Magnus hadn't expected to run into Evan here—an old crewmate from the past.
The White Wolf Pirates already held the New World.
By logic, with their current reach, any of his old hands who wanted to find him should've had an easy time doing so.
And yet—
Aside from the few on Sphinx, no other veteran had returned since the fishman Dean. That left Magnus a little regretful.
Seeing Evan again now—working his old trade on a merchantman—Magnus glanced around the layout and, if his guess was right, this ship belonged to Evan himself.
With that thought, Magnus let it go.
When he disbanded the White Wolf Pirates, he set aside a generous severance. The veterans scattered and finally had time to chase their own dreams.
Some wanted a tavern. Some wanted a ship of their own. Some wanted to teach swordplay. Some wanted a jewelry shop.
They had boarded the Black Pearl for their own dreams and became members of the White Wolf Pirates—but over time many forgot those dreams, choosing instead to help Magnus chase his: to let everyone have true freedom.
In the end, Magnus didn't achieve that dream.
He was the first to give up—choosing to disband the crew.
At that moment—
Many must have felt disappointed.
They'd abandoned their own dreams to back a man who didn't see his through.
So when he rose again—
Roya, Lily and the others returned at once and chose to keep helping him, but some veterans went back to their original dreams.
He'd let them down once.
What right did he have now to ask them to give up those dreams again?
So Magnus neither doubted nor questioned.
He greeted Evan like an old friend long unseen.
"Yo, long time no see, Evan."
On deck, the "pirates" were already clambering up. Grapnels arced from both sides and bit into the rail.
Seeing this—
Some hired guards panicked, and a few merchants took out their fear on the fishman escorts, blaming them for allowing humans to board.
The sea is a fishman's domain; with fishmen escorting, merchantmen are far safer—one reason being fishmen can freely dive and punch holes through an attacker's hull.
But this time, the fishmen had barely moved before the enemy was already aboard.
"Heh, a bunch of fools."
A Marine Rear Admiral—disguised as a pirate—tossed his hook to bite the rail and sneered.
They were riding a wreck of a ship with only a few dozen shells left—once those were fired, that was it.
So from the start they had a single plan:
Grapple and board; seize the ship; steal the cargo.
The ship was theirs!
The cargo was theirs!
He vaulted onto the deck—expecting panicked guards.
Instead he met a row of odd stares.
A vast shadow swallowed the light above him. Sixty meters long and thirty wide, this merchantman wasn't small for the era—
But compared to what loomed alongside it now, it was a toy.
"Where did that ship come from?"
He frowned. He hadn't even noticed it arrive.
Instinctively, he looked up.
Flags identify ships.
And on the snapping canvas he saw a white wolf's head, bared fangs gleaming.
"The—White Wolf Pirates!?"
At that flag, he froze. If it had been any old jolly roger, he might not have reacted so hard.
But if he remembered right—
That hull under the flag was White King Magnus's flagship—the Millennium Falcon.
A silhouette stepped to the Falcon's prow.
At the sight of that figure, the Rear Admiral collapsed in a dead faint without a word.
Even Magnus blinked.
Hey now—I didn't even release Conqueror's Haki.
He didn't know that Marine orders now included a clause: if you meet any pirate ship, pursue; if you meet a White Wolf Pirates ship—abandon ship and flee.
Such was Magnus's deterrence.
So the Rear Admiral, seeing Magnus, knew he was finished.
Glorious death? Or living in disgrace?
He was already reduced to "Marine robber." Whatever loyalty he had left was thin—dying pointlessly held no appeal.
Which is why, when Rayleigh trudged up with a mop, he found Marines either kneeling or fainted across the deck.
Just appearing had erased the crisis.
"So that is White King Magnus."
Even standing still, he dazzled the eye—too bright to look at. Rayleigh had only heard about his strength, but as the strongest pirate alive, Magnus was so far beyond him that a fight was unthinkable.
Roger wouldn't match him either.
Not to sell himself short—Rayleigh simply didn't believe they could rival Magnus anytime soon.
Worse, months ago they'd clashed with Rocks's crew under the White Wolf banner. Several of his comrades were captured, but at the last moment they'd stove a hole in the enemy hull, forcing Rocks to break off the chase.
Rayleigh had been alone a long time since, with no idea where the others were—just licking his wounds.
And while he was "resting," the final boss showed up.
Luckily, whether Magnus didn't recognize him or simply didn't care, he didn't spare Rayleigh a glance.
He headed straight for the old captain—Evan.
Rayleigh tensed at first, but the cramped captain's cabin quickly filled—with women, of all things—besides Magnus and Evan.
"Yo, Evan, long time."
