Black Gun Dotol Austin

Marineford Era 1493,

"Why is this guy named Oden wearing a diaper?"

The weather was clear, and the scenery was just right.

The Roger Pirates had just finished restocking supplies on an island.

Austin, who had gone shopping, brought back a newspaper. Shanks and Buggy were huddled together reading it when one article caught Roger's attention.

It was about the Second Division Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, a new face who had recently become famous across the seas—

Samurai Kozuki Oden.

"A samurai from Wano Country? He looks pretty cool!"

"Ugly as hell."

Austin curled his lip and set the wine barrel slung over his shoulder, taller than he was, in front of Roger. "He looks like some pervert, wearing a crotchless cloth. Is that so he can piss and shit wherever he wants?

If you ask me, black military uniforms are the coolest. Right, Bullet?"

That was right. A month ago, the hardheaded Bullet had already joined the crew.

Austin had watched the entire battle when he challenged Captain Roger. Calling it evenly matched would have been inaccurate.

It could only be described as a one-sided crushing.

As for those rumors that fifteen-year-old Bullet had been a match for Rayleigh at his peak,

Austin had only this to say:

Say that again and look at me. Do I look like a fucking idiot?

Forget Bullet. Even if fifteen-year-old Roger, fifteen-year-old Whitebeard, and fifteen-year-old Rocks had all shown up, none of them could have been a match for Rayleigh at his peak.

Did they think mastery of the Three types of Haki, Great Swordsman skill, and Conqueror's Haki Infusion were a joke?

All Austin could say was that Buggy really had no filter sometimes. He could turn Bullet having exchanged blows with Rayleigh into them being evenly matched.

Still, Austin did not dislike that about him.

After all, Austin had taken an Armament Haki kick from Vice-Captain Rayleigh head-on and survived. He hoped Buggy would brag about him more in the future.

For example:

"Austin was once my fellow crewmate on the Roger Pirates. When he was nine, he was already evenly matched with Vice-Captain Rayleigh..."

At this point, though Bullet was not yet among the world's top powerhouses, he was still an outstanding hand-to-hand combat expert.

Not long after coming aboard, he had exchanged blows with Austin.

And after that fight, even the monster Bullet could not help but sigh that heroes under heaven were as numerous as carp crossing a river.

Austin's highly refined Observation Haki, his monstrous strength that had startled even Bullet, and his practiced hand-to-hand skills—

At merely ten years old, Austin had been able to fight fifteen-year-old Bullet without falling behind. Bullet was confident he would not lose, but he was equally certain that he would never be able to defeat Austin easily.

Bullet did not believe in companions, but he respected the strong.

So when Austin spoke to him, he did not ignore him. He merely nodded.

As a soldier, he truly believed military uniforms were the coolest clothes.

"Diaper? Hahahahahaha!!"

Roger burst into laughter at Austin's description, and the liquor in the bottle in his hand sloshed with a clink.

Crocus's expression darkened when he saw this. He snatched the bottle away from Roger. "Your body can't handle any more alcohol!

You don't want to collapse halfway through before you even finish your voyage, do you, Roger?"

Roger froze at those words, then said miserably, "Don't be like that, Crocus. Just a little is fine."

Unfortunately, in front of the ship's doctor, his status as captain clearly carried no weight. He could only watch helplessly as Crocus took his fine wine away.

Without any alcohol, Roger was a little downcast, but things soon took a turn for the better.

At some point, Austin had quietly slipped over to his side. He secretly pulled a bottle from his clothes and swiftly stuffed it into Roger's arms.

The two exchanged a glance.

Roger: What a good kid, Austin!

Austin: Say no more, Captain.

"Is that really okay, Rayleigh? Roger's condition..."

Their little trick naturally could not escape Observation Haki, but the crew members who noticed did not say anything.

"It's fine. Roger isn't a man who'll be defeated so easily!"

With fine wine in hand, Roger was clearly livelier than before. He shouted to everyone:

"Everyone! We're heading back to the New World!!!"

"Yeah!!!"

"Big News, Big News!!!"

"One of the New World's overlords, the Roger Pirates, has appeared in the latter half of the New World!!!"

"They have defeated several Great Pirates with bounties exceeding one billion! The Rocks of the New Era?!"

Ever since Roger had been diagnosed with an incurable disease and resolved to reach the Final Island, the Roger Pirates' journey seemed to have entered fast-forward.

In just two years, they had fought east and west, traveling everywhere in search of Poneglyphs. Before they knew it, those two years had passed.

The latter half of the New World.

The waters of [Edd War].

"Austin, your bounty is out!"

A lively banquet was underway on the deck.

Buggy, who habitually kept his head wrapped in a bandana, ran over excitedly and shouted. He had run so fast that he nearly tripped.

Hearing the news, every crew member froze for a moment before raising their cups toward the long-haired youth in the crowd, all talking at once.

"You've made it, Austin!!"

"Let's celebrate Austin getting a bounty by throwing another round of partying!!!"

"Yeah!!!"

The sea breeze swept past, stirring the young man's long hair across the deck. Austin held a bottle of juice as he walked over to Buggy, looking helplessly at this group of banquet fanatics.

"My head getting a bounty is enough of a reason for you guys to throw a party?"

"Don't say something so depressing, Austin."

Shanks, who had also been infected by their love of parties, rather enjoyed this atmosphere.

"Honestly, what am I supposed to do with you guys?" Austin smiled, then took the Bounty Poster from Buggy's hand.

The largest photograph showed a naval battle Austin had once participated in. In it, he stood tall and heroic, faint red light blazing from eyes that seemed to look down upon the world, giving him an extremely intimidating presence.

In short, he looked terrifyingly strong.

[Black Gun Dotol Austin]

[Bounty: 139,600,000 Beli]

[Extremely heinous. Dead or alive.]

"Austin, seriously?! One hundred and thirty million..."

Buggy had always kept a low profile—slacking off—and his strength was nothing impressive, so he had not yet entered the Marines' sights. He was utterly shocked by Austin's bounty surpassing one hundred million.

Though part of it came from the Roger Pirates' reputation,

And Austin always liked to fire Black Spear shots on the battlefield, making people hate him. Every time Garp gave chase, there was even a curly-haired Marine who specifically targeted Austin.

Still, a bounty exceeding one hundred million spoke volumes.

It meant that although Austin was only twelve years old, he was already a pirate the World Government recognized as a threat.

Shanks agreed as well. Although Austin could be irritating sometimes, he really was an opponent worthy of recognition.

But just as the two wanted to say more, Austin raised a hand to stop them.

His expression suddenly turned serious as he looked up at the sky, leaving the two youngsters baffled. They could only look up as well.

But as he kept watching, Buggy noticed something was wrong.

Several black dots seemed to be slowly emerging from the clouds?

"So we can't escape it after all." Austin removed the Black Gun from his back. Strands of black slowly wrapped around its body, while terrifying red light burst from his eyes.

"The Battle of Ed War!!!"