As always with Lucian's deals, he had already made his choice the moment he knew who he was dealing with. From the moment he realized who had called him, he'd already set his sights on the prizes he wanted. In a ship filled with talents and power, of course, it would be stupid not to try and push to get something useful.
And now, as he sat alone on his small boat, drifting through the calm waters of the New World, his face was split in a wide smile as he looked at his prize. Four new Devil Fruit stored within his vault. Lucian didn't even hesitate in what he had wanted from the moment his feet touched the moby dick.
The Gura Gura no Mi (Tremor-Tremor Fruit). The Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Phoenix (Bird-Bird Fruit). The Kira Kira no Mi (Diamond-Diamond Fruit). The Poke Poke no Mi (Pocket-Pocket Fruit).
That brought his total devil fruits to eleven. Eleven unique powers stored within his gate, ready to be utilized or traded as he saw fit.
God, how tempted he was to grab the tremor fruit and just take a bite out of it. The power to tilt the very world was in his hand, just a summon away, and he could bend the very world around him, but he held himself back for now.
Most would have wondered why he hadn't reached for Whitebeard's Haki instead. To the top pirates of this world, Haki was the ultimate peak, the only power that could truly conquer the seas and bypass the weaknesses of Fruit users. But Lucian wasn't thinking like a pirate or a native of this world.
Haki was a manifestation of will. It was a skill, one that anyone could learn, a muscle that could be trained, refined, and strengthened through blood, sweat, experience, and effort.
Lucian was already practicing his own, and he was fairly certain his current mastery surpassed many of the "heavy hitters" and "small fires" at the first line of the Grand Line.
But Devil Fruits?
They were unique powers. One per person at a time. You could not "learn" to be a Phoenix through hard work, nor could you meditate until your skin turned to diamond.
That made them the perfect prize.
A single Devil Fruit was worth a king's ransom here, where they were known as "Treasures of the Sea." But imagine back in his original world.
If he were to auction off the Phoenix Fruit there... he could see it now. The Great Clans would tear each other apart for a taste of that power. The Phoenix Clan, specifically, would likely empty their ancestral vaults and sell parts of their own territories just for a chance to study a power that so perfectly mirrored their own and to prevent it from falling into another house.
It was like getting a clan trait with just a single bite, like a sacred gear, he could even imagine Ajuka trying to get his hands on a fruit to study.
He let out a small, dark laugh. The temptation to return home and sell just one was immense, he'd no doubt get enough profit that he could buy a small kingdom in the human world.
But he wasn't a fool.
He had no way to move that kind of "merchandise" without drawing every predatory eye in the Underworld toward him. To appear with a new, unknown power source would be like bleeding in a shark tank. Fame was a death sentence for someone as weak as him.
"Later," he whispered to the wind, his voice barely audible over the lapping waves. "There is always a later. For now, I just need to keep getting more power."
He should leave things like this for future him. Right now, he had other things he should worry about, one being what he was about to do.
Lucian closed his eyes and sank into the depths of his mind, following that familiar pull he always felt when using observation haki.
Usually, he fought it to avoid Raum trying to peek, but not today.
Today, he leaned into it, dragging himself back to his ancestor.
Lucian opened his eyes to find himself back in the grand throne room of his ancestor.
"Ah... so you've finally returned."
The voice was like a grating vibration that scraped against the inside of Lucian's skull, layered with a thousand whispers of crying crows. It somehow felt worse than the last time.
Raum sat upon his midnight throne, his three eyes, two hollow voids and one pulsing crimson slit locked onto Lucian.
Lucian could sense, or rather see, a flicker of something new in the demon, frustration. It was a subtle thing, a twitch of a claw on the armrest. He guessed that Raum was used to knowing things, and maybe that's why it was hard to hide his frustration from even someone as insignificant to him as Lucian.
For a being who claimed to see through the eyes of all his descendants across time and space, being "blinded" by one little devil must have been an agonizing itch he couldn't scratch. The silence of Lucian's recent weeks had clearly grated on the Great Earl.
"Lord Raum," Lucian said, keeping his tone polite but firm, or at least he hoped that's how it sounded.
"My child... you have returned.....willingly at that," Raum said, a mocking smirk playing on his crow like face. "I was certain you wouldn't want to see me again after our first meeting. You fled quite quickly back then."
Lucian ignored the jab. He knew the demon was fishing for a reaction. "I have come to make a deal with you."
The atmosphere shifted. The shadows in the room stopped swirling and froze, pinned in place by the sudden statement. Raum sat up, leaning forward, a smirk growing on its face.
To make a deal with an original Demon was a gamble even most Devils wouldn't dare in their wildest nightmares.
"A deal?" Raum repeated, his amusement returning.
"Well, let's call it a trade," Lucian corrected. I want you to teach me. I want the knowledge you possess. I want you to teach me all you know."