"Long time, Lily. Looks like you and the captain finally tied the knot."
"Hee-hee, shame the captain's a hopeless playboy. Besides me he's stacked the ship with young, pretty crewwomen. This old auntie's in a tough spot now."
Lily shot Magnus a mock-woeful look. Among his women, aside from Ripley the giantess with her long natural lifespan, the youngest—Stussy—was only twenty-two.
Lily was joking, of course. Thanks to pure gold and Stussy's youth elixir, she showed not a trace of age—if anything, a composed, mature allure.
At a glance, the ones who best matched Magnus were Toki and Lily.
Toki's gentle, married-woman grace was unrivaled among them. If Ripley aged another few decades into a deeper steadiness, she might compete.
As it was, even after having a child, Ripley still overflowed with girlish energy—something Toki envied.
Evan, however, had no envy for his captain.
"These years, besides buying this ship, I got a wife and a kid."
Wrinkles folding into a chrysanthemum smile, Evan preened.
"Here."
He flashed a photo: a middle-aged man much younger than the current Evan, a brown-haired woman at his side, and a swaddled infant in her arms.
"My wife and my child. Pretty and cute, right?"
"Mm."
Magnus nodded.
"But mine are prettier—I forgot to bring pictures. Next time I'll show you my kids."
"Spare me."
Even facing White King Magnus, Evan spoke like he was speaking to the captain of old.
"I'll do the bragging. I'm not listening to yours."
They both burst out laughing.
"Haha!"
Magnus didn't ask why Evan hadn't returned. Evan didn't explain. The photos said enough.
This veteran had a family now, bonds he wouldn't break. He wouldn't be sailing under Magnus again.
And Magnus wouldn't rip him back aboard for selfish reasons—even though, at his peak, Evan had been the crew's fourth might, after Roya and Lily.
He'd even ranked above the swordsman Ed.
For the record, when Magnus boarded, he'd stunned most people on the ship—so they wouldn't see his connection with Evan.
If Evan had chosen to retire, it was safest that no one knew his tie to the White Wolf Pirates.
In fact, even Magnus wouldn't have recognized him without Observation Haki. It was hard to connect this old man to the handsome, blond youth of long ago.
He'd boarded at twenty.
Forty-five years had passed.
Meeting again—
They simply raised their cups and chatted about the little things since then—never the past.
Both knew the past was past. The day Magnus disbanded, their paths split to the ends of the earth. Meeting again at all was a blessing.
When would the next time be?
Ten years? Twenty?
Or never.
The shy youth had grown old—
While time left few marks on Magnus.
If anything, it ran backward.
And with pure gold, Magnus's lifespan stretched far beyond ordinary imagination.
No wonder Imu was anxious.
A powerhouse this strong, long-lived, and hell-bent on the Government—leave him be, and you'd never sleep easy.
"Hm. Is that your disciple?"
A few rounds in, Magnus finally noticed Rayleigh.
He'd been in the cabin from the start. To Magnus, that implied closeness.
And Rayleigh's presence wasn't weak. A bit green compared to Magnus's nearly finished trainees, but with Armament and Observation Haki both in hand, he could stand on his own in the New World.
"You don't recognize him, captain?"
"Am I supposed to?"
"Haha. You've gone soft, captain. The old you wouldn't overlook someone who might cross your path later."
At that, Rayleigh's face clicked into focus for Magnus.
Messy hair, scruffy beard—
But decent power and that familiar outline—
"Dark King Rayleigh?"
"Dark King? Hah! Kid, didn't expect your skills to lag your fancy nickname!"
Evan roared, and Rayleigh's smile went stiff.
If Magnus had let him pass unnoticed, Rayleigh would've preferred to slip by—after all, the Roger Pirates had already crossed swords with Rocks's lot. As Rocks's former captain, Magnus could decide to handle "unfinished business" then and there.
As for "Dark King," he'd never even heard the title!
Now he was just a greenhorn.
Seventy million was a rising star among recent rookies—
But a far cry from his future.
And even at his prime, he wouldn't beat Magnus—much less now.
If Magnus really moved—
Even if the odds were one in ten thousand, Rayleigh would still try to run.
"Haha, relax. I don't care about your spat with Rocks. If you lot beat him, it might not be a bad thing—for him."
"But—"
"That's assuming you can."
Magnus's mouth tilted. Even if their debut had come earlier than on the original timeline, with Roger barely at "big-name pirate" level, going after Rocks was an egg to a boulder.
"How about this."
He smiled at Rayleigh.
"I'm pretty free lately. If you can find your captain, I don't mind running you through a special training. The price is a favor—how about it?"
"When I call it in, I want you on my side in a war."
"A war that will change the entire world."
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]