"Eh???!!!"
"Austin!?? Why were you here???"
Shanks was dumbfounded.
In the blink of an eye, a familiar figure—Austin—had appeared in the hot spring.
Seeing him like this, Gaban burst into hearty laughter.
"Well... it was a long story. I had been away from this sea for several years."
His Devil Fruit ability kept the hot spring from touching his wounds as Austin simply enjoyed the warmth.
He had only just parted ways with the Roger Pirates, only to run into Shanks and Uncle Gaban right afterward. It was a small comfort.
The group quickly dried themselves and changed clothes, while Austin was wrapped in bandages all over again.
"Thanks for the meal!!!"
Seated before an egg tart as large as a mountain, Austin dug in with both hands while Shanks and Gaban watched curiously.
Was there really someone on this sea who could injure Austin this badly?
"Hey!! Austin, where had you gone after disappearing from the sea for so long???"
Shanks leaned closer and asked curiously.
Gaban was no different. Looking at the bandages covering Austin's entire body, he asked,
"Even when you fought Newgate, you weren't injured this badly, were you? What kind of opponent had you been fighting..."
Gulp—
After swallowing a huge mouthful of egg tart, the bandaged Austin slowly recounted what he had experienced over the past few days.
He glossed over Gick and mainly spoke of the Roger Pirates and the battle at God Valley.
"You mean this? Well, it was a long story. One of my scientists built a device that could travel back in time, so I went back more than twenty years to have some fun!"
"Back in time?!!"
Clearly, tech was completely beyond rough-and-tumble pirates like Shanks and Gaban, but they understood the part about going back in time.
"Yeah.