The Future’s Course

At night, Chu Yang trained alone on the deck. After a while, a figure emerged from the cabin and came to his side.

"Why didn’t you accept Brother Tiger’s invitation?" Jinbe looked at Chu Yang in confusion. He had thought that after going through so many battles together, they had already become companions.

Chu Yang stopped moving and slowly sat down. "If it were Brother Tiger from before, when he planned to travel the world, I would’ve joined him without hesitation. But now, all his energy is focused on freeing slaves. That’s his dream, not mine."

Jinbe fell silent. Chu Yang was right. Everyone had different dreams. Using one’s own ideals to bind someone else’s freedom—even if those ideals were great and just—was that really right?

After pondering for a long time, Jinbe let out a long sigh toward the sky, his face full of regret. In his eyes, Chu Yang was a junior with limitless potential. It was such a shame for someone like him to leave the Sun Pirates!

Still full of regret, Jinbe plopped down onto the deck beside him and asked, "Then is your dream the same as Brother Tiger’s before? To travel the world?"

Chu Yang smiled. "More or less. I want to go around and see the world, fight some strong people, temper myself, and take in the sights everywhere. I finally got the chance to come to this world. I can’t spend my whole life getting chased around like a dog by the Marines, can I?"

Jinbe reminded him, "Given what you did before, you’ve probably already drawn the Marines’ attention. Even after leaving the ship, you’ll still be wanted."

"Then let them want me," Chu Yang answered firmly. "At least I’ll be free to decide where I want to go."

Jinbe sighed. "You really do look like a true pirate now."

"I already am one…" Chu Yang was somewhat emotional as well. Then he patted Jinbe on the shoulder and smiled. "Don’t be so down. It’s not like I’m leaving right away. I’ll be staying for a while longer."

A rare smile appeared on Jinbe’s face.

Chu Yang looked at the moon hanging high over the horizon and began thinking about what Magic Chu Yang had told him in the Soul Palace.

There were many people in the One Piece world proficient in Haki, but those who possessed Conqueror’s Haki were exceedingly rare. At present, there were only a dozen or so known users. Aside from Boa Hancock, who had yet to fully mature, and the deceased Pirate King Roger and Kozuki Oden, nearly all of the rest were famous and formidable pirates.

The Marines also had powerful people who wielded Conqueror’s Haki, but Chu Yang, who had once been a slave of the Celestial Dragons and had boarded a pirate ship, could never join the Marines.

So if Chu Yang wanted his Haki to grow stronger, he still had to find a way among the pirates.

There were only a few candidates he could target among the pirates.

First were the Four Emperors.

At this point in the timeline, Kaido had been operating in Wano Country for nearly twelve years. The underground Black Market weapons trade was in full swing, and even the World Government was involved. His power and influence were immense.

"Big Mom," Charlotte Linlin, had thoroughly established herself around Cake Island. As her children grew ever more numerous, the number of pirate crews under her command surged, and her Totto Land was beginning to take shape.

It was in this very year that calls for the two of them to become Emperors of the Sea grew louder and louder.

In the end, they formed a three-way balance with Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world.

At this time, although Red-Haired Shanks was already well-known, his momentum paled in comparison to the other three.

The Four Emperors’ structure would not truly form for another six years.

After considering it repeatedly, Chu Yang chose to give up on learning Conqueror’s Haki from Kaido or Big Mom.

Not only were they both far away in the latter half of the Grand Line, but their styles were utterly incompatible with his.

Both of them were a little unhinged, and unhinged people were what Chu Yang disliked most.

The Whitebeard Pirates would be a good choice, but he would have to call someone Dad. The moment Chu Yang imagined himself calling Whitebeard "Pops," a chill ran down his spine.

Though Chu Yang greatly admired Whitebeard, he refused to acknowledge anyone as his father.

Among the Four Emperors, Shanks was currently the weakest, and joining him would be the easiest.

But the problem was that Chu Yang had no way of knowing Shanks’s level of Conqueror’s Haki at this stage. After all, there were still a full six years before he became one of the Four Emperors.

Dark King Rayleigh was easy enough to find. He was right on the Sabaody Archipelago.

But as a pirate who had lived in seclusion for many years, the chances of Rayleigh coming out of retirement to teach Chu Yang were not particularly high.

Not everyone had protagonist luck.

As for others like Doflamingo and Chinjao, the pillar of the Hasshoken Navy, they were even worse options.

After going through them all, Shanks was actually the most reliable choice.

Then Chu Yang suddenly jolted in surprise. This year was not only the year Kaido and Big Mom rose to power—it was also the year Shanks met Luffy in Foosha Village!

The Gum-Gum Fruit!

Its true name after awakening was the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Nika Model!

Shanks had seized the Gum-Gum Fruit from Who’s Who. He had originally intended to give it to Ace, the posthumous son of Pirate King Roger, but Luffy had accidentally eaten it instead!

If Shanks truly knew nothing about the Gum-Gum Fruit’s secret, Chu Yang found that hard to believe.

It was not strange for a pirate of Shanks’s caliber to seize a Devil Fruit from the World Government.

What was strange was that he had brought that fruit directly to Foosha Village, where Ace was.

Clearly, Shanks had hoped Ace would become the child of destiny. But destiny chose Luffy instead, and Shanks himself saw the shadow of his captain, Roger, in Luffy.

So he respected destiny’s choice and bet everything on Luffy.

Now, as long as Chu Yang was willing to pay the price and bear Shanks’s wrath, he could turn the wheel of destiny and send it spinning in an unknown direction.

The protagonist did not have to be Luffy. It could be anyone, including Chu Yang himself.

Was Chu Yang willing?

Of course not!

The chances of success were too low, and the price he would have to pay was unimaginable!

Was it really that easy to pull little tricks under Shanks’s nose?

Never mind how powerful Shanks’s Observation Haki was—Usopp’s father, Yasopp, possessed top-tier Observation Haki as well. Before Chu Yang could even get near the Gum-Gum Fruit, he would probably get his head blown off.

Luffy had only caused that accident because he was young and no one was wary of him. Chu Yang was clearly not the sort of person the entire Red Hair Pirates would let their guard down around, even if he successfully joined them.

The only outcome Chu Yang could influence…

Was probably stopping Luffy from eating the Gum-Gum Fruit.

But what meaning would that have?

The next day, Chu Yang found Tiger and told him that he wanted to go to the East Blue.

Tiger was very surprised. He had expected Chu Yang to disembark at any stop along the Grand Line, but he had never imagined that Chu Yang would go to the East Blue.

Yet after his surprise, Tiger still respected Chu Yang’s decision and decided to have the Sun Pirates escort him all the way there.

From their current location, the fastest route to the East Blue was to force their way through the Calm Belt.