Speaking Freely in the Chat Group

[Flender: Uta? Indeed, that little girl was the truly dangerous one.]

That was how the pirate movie had gone—the power scaling had been completely made up. Uta had nearly dragged 70% of the entire sea out of reality and into the Eternal Dream.

Not to mention reviving the so-called legendary Music Demon. Even the Red Hair Pirates could only barely keep something that troublesome suppressed.

[Samuel Oak: The simplest solution is not to take that little girl to Elegia. If she never encounters the Music Demon, then naturally she will not go berserk.]

[Zephyr: That is indeed the case. However, leaving something so dangerous alone is not my style. That score needs to be dealt with.

Among the knowledge I received, there is not much regarding ancient technology, but there are many methods for handling creations like that demon.

The best approach would be for me to bring Garp and Red-Haired along. We will suppress that demon with Conqueror's Haki, then turn it into little Uta's power.

Simply defending against it is still too unreliable. Who knows when it might be released again.]

[Flender: Truly maximizing the benefits. If it works, that would naturally be ideal.]

[Dumbledore: In that case, I happen to have an idea.]

[Zephyr: Oh?]

[Dumbledore: After studying the manuscripts of many sages and predecessors throughout magical history, along with my own breakthrough in magical power, I have recently been attempting to create new magic. I have already made some progress.

Hearing what you said, Zephyr, has given me many wonderful ideas that excite me.

I have already gained some insight into the counter-curses and curse-breaking methods for the Three Unforgivable Curses. One of them is especially effective against that sort of mindless madness.

That Music Demon may be an existence similar to a Dementor, or perhaps more like a ghost. Either way, it cannot be wrong to use it against them.

Combined with the Patronus Charm, perhaps I could create a Patronus unique to Miss Uta.]

In the Hogwarts headmaster's office, Dumbledore's eyes gleamed brightly beneath his glasses, so intensely that they were almost difficult to look at.

[Flender: I did not quite understand all of that, but I roughly get it. Headmaster Dumbledore, are you planning to "corrupt it toward good"? I mean, purify that Music Demon?]

[Dumbledore: Precisely.]

As expected of the White Wizard, Flender thought with slight admiration.

That reversed kind of ruthlessness, combined with strengthened magical power and knowledge... Flender felt that Dumbledore might someday be able to conjure spells from scratch in an instant.

One wave of his wand, and whatever he wanted would appear. For Dumbledore, that did not seem impossible.

After all, magic was the product of impossibility and wild imagination.

[Samuel Oak: Now that you mention it, I seem to have an idea too. You all know that the Distortion World exists on my side, right?

Using knowledge from the super-ancient era, it is possible to extract energy from the Distortion World. There may be a chance to cause any existence to undergo a reversal in personality or energy.

If we used it on that Music Demon, could we turn him into some sort of angel?]

Professor Oak's imagination began running wild. That might have been why he had chosen to become a Pokémon professor.

[Flender: That is a very good idea, but Professor, is it really possible? The last villain who planned to use the Distortion World's energy nearly caused two worlds to collide.]

[Samuel Oak: That is true. Do not worry, I will conduct preliminary experiments first.

Though that will have to wait a long time. I have quite a lot on my plate right now.]

[Zephyr: Ahem, thank you. Still, let us wait until I find the blueprint that seals the Music Demon first.]

Although he was an old marine, Zephyr lagged far behind the other three in the group when it came to creating things.

Flender did not say anything, but the forbidden knowledge he had inherited also contained methods related to brainwashing and reshaping. They were simply too "evil" to bring up.

Zephyr believed the best solution would be to turn the Music Demon into power, but destroying it was also the safest choice.

Only after quite a while did the topic finally end, with Professor Oak and Dumbledore reluctantly ceasing to offer their opinions.

Everyone in the Chat Group knew one another well and was the best outlet for one another. They could say almost anything, allowing these two normally "highly respected" old men to speak their fill.

Zephyr closed the Chat Group and soon spotted Garp laughing triumphantly.

Shanks lay helplessly on the ground with his swollen belly, while Uta stood beside him, concerned yet disgusted. Luffy was also there, throwing his weight around with borrowed authority.

"Chicken Sauce won! Shanks, you are no match for Chicken Sauce! Hehehe!"

"Hmph! It was not you who won, Luffy! What are you so proud of?"

"Chicken Sauce is my Chicken Sauce!"

The two children began arguing again for no apparent reason.

"All right, all right."

Shanks rubbed his belly and forced himself upright. He separated Uta and Luffy before bursting into laughter.

"This time, Mr. Garp, you won. But next time, I definitely will not lose."

"Hmph, Red-Haired brat. I will be waiting," Garp said disdainfully.

Zephyr shook his head again. Those two children...

Mt. Colubo was home to a bandit group known as the Dadan Family. Though they were called bandits, they had actually retired long ago and merely lived here.

Their leader was a female bandit named Curly Dadan. Ten years ago, Garp had entrusted Ace to this old friend of his to raise.

Today, the Dadan Family deep in the mountains had gone through another round of chaos. Ace ate and drank to his heart's content, then went to sleep on his own once the commotion was over.

Dadan's head throbbed at the sight. She cursed under her breath, yet instinctively began "cleaning up after" Ace, gathering the mess scattered throughout the house.

"Damn brat, and that damn old man too! He just shoved a child at me and told me to raise him. Why do I have to raise this kid in particular?!"

She cursed loudly as she cleaned the stains. Only after the floor was finally clean did Dadan straighten her aching back and let out a breath.

"Another exhausting day..."

With a loud bang, the door to the bandits' hideout was kicked open.

"Oi, Dadan, I am here! Hahaha! How is Ace doing? Someone wants to see him about something.

Oh, right, this is my friend Zephyr. He is an admiral one rank higher than me, and he has come to throw you in prison~

If you do not want to go to prison, this is my grandson Luffy. I will have to trouble you to take care of him too."

"Huh?! You damn—cough, cough, Mr. Garp, what are you talking about? Ace has already gone to sleep, and you cannot just shove another child on me!"

Dadan instinctively wanted to curse him out, but after recognizing Garp, she instinctively backed down.

When she saw Zephyr beside Garp, broad and imposing enough to inspire fear without even getting angry, Dadan's momentum weakened even further.

"Are you Mr. Zephyr? You are not really going to arrest me, are you?"

Dadan forced out a smile, though inwardly she beat Garp up more than a hundred times.

Zephyr raised his head and examined the outstanding mother before him, the woman who had dared to swing a club at Garp. He chuckled.

"Do not worry. It is just that old bastard Garp spouting nonsense. You have done nothing wrong, so why would I arrest you?"

"That is good, that is good." Only then did Dadan pat her chest and relax.

"Oi, Dadan, what are you making such a fuss about?!"

At that moment, the still-childish Ace rubbed his eyes and walked out of his room. Garp's appearance entered his sight.

"Damn old man, why are you here—ah!"

With a loud bang, Garp stepped forward and punched Ace, raising a steaming lump on his head.

"You little bastard, call me Grandpa!"

"That hurts like hell, you damn old man!"

Ace immediately clutched his head and cried out in pain, but his mouth remained as unyielding as ever.

Not far away, the instant Ace appeared, Shanks's gaze locked onto him without moving.

So this was the captain's child? He really looked like him... my little brother.

A brilliant smile blossomed across Shanks's face. This was wonderful. Truly wonderful~