Escorting the Cargo

After clearing away the pirates' bodies, they tore down the ship's original flag and hoisted the Donquixote Family's emblem in its place.

On the open sea, apart from pirates' treasure and their bounties, ships were the most valuable commodities.

Just look at the Going Merry from the original story: it had cost Luffy and his crew thirty million Beli.

When circumstances allowed, a pirate ship was the best kind of spoils.

The Black Hair Pirates' treasure and captain's bounty together amounted to only twenty million Beli.

But according to the crew's estimate of its market value, their ship was worth at least fifty million Beli.

The entire Black Hair Pirates crew was worth less than a single ship.

After the crew cleaned the bodies off the deck and made a few repairs to the damage Gray had caused, they hitched the ship behind them and sailed toward the family's weapons factory.

Over the next month, Gray traveled across the sea with Gladius.

A kingdom's arms trade couldn't be completed in just one or two deliveries. Each round trip between the two places took about a week.

After three or four trips, the weapons trade with the kingdom assigned to Gray and the other two was finally complete.

During that month, aside from escorting the cargo, Gray was responsible for fighting pirates.

No wonder people said battle was a catalyst!

The fights weren't all that frequent, but they still helped Gray get used to the rhythm of combat. More importantly, they let him figure out his own fighting style.

Most likely, he'd be fighting by controlling Flying Wheels from then on.

In this world full of warriors, he could be considered the only mage.

He'd made this decision because Gray knew that the human body had its limits.

Until he could find a way to stop being human, he'd have to think of other solutions.

And the power of a Devil Fruit was the best way to transcend those limits.

The Spin-Spin Fruit Gray had eaten let him control magnetic fields in battle. If he really managed to control magnetic forces of hundreds of thousands of units, a body from this world wouldn't be able to withstand them.

There was no other way. To reach the million-unit power of the top dogs, he'd have to rely on external weapons.

And Gray believed he wouldn't need a million units of magnetic force. Five hundred thousand would be enough to punch through the pirate world.

Of course, all of this was just his theory!

He didn't even know whether the Spin-Spin Fruit's power could support him all the way to that level.

After all, Devil Fruit powers had limits too.

Take the String-String Fruit, for example!

In the original story, Doflamingo had developed it all the way to Awakening. The Blue Star fans all said it could be developed toward conceptual powers, like controlling timelines and lines of fate.

But could it really be developed that far?

Those were the things Gray worried about.

Still, even though he called himself a mage and fought like one, if that style didn't work, Gray could always say, "This humble Taoist knows a thing or two about fighting with his fists and feet."

In a world where Blood Bull Physiques were everywhere, he could avoid close combat, but he couldn't afford to be unable to fight up close.

Gray also wanted to master martial arts and learn Life Return!

Once he learned that skill, spinning his cells could also be considered within the Spin-Spin Fruit's domain.

In Gray's estimation, only after learning Life Return would he meet the minimum physical requirements. It would also be the best way to keep his cells from suffering too much damage when he spun them.

After all, cellular wear and tear affected one's lifespan.

When the protagonist Luffy accelerated his blood flow, his entire body entered a high-temperature state. Outsiders couldn't begin to imagine how much damage that did to his cells.

That was one thing many people agreed on: Luffy was fighting with his lifespan.

Having lived a second life, Gray didn't want to die young. Once he was strong enough, he'd find a piece of Pure Gold—even if he had to turn the Calm Belt upside down to find a Lantern Fish.

With no need to worry about his lifespan and strength at the peak of the world, he'd take his harem and put his countrymen's old habits to use, traveling around the world to watch the spectacle. That was Gray's dream.

As for liberating the world and all that, it sounded exhausting. The protagonist of this world could handle it.

"Whew, we're finally done!" After receiving payment for the last batch of goods, the three of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Over the past month, everyone aboard the family ship had grown sick of drifting across the sea.

"Just hang in there a little longer. We'll be heading back soon!" Gladius patted Gray on the shoulder. Over the past month, he'd gotten a clear sense of his junior's strength.

To be honest, if Gray flew into the air and fought him, he wouldn't be able to do a thing about him.

And Gray's attacks posed a real threat to him. Though he didn't want to admit it, he'd already accepted in his heart that Gray was a strong fighter on his level.

And the strong... always earned the friendship of the strong. Besides, they belonged to the same family and might one day have to trust each other with their backs. Investing in Gray while he was still weak was a sure bet.

"Yeah, yeah!" Gray was only complaining. His body was still true to its habits, and he carried on as usual.

He flew back to the ship and waited for the crew to replenish their supplies, especially the essential fresh water and food.

"Field Rotation—Activate!" The moment he had some free time, Gray switched on the gravity field.

Since they were at sea and could run into a fight at any time, Gray didn't dare exhaust himself.

Over the past month, he'd stayed in a three-times-gravity space and was almost being caught up by Baby 5.

Though his training had been delayed a little, Gray believed that once he returned to their base, he'd quickly adapt to four times gravity and move on to five.

After that, he'd just have to wait for his body to grow. His small frame simply couldn't handle training upward without end.

Whenever he thought about that, Gray found it frustrating and often sighed, "Why couldn't I have Big Mom's natural talent?"

"If I had a Steel Balloon body or Oni Race blood, I wouldn't be held back by my age."

Daydreams were wonderful, but reality was harsh.

"Fufufufu..."

"Welcome home!"

"Gladius, Baby 5, Gray!"

"Young Master!" ×3

Whether it was all for show or not, Doflamingo had come to welcome the three weary returnees alongside Trebol and Corazon. He'd won himself a great deal of loyalty.

As for Gray, he was rebellious by nature and had always planned to strike out on his own. He only needed the Donquixote Family's protection because he was still weak.

But Gray had made up his mind!

He'd repay the family's kindness by sparing them one more mouth to feed in Impel Down.

"Come on! We've been waiting for you!"

"Let's head back and start the banquet!"

"Oh, I love banquets!"

After disembarking, they headed straight for the family's base.

"Have they already surrounded it?" As they walked, Gray suddenly noticed that, at the far end of the island, an endless ring of iron fencing had already been erected around Flevance.

The World Government's usual way of doing things—they never treated human lives as lives. Thinking of God Valley, the South Blue hometown of Ace's mother, and Ohara in the West Blue, then considering Flevance, which had already been completely destroyed, Gray felt...