When the room fell silent, a noise came from outside.
Knock. Knock.
"Sir. We brought them."
"Enter."
After a brief exchange, three marines forced two prisoners inside. The marines gulped nervously as soon as they stepped into the room, their eyes darting toward the formidable figures gathered there.
"You can leave," Sengoku said without any emotion.
"Y-Yes!"
Once the marines had left, Shun stepped closer to the prisoners and grabbed the man who resembled a chimera mixed with a human and a lion.
"Agh! Let me go! What did I even do?!" The lion-man named Absalom struggled fiercely.
Shun didn't reply. He simply removed the glove that had been hiding his paws.
"!"
When his cute paws were revealed, the temperature in the room seemed to drop.
In the next moment, Shun forcibly plundered his Devil Fruit ability. Absalom was already weakened by the Sea Prism Stone handcuffs, so the process was swift. The Devil Fruit power transformed into a small, orange, paw-shaped bubble.
"What kind of sorcery is this?" Garp asked curiously.
"Well, I have a personal grudge against them," Shun replied with a shrug.
In his other hand, a banana materialized out of nowhere. Shun merged the banana with the orange bubble. The others in the room quickly understood how he was stealing Devil Fruit abilities.
Soon the ordinary banana transformed. It became an oversized fruit with the classic swirled stem and peel patterns of a real banana, but exaggerated in size and marked with the distinctive Devil Fruit spiral patterns swirling across its bright yellow peel.
"What kind of fruit is that? Are you going to eat it?" Sengoku asked.
"I think it was called the Clear-Clear Fruit. It lets the user turn invisible. It's a garbage fruit, so I won't."
"…"
Seeing his Devil Fruit stolen, Absalom no longer cared much. All he wanted now was to leave with his life intact.
"Y-You got what you wanted, right? Please let me go!" Absalom screamed desperately.
Shun ignored him completely, which only made the situation feel more terrifying.
Shun pressed his paws against him again.
In the next moment, a blue, paw-shaped bubble formed from Absalom's body. Then several more bubbles of different colors appeared.
Snap!
With a snap of his fingers, the bubbles were popped mercilessly.
No one in the room except Shun understood what he had done. After the bubbles burst, Absalom stopped shouting. His eyes turned blank, and he fell completely silent.
"…"
"What did you do to him?" Sengoku asked curiously. He felt no pity for pirate scum. After all, prisoners in Impel Down were occasionally subjected to human experimentation.
"I repelled his positive emotions: joy, love, excitement, contentment, things like that. I also made him about ten times more sensitive to pain. If he goes back outside, he'll probably commit suicide within a few days," Shun explained, describing the cruel fate awaiting Gecko Moria's subordinate.
"…"
Without delay, POP!
Absalom was gone.
The second prisoner, named Spandam (or Spandine), begged desperately for his life but met the same fate.
POP!
"…"
The room fell silent once more.
"All right, I'm heading out."
POP! With another bubble-breaking sound, Shun vanished.
After Shun left, Aokiji suddenly remembered something.
"That second guy is the son of the man who called the Buster Call on Ohara twenty years ago."
"What? Are you sure?" Sengoku asked. Then he understood what the brat's personal grudge was about.
"Could he be planning to attack Mariejois for the same reason?!" Sengoku thought it sounded ridiculous, but he couldn't entirely rule out the possibility.
——
Meanwhile, Shun headed to his regular destination: Weatheria.
'Today Nojiko is here too, huh… She switches between her home and this place depending on her mood.' Shun shrugged and decided to simply enjoy his time before traveling to other worlds.
He pulled out a ring he had crafted using Ochoku's loot, slipped it onto his index finger, and muttered,
"Warp."
Nami and Robin were seated at the dining table while Nojiko served the food.
"Can I ask for a bowl for myself as well?"
Three heads immediately turned toward the owner of the voice.
"Oh, it's just you," Nojiko said, returning to fetch more food as if his arrival was completely natural.
'I guess with the time flow difference, it feels like I come here every day to them.'
"Nami, take this." Shun sat down and handed her the ring he had just used.
"Eh?" Nami looked at the ring.
A heavy signet ring of deep purple metal clutched a vast, smoldering black opal in delicate dragon claws, its shoulders glittering with a river of rose-cut diamonds.
Even before learning its true value, Nami's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Thank you!" Nami, who had previously been focused on her studies provided by the elders of Weatheria, now climbed onto Shun's lap and hugged him tightly.
"Uhm, I didn't explain the magic of that ring yet, though," Shun said, momentarily at a loss for words.
'I underestimated her greed! Well, I'm not complaining.'
"Huh? Magic?" Now all three women were seated and fully joined the conversation, intrigued.
"Yeah. Lately I've been more interested in creating magic items than just taking Devil Fruit abilities for myself. In simple terms, I made that ring 'eat' a Devil Fruit by using several different abilities. This is the finished product."
"…"
"What?!" Nami, who had already loved the ring for its value, now adored it even more.
"So it's similar to Spandam's sword that can turn into an elephant?" Robin asked curiously.
"Mm, it's a bit different. This one was combined with a Paramecia type. The Warp-Warp Fruit. The ones you saw before were probably only Zoan types."
"Warp? Isn't that Ochoku's Devil Fruit? A pirate who ranks only below the Sea Emperors," Robin explained, highlighting the ring's true value.
"Try saying 'Warp' while thinking of the location you want to go to. It's powered by a magic lacrima, so it can be used about a hundred times depending on the distance before it needs recharging." Shun finished his explanation like an eager salesman.
"Yes!" Nami nodded immediately once given permission.
"Warp!" As soon as she chanted, she appeared about two hundred meters outside.
"It's amazing," Nojiko muttered from her seat.
