April 17, 1504, Age of the Sea Circle
After sailing at full speed for about two more hours, Orion and his companions finally arrived at the island they had seen appear on the horizon. For Orion, the presence of this island was nothing new, since even though he had not explored this sector of the North Blue, he had come here intentionally.
After all, according to the reports he had received from the Northern Revolutionary Army and his spy organization—Shadow—this was the place where the most recent Native Hunting had taken place: Mango Island.
Orion knew that the Celestial Dragons carried out this macabre game, in which they massacred entire islands, once every three years, since the system issued an alert whenever one of these events was about to take place, informing him that he could participate in them.
Even if it felt somewhat distasteful to Orion, for the system these tragic events that occurred every three years were like a kind of "Bonus Mission" in which he could actively participate to obtain rewards.
Naturally, Orion's role during these Native Hunts was not to take part as a hunter, but rather his mission was to help the innocent inhabitants of those nations survive the Celestial Dragons' gruesome game.
Even so, Orion had not participated in any of the previous Native Hunts—with the exception of the one that had taken place in Roux's kingdom, in which he had become involved by chance—because he had not yet possessed enough power to do anything about it.
Up until now, Orion had not had an information network strong enough to discover the location of a Native Hunt in advance, so he had only been able to passively receive information from the system one day before it began.
And since this event always occurred in different parts of the world, it was impossible for Orion to take part without knowing beforehand where it would take place, as he would not be able to reach the location in time to prevent the slaughter.
Moreover, Orion was still not prepared to actively confront the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, as he knew his power was not yet sufficient. In every Native Hunt there were always high-ranking marines and even bodyguards on the level of Shanks or higher, so if Orion truly chose to intervene, he would end up in a desperate struggle for survival alongside the other unfortunate victims of the grotesque game.
As frustrating as it was, Orion understood his limitations well and knew he had to be patient. His strength was growing with each passing day, and he knew that if he continued striving as he had been until now, he would soon be able to face the monsters at the very peak of power in this world—and when that moment came, there would be no one capable of stopping him from saving whomever he wished.
Orion dropped anchor in the bay in front of Mango Island, and together with the rest of his companions, he made his way to the deserted shores of the silent island, carefully observing his surroundings.
Originally, this had been an island full of life, where countless people roamed the coasts collecting fruit from the numerous trees that grew abundantly throughout the land. Now, however, the scene was completely different, with not a single soul in sight and a sepulchral silence permeating everything.
Orion let out a soft sigh and tried not to let himself be too discouraged by thinking about the tragedy that had taken place here, because after all, he could not change what had already happened, and could only focus on the present and the future.
He had come here to inspect the island that had suffered the tragedy of hosting the Celestial Dragons' competition, mainly because he wanted to witness the destruction caused by his enemies and thus never forget his mission in this world, but also to confirm whether there might be any survivors.
Although he knew it was practically impossible that the Celestial Dragons would have allowed anyone to survive the Native Hunt, Orion could not ignore the possibility that it had happened, because if that were the case, those survivors would need his help.
However, the moment Orion arrived on the island, he expanded his Observation Haki to its maximum range and activated his Prism Eyes, only to be met with the grim reality that there was no one there.
Or almost no one, because just as the system's map indicated, the Named Character known as T Bone was on the island.
"Orion, I'm hot. Can we eat ice cream when we go back to the ship?" Perona suddenly said, pulling Orion back to reality from his thoughts.
Orion looked at the little gothic girl, who was dressed in an extravagant dark outfit that Rouge had specially made for her, and she held a small parasol in her hand to block the strong sunlight shining down on her.
Perona had a great interest in fashion, since her "gothic" style technically did not exist in this world, and she herself had taken charge of designing her outfits and asking others for help in making them.
Rouge had an especially close relationship with Perona, as she was one of the most feminine girls in the large family living in the royal mansion of Pacific Kingdom, which had awakened her maternal side that longed to have a little daughter to pamper.
