Kaido, You Told Them I Was Dead?

As the system's voice faded, it felt as though a stream of warm water had been poured into Ron's mind.

A brand-new memory slowly unfolded—not the kind of knowledge drilled in from books, but an instinct etched into him as if he had practiced it thousands upon thousands of times.

Then, a translucent blue virtual panel slowly appeared before Ron.

Host: Ron

Base Abilities: Observation Haki [Intermediate (454/500)] Armament Haki [Intermediate (347/500)] Conqueror's Haki [Intermediate (180/500)] Taijutsu [? (?/?)] Swordsmanship [Intermediate (368/500)]

Physique: Sage Body (Unlocked) Sage Eye (Locked)

Physical Technique: Eight Gates (Unlocked)

Special Abilities: Four-Tails (Unlocked) Nine-Tails (Unlocked) Ice Release (Unlocked)

Triggered Abilities: Lava Release (Source: Four-Tails) Nine-Tails Mode (Source: Nine-Tails)

Mysterious Roulette >>> (Activation Requirement: One Devil Fruit)

Looking at his status panel, Ron's grin slowly widened, becoming harder to suppress than an AK's recoil.

Ice Release had an extremely high development ceiling, while the Eight Gates dealt terrifying damage.

In the original Naruto, that man had nearly kicked the story straight into its ending with the Eight Gates. The only tiny drawback was that it could cripple the user.

However, Ron possessed a Sage Body. The burden of using the Eight Gates should be greatly reduced.

Of course, that was just the logic of it. Whether it actually worked would have to wait until he tried it himself.

Ron closed the status panel, glanced around Ochoku's room, and muttered softly, "No matter what, Ochoku, your death was worth something. Don't worry. I'll take the power you invested in and make a real name for myself in this world."

With that, he turned and left the room.

He did not return to the auxiliary ship. Instead, he planned to head back to the battlefield and test out his two newly acquired abilities.

However, by the time he reached the battlefield, something seemed off.

The other members of the Rocks Pirates had arrived at some point.

The two sides seemed to have reached some temporary agreement and were currently under a ceasefire.

"Ron?"

The instant Silver Axe and Marlon saw Ron, their eyes widened like saucers.

Ron did not notice that something was wrong with their expressions. His first thought was, Why had they stopped? Why stop? If there was a ceasefire, hadn't I come all this way for nothing?

"Ron, why are you back?"

Kaido's voice suddenly came from the side. Then he rushed over, threw an arm around Ron's shoulders, forcibly turned him around, and dragged him away.

"What are you doing?" Ron staggered as he was pulled along, looking confused. "No, if you have something to say, just say it. Where are you taking me?"

"Ron? Weren't you dead?" Marlon's voice came again from behind him.

Ron turned back in confusion. Looking at Marlon's face, which was written all over with disbelief, he tilted his head slightly. "Who? Me? Dead...? Why don't I know about that?"

"Hey, don't mind them!" Kaido forcibly turned Ron's head back, looking somewhat guilty, like he had just been caught red-handed after doing something shady.

Boom!

All of a sudden, a huge foot came flying in from behind at an angle and landed squarely on Kaido's backside.

Kaido shot forward like a cannonball, staggering several steps before tripping over his own feet. With a slap, he crashed face-first onto the ground.

Rocks calmly withdrew his foot and said with a grin, "This Kaido fellow told everyone that Rayleigh killed you."

That was right. After the Rocks Pirates arrived, they had still been asking why Whitebeard and Kaido had clashed with the Roger Pirates.

But Kaido did not even bother putting on an act. The first thing out of his mouth was that Rayleigh had killed Ron.

The moment Rocks heard that, he lost it. Without caring whether it was true or not, he charged right in.

When the others saw Rocks make a move, they gave it some thought. After all, the person supposedly killed was one of their own. If they did not put the Roger Pirates in their place, it would be hard to justify.

And then... a group beating was born.

Ron looked down at Kaido, who was playing dead on the ground, then looked up at Rocks's smiling face. No wonder this guy had seemed a little strange. So he had been spreading rumors everywhere that I was killed.

"Hey, Roger, Rayleigh." Rocks smiled at the two men across from him. "Sorry about that. We didn't get the facts straight."

He said he was sorry, but he looked completely unapologetic.

In short, they had beaten the wrong people, and that was just their bad luck.

Roger and Rayleigh were not seriously injured, but the arrival of Rocks and the others had clearly put them through quite a lot.

