84.
Shun finished creating the simple yet luxurious building. Its hall was a wide, rectangular space with a polished wooden floor, with rows of folding chairs facing a temporary stage assembled at the far end.
Now he was sipping a drink at Shakky's bar.
"So, are you going to explain how I ended up as your partner in fighting Shiki?" Rayleigh had veins popping on his forehead.
'I just remembered, the seven brats don't have a team name yet. No pirate flag, no pirate name, no captain, they just sail around. I've been calling them brats, kids, children, and lastly the seven dwarves. It'd be good to come up with some cool name for them.' Shun wasn't listening to Rayleigh at all.
Currently at Shakky's bar, the little space was filled with Shun, Robin, Nami, and the scammer couple, Rayleigh and Shakky.
"Won't you do something about that?" Nami pointed from her window at the simple building Shun had built to host his final provocation. There was currently a line so long they couldn't even see the end.
Shun had used his marine team, which was composed of Hina, that hypnotist guy Jango, and Fullbody. There were many others, but they were just nameless soldiers. Shun had sent them here so they could act as staff to help host.
"Yeah, surprisingly a lot of people came…" Shun had been expecting just about a hundred, but there were easily a thousand people.
Shun stood up and left the bar.
"..."
Rayleigh was uncharacteristically angry.
'Destroying the building and enlarging it isn't very efficient. I might as well just destroy it and create only chairs and a simple podium for myself.' And that's what Shun did.
With the Arc of Time, the demolition process was simple. The whole building turned into particles of magic.
"!!!"
"The whole building has vanished!!"
"He really is a god!"
Some of the people lining up put their hands together and started praying.
"..."
'Was live broadcasting once a month a bit too futuristic of an idea for this pirate world?' Shun was a bit stunned but eventually decided to ignore them.
After walking for a while around Grove 13, which was home to Shakky's bar and the place Shun had declared the book release event would happen in the last live broadcast.
'On this island today, many powerful people have gathered. There are at least four people currently at admiral level, not including me. At vice admiral level or Yonko commander level, there are almost over thirty. Was I really that popular?' Shun wasn't walking aimlessly. Soon enough, he found his target.
"Issho," he called out to a blind swordsman. Since he wasn't an admiral in this timeline, he didn't get the title Purple Tiger.
"Yes," Issho said with his usual expression, his eyes closed. He had been waiting for Shun because his Observation Haki was strong enough to locate meteoroids far out in space, locating Shun's destination wasn't an issue."
"I need you to guard the venue while hiding your presence."
"Understood."
---
After walking around a bit, he met two old men in casual clothes eating rice crackers.
"..."
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We're here for the event."
"We took a day off, first time in a year. Don't mind us."
'Despite those excuses, they're probably here just in case Shiki actually shows up.'
"I see… you can enjoy the event, but wear a mask and don't show yourselves. Otherwise, even if Shiki was going to come, he won't." Shun handed them a dog face mask and a goat face mask.
"...All right." Garp and Sengoku took the masks without any resistance. They knew Shun had planned this for over a year, and if his plan was ruined because of them…
'He might start holding a grudge against the entire Marines, or he'll go after Garp's son and grandson…' Sengoku was imagining horrifying things.
After the brief interaction, Shun returned to the event place, where Hibari and some other Marines were working.
On this day, Shun was dressed in an all white Marine admiral uniform. On the back of his mantle was a word written in a foreign language meaning "Convenient Justice."
'The Strawhats reunited without a problem, huh. They had reunited at Shakky's bar, but they weren't leaving. Because one of them had become a girl in the two years they were separated… I guess we should start this too.'
In Grove 13, there were about a thousand folding chairs out in the open, but the number of people arriving to attend the event was already past one thousand. Shun decided to do the event outside with a bunch of chairs, but it wasn't enough. Many people were standing.
"..."
"Shun-san, what should we do? We don't have enough copies of the book," Hibari arrived with a nervous face. Behind her was Shun's marine team in name only.