After all, Ace was a troublemaker who, at best, bathed once a week after being scolded—and sometimes beaten—by Rouge, and the other girls living in the palace were far more interested in training with swords or smashing rocks with their bare hands than in dealing with things like fashion.
On the other hand, beyond certain eccentricities that made her somewhat peculiar, Perona was a fairly normal girl, interested in anything cute. She enjoyed styling her hair, playing with dolls, and creating her own dress designs, which for Rouge was like a breath of fresh air.
Moreover, Perona had asked one of Orion's subordinates to design platform shoes for her that made her about half a head taller. This subordinate was named Miucha, a girl Orion had found after rescuing the slaves from Rum Wolf, when he had been returning some of them to their homeland.
This girl, Miucha, had an enormous talent for shoe design and production according to the system's evaluation, and although Orion initially thought it was not a particularly useful skill, he had recruited her and her family, bringing them back to Pacific Kingdom.
After all, Orion understood that for his kingdom to develop as fully as possible, he needed to attract the best talents in the world, no matter how niche their fields of study or work might be.
In any case, with the help of Rouge and Miucha, Perona was dressed entirely in the gothic style she loved so much, but precisely because of that, she was suffering greatly from the spring heat of the North Blue.
Orion was walking while holding her hand, and he could feel that her palm was covered in sweat, while small droplets of perspiration began to appear on her adorable cheeks. Wearing a heavy black dress that covered her entire body was definitely not the best choice, but Orion said nothing about it, since Perona was very passionate about her style, and he knew he would end up being lectured by the girl if he made any comment about her outfit.
"Of course, but there's no need to wait until we get back to the ship—here," Orion said with a smile, and with a flick of his hand, he took out a popsicle from his inventory.
One of the advantages of his inventory was that items remained in the same state in which they had been stored, so food retained its temperature. Orion had a large number of ice creams stored in his inventory, and he also had freshly cooked meals that were still warm.
"Yay!" Perona cheered happily, but she didn't take the ice cream right away, instead hesitating a little about what to do.
Even though she was very hot, she didn't want to let go of Orion's hand—since this was a rare chance to spend time with him—and she also didn't want to let go of her parasol, because otherwise she would have to endure the harsh rays of the sun on her extremely pale skin.
Orion immediately noticed the little gothic girl's dilemma, and with a smile, he took the parasol, holding it over Perona's head as he said,
"Let me hold this for you until you finish your ice cream."
Perona's eyes closed happily in a delighted expression, and while humming cheerfully, she began eating the ice cream to ease the heat.
"You're really good at pampering others, aren't you?" Toki said with a smile, covering her mouth with her hand in an elegant and adorable gesture.
Orion couldn't help but focus his gaze on Toki's beautiful face, and with a slightly roguish smile, he said,
"Of course. If you want, I can pamper you too," and he took a step forward to approach Toki, taking her soft and delicate hand.
Toki felt her heart begin to race at Orion's sudden touch, and she tried to pull away from his grasp, though without much force.
Orion did not let go despite her slight attempt to free herself, yet he did not grip her tightly either. If she truly wished, it would have been easy for her to pull her hand away, but after a brief, unsuccessful attempt, Toki lowered her head without trying again, tacitly accepting his hold.
Orion maintained a calm expression outwardly, but inside he was dancing with joy, since once again he had managed to take a small step forward in his intimacy with Toki. After all, for a woman as reserved as her, walking hand in hand in public was a big step.
While Orion and Toki enjoyed the ambiguity of their flirtation, Perona watched them with interest as she ate her ice cream, although what caught her attention the most was the hand Orion had produced with his One Fleur ability to hold the parasol above her head, shielding her from the sun's ray.
Meanwhile, Mitsu and Law were walking a bit behind, arguing heatedly—though not coming to blows—because the little clone had told the proud boy that he was weak, since he couldn't climb trees like she could.