"Like hell I believe you, Rocks." Roger complained irritably. "You obviously just wanted to get involved!"

At the beginning, Roger and Rayleigh had seriously tried to explain themselves, but Rocks had not listened at all.

No matter how one looked at it, this guy had done it on purpose.

"Wo hahahaha~~~" Rocks burst into laughter, completely ignoring Roger and Rayleigh's emotional turmoil. "How could that be? You understand us best. We generally don't do anything without profit."

Roger and Rayleigh said nothing, merely wearing expressions that clearly said, As if we'd believe that.

Rocks did not care in the slightest and shifted his gaze toward Ron. "Oh, right, Ron. It seems Roger has something to discuss with you."

Ron raised an eyebrow and followed Rocks's gaze toward Roger.

At that moment, Roger spoke up as well. "Hey, Ron, about what happened earlier, I'm sorry. I was too hasty. I believed that bastard Ochoku's nonsense."

Roger did not think admitting fault was anything shameful.

Ron showed no change in expression. Compared to Roger apologizing to him, he would have preferred Roger to keep pestering him like before so he could test his new abilities.

"Hehehe~~~" Ron chuckled softly. Then he looked toward Roger and slowly said, "There's no need, Roger. We're enemies. We don't need apologies."

"Huh?"

Roger's expression visibly froze for a moment. Clearly, he had not expected Ron to say that. After several seconds, the corner of his mouth finally pulled into a complicated curve. "You really are a guy people can't like."

"Hey, Roger." Rayleigh quietly reminded him from beside him, "Don't forget why we're here."

Roger nodded lightly, reined in the excess emotion on his face, and addressed Ron again. "Ron, you went to save Annika earlier, didn't you? You should know that the Kuja Pirates cooperated with you because they wanted to rescue Annika. Now that she's in your hands, I hope you'll let her come with me."

"Hey, Roger." Whitebeard cut in. "That's not the right attitude for asking someone a favor, is it?"

Whitebeard knew perfectly well that Ron wanted to use Annika to obtain compensation from Shakky. Naturally, he could not let Ron take a loss for nothing.

Even if Ron did not bring it up himself, Whitebeard would make the meaning clear for him.

Rayleigh calmly continued, "Of course, we won't take her away for free. Ron may name some reasonable conditions."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes focused on Ron.

"Two Devil Fruits. You can take her away. Of course, there's one condition: Annika herself has to be willing."

"Deal!"

Before Ron could specify what Devil Fruits he wanted, Roger immediately agreed. Even if Ron wanted them right away, Roger could provide them at once, because he had three aboard his ship.

No one on the ship wanted to eat them anyway, and they had been gathering dust. Trading them for Annika was an extremely worthwhile deal.

Agreed that quickly? Feels like I asked for too little, Ron grumbled inwardly.

Still, he did not dwell on it and turned to leave.

He had done what he needed to do. The rest was Annika's choice.

Rocks leaned over, smiling as he put an arm around Ron's shoulders and lowered his voice. "Hey, Ron, after the deal is done, want us to snatch her back?"

Ron turned his head in surprise and met Rocks's gaze. That really was a path to getting rich.

But Ron had no such intention.

Annika was far too obedient. If she wanted freedom, Ron would not stop her.

Up ahead, Kaido, who had been playing dead, suddenly sprang to his feet and walked shoulder to shoulder with Ron.

"Hey, Ron, I heard it just now. Two Devil Fruits!"

"I remember. Once we get them, you can pick one. That is, if you're sure you want to eat one."

"If one suits me, of course I won't hesitate..."

"Wo hahahaha." Rocks released Ron's shoulder and laughed loudly. "Ron, it's only been a few days, but you and Kaido have gotten along quite well."

"Not bad." Ron had barely answered when Kaido put an arm around his shoulders instead and lowered his voice. "You weren't there just now? You didn't see Roger and Rayleigh getting beaten up. It was hilarious."

Ron smiled knowingly. Kaido had some brains after all. He had even learned to play a few tricks.

Behind them, Silver Axe and Marlon stood frozen in place, staring at each other. They exchanged complicated looks. So they had fought for nothing. Old hands who had spent years on the sea had been played by Kaido.

Much later, the atmosphere in the auxiliary ship's hall was quiet and stifling.

Ron sat on the sofa. Roger and Rayleigh sat in the seats opposite him, while Annika stood near the cabin door with her hands clasped in front of her.

