Celebration and Gains

With a thought, the ground beneath his feet returned to normal.

Kaido had objections, but he only loved fighting; he wasn't stupid. Straw Hat and that imitation guy over there had incredibly troublesome abilities, not to mention Whitebeard and a whole bunch of Marines.

He wouldn't be able to fight to his heart's content.

"Tch." Kaido decided on a tactical retreat. He would find these people alone later and have a proper fight.

As the light elements gathered one final time, countless feathers of light descended from Aether once more.

"Get the wounded out, quickly!" the medics and some Marines who had come to their senses shouted.

Sengoku and Garp walked over. Su Lin was in no hurry; after all, this version of him wasn't his real body.

Before long, the crowd parted, leaving a path for Garp and Sengoku.

The two stopped in front of Su Lin.

"Hahahaha." Garp laughed heartily. "What an impressive young man."

Sengoku looked at Su Lin with a grave expression. "Thank you. I mean for saving the wounded."

After saying that, the two brushed past Su Lin and headed toward the rear of the Marines.

"Aren't you going to look for Blackbeard's whereabouts? You should at least get something out of this," Su Lin asked.

"Blackbeard, Teach?" Sengoku stopped and looked at Su Lin.

"He started this war. He should have released a group of prisoners from Level Six by now. Logically, he should have reached this area already."

At Su Lin's words, Sengoku recalled the Impel Down prisoners who had appeared on the battlefield earlier.

He took out a Den Den Mushi from his bag and called Impel Down.

"Magellan! How is Impel Down?"

"Blackbeard and his accomplices were locked up by Magellan." Sengoku put away the Den Den Mushi. "It seems that bastard had far greater ambitions."

"However, a few troublesome people escaped."

After saying that, Sengoku turned and left with Garp.

"Is that so?" Su Lin was somewhat surprised, but he didn't dwell on it. Perhaps it had something to do with Straw Hat Kid. "Take this."

He tossed out a location map. Under Sengoku and Garp's astonished gazes, he picked up his top hat and made a farewell gesture toward the cameras.

Su Lin's figure vanished from where he stood, leaving only a top hat slowly drifting down.

"He really has all sorts of abilities, huh?" Garp said as he watched Su Lin disappear into Aether. "Was that a clone or something?"

"Whatever it was, those pieces of trash won't be sleeping peacefully now. Hahaha."

Garp laughed freely. The Celestial Dragons being unhappy made him very happy.

"Garp." Sengoku's voice was slightly cold.

"Ah, sorry. I accidentally spoke the truth. Hahaha." Garp laughed without restraint.

"Take this map to Akainu." Sengoku's expression was grave. "You're going with him too."

"What's wrong?" Garp froze for a moment.

"It marks the locations of the escaped Impel Down Prisoners. That person also possesses unknown technological power." Sengoku grew somewhat worried, but then put the matter aside. What mattered now was the situation before them. "In exchange for his help, remember to let Buggy go when you see him. Do as he requested. After all, we do owe him a favor."

"How incredible, hahaha. Young people these days." Garp took the map and glanced at it. "Those Celestial Dragon pigs might have a hard time in the future."

"I'm planning to resign." Sengoku did not rebuke Garp. He merely said softly, "No matter what, I should bear some responsibility."

"Besides, I'm a little tired too."

"Is that so?" Garp was not too surprised. He put away the map and said, "Then how about taking a vacation in East Blue with me?"

"We'll talk about that later." Sengoku thought for a moment. "I still haven't settled the matter of your grandson with you."

"And those rice crackers you hoarded are confiscated."

"What!? Why!"

A Marine soldier transformed into Su Lin's appearance and walked toward Luffy.

Of course, this was also a Historical Projection.

Play it safe. He absolutely had to play it safe.

Who knew whether someone would sneak an attack on him, like Imu hiding behind the scenes.

"Su Lin!" Luffy returned to his normal form and ran over while waving toward Su Lin.

Though the Marines along the way had changing expressions, none of them stopped him in the end.

On one hand, they couldn't beat him.

On the other hand, he was Garp's grandson.

If it had been any other member of the Pirates, they would have already charged in with their blades, regardless of whether they could win.