"I'll make more… Parallel Worlds," Shun said and chanted. Then, right before their eyes, the books multiplied.
'This application of the Arc of Time brings out the target's future possibilities or parallel worlds of the target's path. Meaning I could probably make copies of even myself, but… I don't want to see my face on another person again.'
"Take them and be ready to distribute."
"Yes!!"
After that, Shun stood on the simple podium in front of everyone.
"Cough, cough." Shun did a fake cough to get attention.
"Hello~ I'm Shun, the hardest working marine out there…"
After some pleasantries, Shun introduced the plan for the day.
"In about half an hour, the books will be distributed free of charge. After that, there will be a buffet made from my own recipe." Shun had brought SHFC for about a thousand people from the Fairy Tail world, but a lot more people had shown up.
'They can fight each other for it.' Shun didn't plan to cook more.
"Ooohhh!!"
The crowd cheered, but Shun had more to say.
"After that, probably hundreds of flying islands and flying pirate ships will attack this place and try to take you guys hostage."
"!!"
"W-What do you mean by that?!"
"I-Is Shiki really coming?"
"What is this brat saying now? It'll cause a panic…" Garp said as the crowd was already panicking. Sengoku remained silent.
While the crowd was shouting and panicking, some even considering running, Shun spoke.
"But there's no need to worry about your safety. Because I'm here! There's no greater security than that."
"..."
With that, Shun finished his speech, walked down from the podium, and walked into the simple tent he had made while waiting for Shiki. Inside was just a table and chair.
When Shun disappeared, the silent crowd finally came back to life.
"Ooohhhh-!"
"Long live the honorary admiral!"
"The god of the Marines!"
The crowd cheered wildly while Shun's poor team distributed the books.
Hibari followed Shun into the tent and was admiring his side profile.
"A bunch of weird people came today, huh?"
"Eh?" Shun's word confused Hibari a bit.
"What kind of weirdos would calm down completely like that?"
'Did I create some kind of cult?'
"By the way, did you meet Coby after that? You saved him, otherwise he'd be rotting in their jail until death."
Hearing Shun's question, Hibari turned silent and walked closer.
"No…"
"I see."
Seeing her come closer, Shun lifted her and made her sit on his lap.
Shun made sure to erase their presence with Conqueror's Haki, since there were many Haki masters gathered on this island. Who knew how many perverts were there.
'Rayleigh started using his Conqueror's Haki to prevent me from predicting his next words. Such a childish guy. Well, thanks to that, I learned it.'
Suddenly…
Hibari's marine vest, coat, and shirt magically turned into thread and a few other small materials.
Feeling the sudden chill, Hibari unconsciously hugged the closest thing to her to cover her chest, which ended up being Shun's head.
"..."
Seeing that he ended up in a comfortable position, Shun didn't try to move. Now Shun was making eye contact with a pink entity.
"So… do you have a dream?" Shun asked out of nowhere.
"Why?" 'Is it time for such questions?' Hibari didn't know if she should get up or continue talking.
"What's your story?"
"My story?"
"Yeah, everybody's got a story. I believe."
After hesitating a bit, Hibari started…
"My story… the reason I became a marine is…" Hibari started talking, but the pink entity was trembling occasionally until it turned stiff.
Seeing the poor thing trembling, Shun decisively covered it with his lips to keep it warm.
"Ah~"
Under Shun's urging, Hibari continued talking about her story and her family's story.
---
["Bwahahahaha—! The flying fraud!!"]
'Outside is getting noisy. The book seems to be getting positive feedback. That loud laugh is without a doubt Garp's. That old man is one of the few people who gets my humor.'
Shun and Hibari were still inside the tent, just cuddling and talking.
Ever since the princess Coby getting kidnapped by Blackbeard incident, Shun and Hibari had been in their honeymoon phase, mainly due to Hibari following Shun around like a lost puppy.
'From Hibari's story, I learned that Akainu had a very basic background. His parents were Marines who got killed by pirates, thus beginning his hatred for pirates, driving him to become the second strongest marine of today, after Kizaru and excluding me. After getting Hibari's mother pregnant, Akainu decisively abandoned them, hiding his tears behind his ruthless facade so they wouldn't get targeted by vengeful pirates.'