Truth be told, it wasn't that Law was weak, since he was stronger than a normal child, but Mitsu was physically far superior, as she had been enhanced by Vegapunk and his team of scientists. Mitsu even possessed a stronger physique than Orion, or than naturally strong races such as Fish-men.
Finally, Orion and his group arrived at the place where the capital city of Mango Island had once stood, which was now completely in ruins after having been destroyed by the Celestial Dragons.
There, Orion found a lone man kneeling in front of a cross, praying solemnly.
Orion gestured to Toki and the others, signaling for them to wait there for a moment, and approached T Bone; however, he did not interrupt his silent prayer, instead simply standing beside him, closing his eyes and lowering his head toward the grave as a sign of respect.
Truth be told, Orion was not a religious man, so he could not pray like T Bone, though he could accompany him in sentiment. Even so, Orion was aware of the existence of gods in this world, as Kuma preached about the god Nika and the "great mother," who even appeared on the cover of the bible he carried wherever he went.
After a few minutes, T Bone finished praying before the cross and stood up, looking at Orion with a friendly expression, though one also laden with sadness and melancholy.
"Good morning, visitor. What brings you here?" said the gentle man, whose somewhat sinister appearance did not match his personality.
"I came to see the site of the tragedy, and to apologize to the innocent victims for not having been able to do anything to help them," Orion replied sincerely, looking directly into T Bone's eyes, who stood at the same height as him in his adult form.
T Bone's expression seemed to soften slightly upon hearing Orion's words, and, showing a smile that many would consider chilling, he continued,
"You are a kind person, but do not trouble yourself in vain. As long as pirates roam freely in this world, these tragedies will never cease."
There was indignation and fury in T Bone's voice, and his knuckles cracked loudly from how tightly he was clenching his fists.
"Pirates?" Orion said, somewhat confused by the words of the man before him.
"That's right, my friend. This peaceful nation was destroyed by a group of ruthless pirates. The news was in every newspaper," T Bone replied sadly, lowering his gaze.
Orion finally understood what was happening, realizing that it was only natural for the World Government to fabricate a story about the sudden destruction of the nation of Mango.
Unlike him, who had received system alerts about the Native Hunting and knew the truth of what had happened here, the rest of the world only had access to the official information, in which a group of bloodthirsty pirates had been blamed.
What was even worse was that the Marines—under orders from the World Government—had executed a group of pirates who had nothing to do with the incident, declaring them responsible for the massacre of Mango and thus giving more credibility to the lie they had constructed. The dead pirates could no longer say anything about it, making it a convenient way to fabricate a story while eliminating a group of pirates at the same time.
"When I arrived a few days ago, there were still corpses scattered all over the place… I personally took care of giving them a proper burial. I hope they can now rest in peace," the gentle man continued, still wearing that somewhat terrifying expression.
Orion was once again surprised by T Bone's words, and only then did he notice the shovel lying nearby, as well as the blisters on his hands. It was clear that T Bone had been working tirelessly for a long time to bury the innocent victims of the Celestial Dragons' attack, and he had likely finished just before Orion and the others arrived on the island.
Activating his Prism Eyes, Orion carefully observed the man before him, immediately noticing that his morality was flawless and that he possessed considerable talent.
In an instant, Orion smiled brightly, thinking that he had found someone he definitely wanted to recruit into his ranks, and extending his hand, he said,
"My name is Orion, and I am the king of a distant nation."
"A-A king? Forgive my boldness, I don't have much education… Should I bow?" T Bone asked, who did not have much experience socializing, despite his kind heart and positive personality.
Orion's smile widened even more, and extending his hand, he took T Bone's and shook it firmly.
"There's no need for any formalities, though I would like you to tell me your name," Orion replied.
"Ah! M-my name is T Bone! It's a pleasure to meet you, King Orion!"
Truth be told, T Bone was quite naïve, as he did not even doubt Orion's words, immediately accepting the fact that he was a king. Even so, for Orion this was not a negative trait, as he preferred this kind of straightforward person over someone scheming, since it was far more relaxing to interact with someone like that.
