Linlin. If I'm not mistaken, that fish was dozens of times bigger a minute ago. So when we eat it…"
Ripley's power shrank the fish, but once swallowed, the meat still yielded its original energy.
So that "little bite" Magnus took was more like eating a whole steer.
He didn't mind—
But the moment he spoke, the rest dove in, feasting before he could stop them.
Ripley was fine—
She was a giant; her daily intake was dozens of times a normal human's.
Stussy and Toki, however, were doomed.
Magnus glanced over: both bellies were suddenly round, like three or four months along—provoking thoughts he had no business entertaining.
"Tsks—"
Catching his predatory gaze, Stussy stomped his foot hard, and even Toki gave him a withering glance.
Pregnancy isn't easy.
Toki aside—ever the Yamato Nadeshiko—who, having accepted Magnus, was ready for children—
Stussy's original dream?
Outlive Magnus and inherit everything.
Time had dulled that scheme, but that didn't mean she wanted to bear a child so young.
As a doctor, she knew how childbirth could affect a woman's looks.
And she cared a lot about looks.
She had no desire to turn into a frumpy aunt and lose Magnus's favor.
Yet one day she looked around—
Among the women involved with Magnus, everyone but Rona and herself was pregnant.
If she did nothing, she'd fall behind.
She wasn't Rona—without Magnus she wasn't an Admiral-class powerhouse who could strut across the seas (so long as she avoided Mariejois).
She was a ship's doctor.
So she grit her teeth. She was a fruit user; no one knew her body better. One or two kids—manageable.
Who could have expected—
She, the youngest, carried twins.
Remembering that agony, Stussy sometimes wanted to bite him. If Magnus ever abandoned her, she'd never let him go.
And that stubborn little glint in her eye—
Only made Magnus's hands itch.
"Ahem."
Lily cleared her throat.
"There are kids here."
She glanced at Linlin, then at Tsuru, who sat nearby, visibly uncomfortable.
Magnus straightened at once.
Like the others, Tsuru had eaten a piece of fish—and now her belly felt painfully tight. Catching Magnus's slightly possessive look, she tensed up—
Then sighed inwardly.
Why was she nervous? Hadn't she prepared herself already?
Two years ago, after receiving word from the Marines, she had steeled herself. The news had hurt, but she knew this much: to learn Magnus's deepest secrets, being a mere crewmate was never going to be enough.
To gain his trust required something of equal weight in exchange.
But for a girl raised as a Marine—
Seduction was her worst "combat method."
Two years had passed, and she and Magnus had made no progress.
Magnus still seemed to treat her as just another crew member.
That was a relief—
And a disappointment.
She had been in the White Wolf Pirates five years now—a quarter of her life. So long that she was close to forgetting the Marine chapter entirely.
From enlisting, to training, to being planted as a mole in the White Wolf Pirates—
Less than a year had passed.
Her time with the pirates dwarfed her time with the Marines.
Time changes people.
Tsuru once believed her commitment to "justice" was unshakeable.
But traveling north and south with the White Wolf Pirates—witnessing the Eleven Iron Countries bled for Heavenly Tribute, seeing a broader world—
Doubt crept in.
Was Marine "justice" truly justice—or just the justice of a few?
So Tsuru waited.
Waited until she truly understood her own heart—
Then she would choose.
At that time—
She would decide who she was.
Marine—or pirate.
Because Magnus intended to find the Roger Pirates, their route, aside from gradually angling toward the New World's entry, was largely aimless drift.
Until this day—
They spotted a merchantman under attack.
And the flag it flew—
Belonged to the White Wolf Alliance, co-founded with the White Wolf Pirates!
(End of Chapter)
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