'Well, that old man Kizaru never gets serious, so I guess Akainu is the strongest…'
'Hibari joined the Marines to find her father and show her strength to prove she isn't a burden. Somehow her story is similar to Cana's.'
'We didn't do anything past cuddling since Shiki could arrive anytime. If I get blue balled, I'm worried I won't be able to hold back against him.'
"So, do you have a dream?"
"Dream?"
They arrived back at the start of their conversation.
"Yeah, like becoming the king of pirates or finding the All Blue, or killing the man who wiped out your entire clan."
"…"
"I don't have such a grand dream… if I were to say—"
["W-What's that?"]
["He really showed up, it's the flying fraud!!"]
Before Hibari could finish her sentence, outside got noisy again.
"Let's head out."
"Yes!"
---
When they got out, the whole place had become dark due to some huge stones blocking the sun.
"…"
"How many islands did this guy prepare?" Shun was a bit speechless.
'Did this guy think he's Batman?'
As if it had been waiting for Shun, a seashell floated down right in front of him.
Shun picked it up and clicked the button it had.
"Oh-! You knew how to use it?" An old voice seemed to be in a happy mood as it resounded from the dial.
Clang-! Clang-!
With it came a weird sound of swords clashing against each other.
That weird sound was actually a man's footsteps.
A man appeared on the biggest island that was above Sabaody. The distance between them was miles away, but the two parties had the eyesight of eagles. They spotted each other as they both held a dial used for talking.
'Huh, so this is the Golden Lion Shiki. His appearance is a bit different from what I expected. Wasn't he supposed to have a steering wheel stuck in his skull?'
"Who is this?" Shun replied to the seashell dial.
"Jihahaha!! It's too late to act ignorant!"
'This guy seems to be a bit too happy. Does he think he prepared enough forces?' Shun was curious about this weird old man, who had made Shun spend a year provoking him to come out and confront him.
'The Golden Lion Shiki of this timeline didn't have a steering wheel stuck in his skull. He had a golden lion's mane of hair on the back of his head, but the front, top, and sides were completely bald. His clothes were mostly yellow too, like Kizaru's. The most notable thing about him was his missing legs, which had been replaced by two swords.'
"Are you the guy who was challenged a year ago but didn't show up at all? Did you finally gather your courage to show up now?"
Hearing Shun's taunt, Shiki didn't seem to mind at all. He was a man who had been enduring for a year. Provocations of this level wouldn't work on him.
To his surprise, Shun added, "I'm curious. You seem to be in an ecstatic mood. Did something good happen?"
Hearing the two talk, the crowd didn't know what to do. But Hibari skillfully started evacuating them with the few Marines, who were the unpaid staff of today's event.
"Jihahaha! Are you curious? Perm?!" Shiki said and made a face when he said the final word.
"…"
'Is that supposed to be a joke? I don't get it at all…'
"Since you're about to get killed, I'll tell you. I managed to get back to my prime, thanks to a super talented doctor," Shiki said as he patted his bald head.
When Shiki finished talking, a bunch of thugs appeared behind him. Only three of them stood beside him. One was a clown, another was a literal gorilla, and finally, it was the Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law.
'Talented doctor…' Shun was putting together the clues he was getting.
"So, is that look your prime?" Shun's question put an end to Shiki's laughter.
"I don't know how you looked before, but… I see the Ope Ope no Mi user beside you." Hearing himself being singled out, Law started sweating visibly.
He didn't even want to be here, but he was kidnapped by this crazy old man and forced to perform an operation on him to remove the steering wheel stuck in his skull.
Meanwhile, Shun wasn't done speaking.
"Why didn't you make him do a hair transplant on yourself?"
"!!"
Shiki, who had been in an ecstatic mood until now, suddenly had his smile stiffen.
"…"
The space suddenly became silent from Shun's innocent question, as if the Calm Calm Fruit had been used. Until…
"Bwahahaha!!"