Raum was silent for a heartbeat. Then, he threw his head back and let out a cawing, mocking laugh that echoed like a choir of the damned.
"All I know? Do you even understand the scale of your arrogance, boy? To ask for my knowledge is to ask me to serve you for an eternity. I have seen the rise and fall of civilizations. I know the secrets of Heaven. I see through the eyes of every Raum who has ever lived or will ever live. And you think you have something worth that? Worth all that is the name, Raum?"
The demon's killing intent flooded the room, a crushing pressure that made Lucian's skin crawl and his lungs feel like they were collapsing. Raum was not amused by this brat.
But Lucian stood his ground, reminding himself that in this is a mentalscape, Raum could intimidate, but he could not truly hurt Lucian, not in any way he knew at least.
"Yes," Lucian said, his voice cutting through the pressure with surprising clarity. "I do. I have something worth it."
Raum stopped laughing. His eyes narrowed, the crimson slit glowing brighter. "Oh? And what could a 'failed copy' of we demons possibly offer a being like me, the Great Earl of hell, what could you give that he does not already possess?"
"I'll share my sight with you," Lucian told him.
Raum froze. The third eye on his forehead pulsed a sickly red. He looked at Lucian, then barked out another laugh. "Do you think I'll accept something so trivial? I am Raum! I see through all! And even without you, I have hundreds with my blood, and with them I see all."
"Can you?" Lucian asked with a sly smile, crossing his arms. "Aren't you curious about the little things you've seen so far? Those brief flashes from my gaze? Have you seen anything like this from the others?"
Over the past few days lucian had been allowing brief sights to reach the demon just to tempt him.
"Lord Raum. Have you ever seen these sights from any of your other descendants? Have you ever caught a glimpse of the places I've been from anyone else in the bloodline? The floating islands in the sky? The sea that stretches into forever and the islands?"
Raum fought to keep his expression neutral, but his fingers tightened until the stone armrest began to crack. He hadn't. Every fragment he had managed to snatch from Lucian's eyes was foreign, vibrant, and utterly exciting. To a being who had seen everything "expected," the unknown was an addiction more potent than innocent souls.
"I can walk away," Lucian said, his tone suddenly sad, almost pitying. "I've gone my entire life without a teacher. I'm sure I'll find another one...eventually. Someone who isn't as knowledgeable as the great Raum, of course, I suppose you'll just have to wait for another descendant to find these places I'm in to see its wonderful sights."
Lucian made sure to flatter the demon while subtly making him remember that Lucian was the only one he'd seen these sights from.
Raum's teeth gritted. He knew Lucian was right. He had checked every Raum from the dawn of time to the end of his bloodline, and none of them had ever set foot in the place Lucian currently was.
"Then perhaps," Raum began slowly, his voice dropping into a honeyed, dangerous purr. "We adjust the terms. I shall grant you glimpses of my power, and in exchange, I shall take ownership of—"
"No," Lucian interrupted, his playful demeanor vanishing instantly. "The deal is simple. No 'wishy-washy' wording. No loopholes. You teach me what I want to know, and you get to share my sight. Not take it, not own it. share. I am not a fool, Lord Raum. I won't give you the chance to find a wording that screws me over or blinds me permanently."
The pressure in the room surged again, heavier than Lucian had ever felt. It was like his very soul was being put through a grinder. But Lucian refused to look away, his silver and crimson eyes burning with a defiance.
Raum scoffed, then grinned, showing rows of needle-sharp teeth that glinted in the gloom. "...Very well, child of my blood. We have a deal. My teachings for your sight."
"Your teachings for me sharing my sight with you," Lucian corrected one last time, emphasizing the word.
The demon looked genuinely amused. "You are indeed a Raum. Cautious to the point of paranoia. Very well. We have a deal."
Something clicked.
Days passed.
Training with a demon was not like the training Lucian had experienced. Raum was a cruel teacher, demanding perfection and offering only agonizing mental shocks as a critique. But he was effective.
Lucian began to understand magic better. He learned to channel his demonic energy with precision, weaving it into various spells without losing much magic.
Meanwhile, the world continued to move. The whispers of the rejuvenation of the world's strongest man had begun to circulate among the high-level brokers, and people started to try to get to him more.
Lucian eventually arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, the place he'd been heading towards for a while now. He stood at grove 27, watching the resin bubbles drift toward the sky.
Why was he here?
Well, he had no intention of jumping into the middle of the fire at Marineford, he wasn't suicidal, and his current level of power, while great, wasn't enough to challenge the entire Navy. But a front-row seat to the greatest war of the era?
He wouldn't miss that for anything. It was also the perfect place to find new "clients" and observe the peak of this world's power.
And peak it would be with the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates back in shape. Please let them show Sengoku and Grap's face when they see Whitebeard.
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