"You? Shakky? On Hachinosu Island?"
Rayleigh's hand froze around his glass. Ripples spread across the surface of the drink.
Even Shakky, who had been smoking with obvious interest, blinked in surprise.
"Hey, hey, hey!!! Ozz, you're the same age as Shanks, aren't you? When Shakky was on Hachinosu, you weren't even born yet!"
Rayleigh waved a hand, confident that was impossible.
"Well… that part's true."
Ozz walked over and sat at the bar. Shakky propped her cheek with one hand and poured him a glass of fruit wine with the other. She took a drag, voice smooth and teasing.
"My, my. If Hachinosu had a man as charming as little Ozz back then, maybe I'd have ended up just like the Kuja Empresses of every generation."
"…That's not that dramatic."
Ozz took a sip.
"I used one of Vegapunk's devices once."
"For a short time, I went back to the past… and stayed with the Rocks Pirates for a while."
A nostalgic glint passed through his eyes. In that era, Rayleigh was still young, and Shakky was still the kind of beauty that made the sea itself hold its breath.
"Huh? Seriously? Something that insane actually exists?!"
Rayleigh jolted. Shakky's eyes widened too, though she kept her composure.
Still, it was not completely beyond belief. After all, Oden's wife had once possessed a power that could leap across time itself.
Both of them stared at Ozz, waiting.
"Yes."
Ozz looked down at his drink. In the reflection, his face appeared calm, handsome, almost indifferent.
"I wanted to challenge the giants of the old era. To push past my own limits."
"The God Valley Incident was an opportunity."
"When I was in my twenties, I stayed in that time for two years… and even rose to become a captain in the Rocks Pirates."
That instantly hooked them.
"So you met us when we were young, little Ozz?"
"Of course."
"Not just you two."
"The Rocks Pirates, the Roger Pirates, the Marines… all of them."
Back then, Shakky had been intoxicating in every sense. She was the dream of every man with a weakness for beauty. Her natural allure was so lethal it might have surpassed Hancock's Mero Mero no Mi.
At the very least, Hancock could not make more than half of the sea's truly top-tier monsters fall into obsession through charm alone.
And after living in the world of pirates for so long, Ozz, a demon who somehow captivated men and women alike, had distilled a rule.
Or, if you wanted to call it something else, a kind of "unwritten law" of the sea.
Women with real status and weight in this world would never fall for you just because you stared at them with hearts in your eyes.
If anything, they looked down on that.
What truly moved them was strength and composure, the kind of calm confidence that did not beg, did not drool, did not flinch.
That was why the Pirate Empress would never love the men who got petrified by her beauty.
She could only ever love the one man who wouldn't be petrified.
And Shakky would never fall for the ones who stared at her like idiots either, even if those men were Rocks, Roger, or Whitebeard.
In the end, it was Rayleigh, who stayed steady and cool-headed, who won Shakky's heart.
And Ozz belonged to that same category.
He was not some saint. He liked beauty.
But he never turned into a fool when he saw it. He stayed composed, effortlessly handsome, always in control.
Wherever he went, he was the most dangerous kind of charm.
"So, did I fall in love with you back then, little Ozz?"
Shakky's smile curved, just enough to be provocative.
"Love, no."
"But we got along very well."
"As for Gloriosa…"
Ozz's head started to ache at the memory, that former Kuja Empress from three generations ago who had clung to him nonstop while he was with the Rocks Pirates.
"Hahahahaha!!!"
Rayleigh and Shakky both burst out laughing. The three of them clinked glasses.
"Of course it'd be you, Ozz."
"No matter the era, you're always the kind of man nobody can ignore."
Rayleigh raised his cup, eyes filled with nostalgia for those years.
That was their era, an era where monsters were so common it was terrifying. Even Ozz must have…
"So?"
"You definitely fought them, didn't you?"
Ozz had said it himself. He went back to challenge the strong to break through.
He would not have resisted that temptation.
"Yeah."
"I fought Captain Roger one-on-one."
"Garp too."
"Saint Garling as well."
"And Rocks."
"The pressure was pretty intense."
"…?"
Rayleigh and Shakky, who had been listening with interest, felt their minds go blank.
"Huh?"
"Too bad I ended up badly injured."
"But I did manage to kill Rocks."
"…?"
"Wait."
Rayleigh started stammering.
"You're saying that when you were in your twenties… you fought four of them alone… and killed Rocks?"
"Yep."
A long silence followed.
Only after Ozz explained in detail did they finally calm down.
"In terms of real Haki and swordsmanship, your twenties-self was around the level of young Roger and young Whitebeard."
"It's just that your Teleportation Fruit gave you the edge."
"Well, obviously."
Ozz drained his glass.
"Those guys were monsters."
"How could I possibly face them head-on?"
They chatted a while longer, and then Ozz stood to leave.
After all, he had not been back to his own territory in ages.
…
While Ozz returned to the red-light district and indulged in earthly pleasures, Luffy's crew also continued their journey.
They left Skypiea safely behind, defeated Foxy and his group, and arrived at a lonely island.
Not far away, the Blackbeard Pirates were closing in.
"Zehahahaha… our luck's insane."
"To run into Straw Hat Luffy this fast."
"Hades, I didn't know you had talent as a navigator too!!!"
No response.
A crewmate leaned in.
"Captain, Vice-Captain Hades is spacing out again."
Teach turned his head.
Hades was sprawled in a chair. At some point he had fallen into that empty, dazed state again.
And for some reason, his face looked… satisfied.
Like someone getting a massage.
"Zehahahaha… don't worry about him."
"Hades is reliable most of the time."
Guided by Hades's "immortal finger pointing," the Blackbeard Pirates quickly found the Straw Hats' trail.
With telekinesis pushing them forward, they reached the island where the Going Merry was docked in no time.
Their confidence was high as they prepared to disembark and cause trouble.
Then a razor-cold chill drifted over.
In an instant, every member of the Blackbeard Pirates shuddered.
They turned slowly, disbelief on their faces.
Teach broke into a cold sweat, pupils trembling.
"This… this is…"
"Marine Admiral… Aokiji?!"
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