They might as well pretend they hadn't seen anything.

"Luffy, is he your friend?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, that's right. Thanks to Su Lin, I got the chance to come save you, Ace." Luffy slapped Su Lin hard on the shoulder. If the effects of the strength potions hadn't still been active, Su Lin would have been smacked into the ground.

"Hello, Ace, Whitebeard, and everyone." Su Lin smiled and greeted them. "Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Su Lin, and I'm Luffy's friend."

"Gurararara."

"Thanks to you, Su Lin, this old man owes you an enormous debt of gratitude." Whitebeard said seriously, "If you ever need anything in the future, just ask. Even if it costs me my life, this old man will help you."

"Me too. If you need it, you can take my life anytime!" Ace said solemnly.

"So will we."

The commanders under Whitebeard all voiced their support.

"Your lives aren't much use to me. Oh, right." Su Lin pulled a hat from Aether with one hand and placed it on his head. "If you want to thank someone, thank Ace's little brother instead."

"If you run into them at sea in the future, just lend them a hand."

"Uh, no problem."

Everyone thought that Straw Hat Kid was already this strong.

"The same goes for Straw Hat's side. We owe both of you an enormous debt." Whitebeard made his promise solemnly, his booming voice carrying a touch of majesty.

"Ask for anything you want, as long as the Whitebeard Pirates can do it."

"But Ace is my brother. What debt are you talking about?" Luffy said unhappily.

"Then we'll talk later. Red-Hair's ship is here. Boys, get ready to board."

Red-Hair's Face-Face Fruit never got the chance to show its power before Su Lin stole the spotlight.

He greeted Whitebeard's side, lowered the gangplank, and let everyone on the battlefield board the ship.

"Hmm, Akainu really got beaten up badly, didn't he? Hahaha." Red-Hair jumped down from the ship, exchanged a glance with Akainu, whose expression was grim, and waved with a smile.

Akainu turned his head away irritably and left.

"Shanks! You bastard!"

"Hm?"

Red-Hair turned around and saw a familiar figure.

Amid the praises of the underlings Buggy had gained, everyone boarded the ship for the return journey.

Some Marines could vaguely be seen glaring resentfully in their direction, especially those led by Akainu.

Naturally, Su Lin chose to bid them farewell with a smile.

One day later

The remains scattered everywhere after the banquet were always a terrifying sight to behold.

"Su Lin, how about joining my ship?" Red-Hair leaned against the railing and invited Su Lin.

He casually held a bounty poster that had been dropped by a seagull.

Composite Ability User, Su Lin, 3.5 billion Berries.

Red-Hair could tell at a glance that this guy was a good person and had no great ambitions.

He would be someone they could trust completely as a companion.

"I'm going back with Luffy." Su Lin said while chewing on snacks. "I think I told you already. We aren't from this era."

At last night's banquet, Luffy and Jinbe had also explained the whole story. Aside from the chat group, Luffy had told them everything else.

They didn't care about such things now anyway.

After learning what had happened in another time and space, Ace and the Whitebeard Pirates became even more grateful to Su Lin.

At the same time, they learned what Luffy had gone through in another time and space to become this strong.

When they learned that Luffy and two other rookie captains had defeated Kaido and Big Mom, the atmosphere at the banquet reached its peak.

"Of course I know." Red-Hair staggered over drunkenly, reeking of alcohol. "After you go back, the Su Lin of this time and space can join our ship!"

"No way, Su Lin is my companion!" Luffy came over holding meat and said bluntly.

"Hmm, it's a little hard to explain." Su Lin smiled helplessly. "I don't belong to this time and space. Meeting the Luffy from the original timeline was also an extremely accidental event."

"So after Luffy and I return, only the Luffy and Jinbe from this time and space will remain on your ship."

"Oh?" Red-Hair was somewhat surprised, but nothing was strange on these seas. He quickly returned to normal. "Is that so? What a pity."

"But just thinking about those World Government bastards worrying themselves sick over someone who doesn't exist, hahahahaha, that's hilarious." Shanks laughed loudly. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" XN

At some point, these pirates had woken up again.

The atmosphere of a banquet was always joyful.

(End of Chapter)