The moment Roger entered, he got straight to the point and revealed his identity. He had come to take her back to Shakky.

However, Annika was not as happy as he had expected. Instead, her expression became even more tense. Her fingers unconsciously twisted together, and her gaze repeatedly drifted toward Ron, who sat silently on the sofa.

If it had been before, Annika would definitely have been happy to hear this news.

But now, she could not feel happy.

Instead, she was afraid.

Shakky would not agree to let her become a member of the Kuja Pirates. She could not return home either, having originally been meant to become a Celestial Dragon slave. She... had nowhere left to go.

"Don't worry," Rayleigh said gently when he noticed Annika's unease. "Ron has agreed. He won't make things difficult for you."

"I..." Annika opened her mouth, but her voice caught in her throat. She looked at Ron again, as though searching for an answer, or perhaps trying to confirm something.

Ron leaned back on the sofa casually. Seeing Annika's hesitant appearance, he assumed she had some concerns and said, "Don't worry about me. The kidnapping is over. You're free. You can do whatever you want."

"Of course, if you're worried that these two aren't good people, you can wait for Shakky to come get you herself. I already told them that as long as you don't want to go, I won't let them take you."

"Annika, don't worry." Rayleigh took over. "I can contact Shakky and have her tell you that we're trustworthy."

Annika did not respond.

She lowered her head and remained quiet for a long while.

After quite some time, she raised her head.

This time, her gaze no longer wandered. It landed firmly on Ron.

Her eyes were slightly red, and her lips trembled faintly, but her voice was clearer and more earnest than ever before.

"Lord Ron, I want to stay... I've already mastered all those dishes you taught me! I can make anything you want to eat whenever you like! I won't cause you trouble. I can do any kind of work."

As she spoke, her voice began to shake. She was afraid Ron would not want such a burden, afraid he would reject her, afraid she would once again have nowhere to go.

Ron looked at her with some surprise. He had thought Annika was merely worried that someone else would continue to "kidnap" her, which was why she could not make up her mind. It seemed that was not the case.

Ron fell silent for two seconds before calmly saying, "All right."

Just two words. No more, no less.

The moment Annika heard them, the heart she had been holding in suspense finally settled.

Her shoulders relaxed slightly. Then she wiped her tears haphazardly with her hand and began to smile through them.

"Th... thank you, Lord Ron."

Roger's expression changed at once.

"Why?" Roger's body unconsciously leaned forward slightly as he continued, "Annika, we came to save you!"

"Calm down, Roger." Rayleigh's voice came from the side.

Annika turned around and gave Roger a deep bow, her gratitude sincere. "Thank you very much. Truly."

She straightened up and continued, "Please pass a message to Shakky for me. I'm not leaving. Please thank her for me—thank her for everything she's done for me."

Roger still could not understand. He frowned and pressed further. "Annika, why? If you want to leave, Ron has agreed. He won't stop you."

Annika shook her head. Her eyes were still damp from crying, but they now held a strange tranquility. "It's nice here. I... really like it here."

Roger opened his mouth, wanting to say something else, but Rayleigh pressed a hand onto his shoulder.

"All right." Rayleigh's voice was gentle. "We'll pass it on to Shakky."

Then he turned toward Roger beside him. "Roger, let's go back."

Roger said, "But..."

"I believe," Rayleigh interrupted, "that even Shakky will respect her decision."

Roger remained silent for a long while before nodding and getting up to leave.

"Until we meet again, Ron, Annika." Rayleigh said as he unhurriedly followed after Roger.

Once Roger and Rayleigh disappeared from the ship's hall—

Annika remained standing where she was. She sniffed, then vigorously wiped her face with her sleeve and tried her best to force out a smile.

"Lord Ron..."

Ron glanced at her and said, "Get your emotions under control."

"Okay."

At the same time, outside the ship—

Roger and Rayleigh had just left the auxiliary ship when they saw chest after chest floating silently in midair, as though pulled by invisible strings, slowly moving behind someone.

Shiki?

Roger and Rayleigh muttered inwardly at the same time.

Golden Lion also noticed Rayleigh and Roger. His face was clearly filled with surprise. "Roger? Rayleigh? Why are you two bastards here?!"

Rayleigh did not answer immediately. His gaze fell on the floating chests, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Those chests... seem to be from our ship?"

If you like it, add it to your bookshelf and send some free little gifts. Thank you very much.