"Warp." When she said it again, Nami returned to her chair.
"This one's for Robin." Shun pulled out another ring. Its appearance was similar to Nami's, but now everyone was far more interested in what it could do.
"That one lets the user turn invisible. I think it was the Clear-Clear Fruit."
"Invisible? Was the guy you took it from the one who looked like a lion?" Nami asked from the side.
"Yes." Shun nodded, then turned to Nojiko.
'I kind of forgot she was here, so I didn't prepare a gift…' Shun sighed inwardly and asked,
"Do you have any wish? I'll take a request for a Devil Fruit." Shun casually offered her the chance to choose one. Anyone in the world would kill for such an opportunity, but a simple countryside girl like Nojiko wouldn't fully grasp what was being offered.
"Request? Then I want to be able to fly, I guess?" Nojiko lacked greed, the complete opposite of her sister.
"Fly, huh? Then it doesn't have to be a Devil Fruit." Shun pulled out another ring, a magic book, and a lacrima. The book was about flight magic. Flying wasn't difficult in his world: talking cats could fly, and giant ships floated with the help of magic lacrimas.
'The magic book is just a reference to help me adjust the lacrima.' Shun thought for a moment. Then, under the curious gazes of the three women, he gathered visible magical energy and infused it into the lacrima. Next, he used the Fusion-Fusion Fruit he had stolen from Bullet.
"And… it's complete." He handed the ring to Nojiko.
'Well, it's basically a copy of Happy's wing magic.'
"Really? Thank you." Nojiko smiled and slipped the ring onto her ring finger, but she didn't test it right away. Instead she said,
"All right, eat dinner first before it gets cold." Nojiko had her priorities straight.
After dinner ended, what came next was obvious.
The girls were fed and tucked into bed by 3 a.m.
——
The next morning, Shun returned to the Fairy Tail world.
He went back to his house, fed the people who weren't away on missions, made sure Mavis put on her shoes, and headed to the guild.
"Natsu's team is away on a mission?" Shun asked casually while making small talk.
"They're on vacation at a place called Akane Resort," Mavis began, updating him on what had happened over the past few days.
Creaak!
"Oh, the guild master is finally here to grace us with his presence." As soon as the door opened, Yukino and Sorano appeared.
"Huh? Are you angry about something?" Shun genuinely had no idea.
"She wanted to celebrate big brother's promotion to guild master," Yukino said, betraying her sister without hesitation even though she was usually the closest to her.
"Hmph!" Sorano turned her face away, but she couldn't hide the small curve on her lips.
'She must be planning to get something out of this tantrum.'
"Ah, sorry about that. Makarov was too eager to retire and insisted we hold the celebration on the same day."
'It's my fault again?' Makarov, who overheard from the side, stayed silent.
"How about we celebrate it together later?" Shun said with a small smile while gently pinching Sorano's cheek.
Soon enough…
"I-I guess there's no other choice…" A sweet smile blossomed on Sorano's face.
'Miss… aren't you a bit too easy?' Shun thought, but he decided not to mention it.
When he took a seat, Makarov approached as if he had been waiting.
"Brat, the guild master meeting reached a decision. We're forming an alliance between the light guilds to destroy one of the Baram Alliance guilds: the dark guild Eisenwald." Makarov explained the details, including which other guilds were participating.
"I see…" Shun replied before continuing,
"Why did you accept it?"
"Huh?" Makarov was completely taken aback. He had expected many possible responses, but not this.
"What do you mean 'why'? It's a big chance for us to take down one of the Baram Alliance guilds."
"It seems to me you forgot who the guild master is," Shun answered with no expression.
Makarov couldn't tell whether this was one of his usual jokes or if he was genuinely upset.
After a moment, Makarov asked seriously,
"You brat actually hold a grudge against me, don't you? Last time's excuse was just a made-up lie."
'Well, don't fake your death like ten times in the original story.'
This was Shun's real reason, probably his pettiest one, but still.
"You wouldn't get it," Shun said, keeping the same expressionless face.
"Anyway, important decisions like this will have to go through me from now on. Tell them we've declined their offer for the alliance."
"…"
'What? Decline?! How could I do that? This brat… is taking his role way too seriously.' Makarov was facing his biggest headache in decades.
As a last resort, Makarov stole a desperate glance toward Mavis.
If he had to decline now after bragging about how strong their young generation was during the meeting, how could he face the other guild masters?
Seeing this, Mavis sighed, patted Shun on the head, and said gently,
"Well, a chance to defeat a dark guild. Isn't it a good thing? Everyone helping each other is wonderful."
"All right. The alliance is permitted."
"…"
Hearing Mavis's serene and clear voice, Shun gave in immediately.
"I want Natsu and Erza's team to handle it, but they're on vacation… Ask Macbeth's team to go instead."
'Original Oración Seis against their replacements, huh. It should be effortless for them.'
"All right." Although Makarov had some complaints, he decided to act like the mature one.
Just as things were about to calm down,
Creaak—
The guild's front door opened. A pair of white-haired siblings stepped inside. It was obvious from their worn and exhausted expressions that whatever mission they had taken hadn't gone well.
'Lisanna should have gone with them, but she isn't here yet? It can't be…'
"Mira, what happened?" Shun, who had remained completely expressionless while dealing with Makarov, now spoke with tenderness and concern.
'This bastard…' Makarov thought, but now wasn't the time.
Mira snapped out of her daze when she heard the familiar voice. She suddenly lost her footing and fell into Shun's arms, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Shun… Lisanna is…"
"…"
'Why is everything happening at the same time? With Mira way stronger than in the original, this incident shouldn't even have happened. Is fate really unchangeable? Is everything decided from the start?'