An old man with a dog face mask started laughing.
Shiki's eye inevitably flickered toward the old man who laughed, but he quickly went back to Shun.
"You brat…" As if realizing he couldn't win the trash talk against him, Shiki didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he waved his hand downward decisively.
"This is a warning to the world. The Golden Lion is back!"
It wasn't an empty threat, after his words. The sky darkened even more…
——
Back at Shun's side…
"10…20…30…total of 66 giant meteorites are about to destroy this island… this guy seems to be really prepared." Shun was in awe of the old pirate's determination.
Shun decided to make a call. It was a good time for them to get experience against the truly strong, and also a time for him to show off.
['Hey, all of you come to my location. Don't forget to wear the mask.']
After ten seconds, the seven dwarves arrived, each wearing a fox faced mask that completely covered their faces.
"W-What is that?!"
"M-Meteorites!!"
Though the evacuation was in process, there wasn't enough time. Most of them were still running around the area.
One fat guy even remarked with calm expression
"We're all gonna die!"
Ignoring them, Shun gave commands to his seven dwarves and Issho.
"Protect the people who came to today's event from the stray rocks."
"Yes!" came eight unified answers instantly.
"Oi, Shun. We'll help too." Garp and Sengoku seemed eager to help, but…
"No!"
"…"
Their eagerness was unexpectedly turned down.
"It's our fight. Even if I were to die today, don't interfere."
"…"
After saying that, Shun decided to deal with the meteorites. Each of them was about the size of Issho's signature meteor summoning, and there were 66 of them.
"Jihahaha!" Shiki laughed in his signature style.
POP-!
Shun used the recoil of the Repel to instantly arrive before one of the meteorites.
'It's a giant burning rock… if only I had dealt with God Serena before this. I could probably eat this meteorite in one bite. The Cavern Dragon Slayer magic is a bit overpowered.'
Shun had Flame God Slayer magic, essentially making him immune to fire, unless the enemy was much stronger than him. Luckily, this rock didn't meet that criteria.
POP-!
To the surprise of everyone watching, Shun repelled the giant meteorite, and it collided with a nearby one.
It was a weird sight, as if that giant meteorite didn't have any weight at all. It flew and collided against the nearby meteorite.
Crash—!
"…What is he planning to do?" Garp asked.
"Who knows. At least I never knew…" Sengoku answered.
At this point, the meteorites were falling just below the clouds. The two meteorites that Shun had made collide didn't destroy each other. Instead, they became one big meteorite with cracks all over.
'Good.' Shun smiled and decided to continue with the plan.
POP-! POP-!
On this island with hundreds of strong men, only the truly strongest could catch a glimpse of Shun's shadow moving around the sky.
With each POP-! sound followed a loud Crash—! and the meteorites would assimilate into each other and create a bigger one.
Shun repeated this process a total of 65 times.
"…"
As a result of Shun's hard work, the 66 meteorites became only one. But this one was as big as an entire mountain. The entire archipelago of Sabaody turned into night, though it was only midday.
"So what now?" Garp asked impatiently while cracking his fist, as if he was eager to punch it.
"What else? I'll shoot it," Shun said and pulled out a cannon.
"…"
It was a normal sized cannon used on Marine warships, but today it felt extremely tiny.
"Get back," Shun said to Garp and Sengoku, who had been acting like total backseaters for a while.
Once the site was cleared, the tiny cannon's size started growing.
'More, more, more, more, more,' Shun chanted softly until it had its size multiplied by over a hundred times.
"So he really has that ability…" Garp and Sengoku realized that Shun hadn't been bluffing before.
While the two were in a daze, Shun had already fired the cannon.
"Huh? When did he fire it?!" Garp was stunned because there was literally no sound.
The giant cannonball was coated in Shun's Haki and the Tremor Fruit's signature coating as well.
Thus began the biggest clash between a weapon and a natural disaster in history, except for the ancient weapons.
KABOOOOOOOM—!!!!