Even so, he knew that if T Bone were to encounter someone who wished to take advantage of his innocence and kindness, he could end up facing a tragedy, so he thought that in the future he would have to speak to him about it to correct his absolute trust in others.
In Orion's mind, T Bone was already practically a member of his faction, and he was already thinking about how to help him grow in the future, although things were not as simple as he expected.
"T Bone, nice to meet you!" Orion said with a smile, and then added,
"I would like to officially offer you a position as a knight in my kingdom. What do you say?"
Orion had no complaints whatsoever regarding T Bone's talent or personality, so he went straight to the point, attempting to recruit him immediately. However, the man's response was not what he had expected, as he instantly showed a somewhat embarrassed expression and said,
"I-I'm sorry! But I can't accept your offer, King Orion! To tell the truth, I'm on my way to join the Marines!"
Orion raised his eyebrows in surprise at T Bone's answer, and bringing a hand to his chin, he asked,
"Why do you want to join the Marines?"
"Of course it's to protect the weak and prevent tragedies like the one that happened here on this island!" T Bone replied, this time without stuttering or hesitating for even a moment.
Orion knew that for someone as noble and innocent as T Bone, joining the Marines was likely the greatest commitment one could make to help the world, but he also knew that if he chose that path, sooner or later he would face disillusionment and come into contact with the darker, more tragic side of humanity.
Even so, Orion did not want to miss the opportunity to recruit someone like T Bone, so, adopting a serious expression, he said,
"What would you think if I told you that the tragedy that occurred here was not the work of pirates at all, but rather that it was the very World Government—the one that controls the Marines—that is responsible?"
"Absurd! The Marines are justice itself, fighting criminals while protecting the weak and defenseless!" T Bone said, visibly agitated.
Orion was about to respond to the gentle man's words when a chime echoed in his mind and a notification appeared on the system screen.
*Ding*
*The favorability of the Named Character "T Bone" has decreased by 50 points*
Orion opened his eyes in surprise after reading the notification, and upon checking the favorability screen, he saw that T Bone's score had now dropped to -20, making him hostile toward him.
Originally, he had intended to continue trying to convince T Bone that the Marines were not the just organization he believed them to be, but after witnessing such a sudden drop in favorability at the slightest opposing opinion toward the famed institution, he decided that it would be best not to press the matter any further.
For someone as innocent in his way of thinking as T Bone, continuing to deny the goodness of the Marines would only be seen as unjustified slander, and would likely result in an even further drop in favorability into deeper negative values.
Orion let out a soft sigh, realizing that the very qualities that made T Bone an excellent addition to his forces were the same ones now complicating his recruitment.
Even so, Orion tried to remain positive, knowing that sooner or later T Bone would come to understand on his own what he had been trying to tell him about the Marines.
After all, it was true that the Marines were an organization that helped a great number of people around the world against the threats posed by pirates and criminals in general, but the higher one climbed within its ranks, the more of its darker side would become visible.
Given T Bone's strength, Orion had no doubt that he would be able to rise quickly through the Marine ranks—as long as he did not encounter a situation similar to the one his wife Christina had suffered years ago, in which her growth had been stunted by a corrupt superior—and sooner or later, he would inevitably come face to face with that darker side.
True to his pragmatic nature, Orion smiled once more and said,
"I'm sorry if my words offended you," and then, taking out a Den Den Mushi from his Pocket Dimension, he extended his hand and gave it to T Bone, adding,
"Even so, my recruitment offer still stands. If you ever change your mind, you can contact me with this Den Den Mushi."
Then, without waiting for a response from T Bone, Orion turned around and returned to Toki and the others. His recruitment attempt had failed this time, but Orion was confident that this would not be the last time he would meet T Bone in the future.
Sooner or later, he would manage to convince him to join his fight against the World Government.
...
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