Ultimate Fruit

Seeing Rebecca act so fl_u_s_tered, Lucas laughed.

Rebecca heard his laughter and knew that she was being made fun of. She pouted and stomped her feet then looked away.

Lucas just shook his head and watched the situation in Dressrosa.

The citizens were pretty much handled already by Fujitora and the Marines, as well as Sabo and the Revolutionaries.

Lucas was confused as he didn't see Koala stuck beside Sabo. He looked around a bit more and spread his Observation Haki and saw her in the underground area where they were earlier. She was investigating the docked sh_i_p_s underground which was smuggling weapons.

Lucas ignored her and switched to the others.

"Hm?"

From the dumpsite that Lucas was in earlier...there was still a man left behind.

"Kanjuro?"

Lucas thought so since he did keep his mask on in the past and only revealed himself to Toki and the kids.

Seeing that Kanjuro appeared safe, Lucas didn't worry and was about to retract his observation when he noticed something odd.

That Kanjuro...who was known for his bad drawing skills even though he had a Devil Fruit ability which could allow his drawings to turn into reality...but now...he could draw perfectly fine?

Kanjuro drew a good looking bird and used his ability.

The bird slowly peeled itself from the wall and came to life!

Using that bird, he sat on top of it and flew upwards.

He looked around, saw there was no one present, and deactivated his power as the bird dissolved back into ink.

Then, he drew two small birds, attached a letter on its feet, and had it fly away.

Lucas' eyes narrowed at that.

"Lucas?"

Lucas didn't have time to bother with answering her as his teeth clenched while he chased after the little bird in the sky.

In an instant, he reappeared in front of the little bird.

Lucas didn't waste any moment as he grabbed it and took the note on his foot.

Before he left the past, Lucas knew there was most likely a traitor amongst Oden's retainers. Now seeing Kanjuro move so suspiciously…

Lucas held the piece of note and unfolded it.

As Lucas read the contents of the note, his eyes grew colder and colder.

*Boom*

Both the note and the bird shattered into dust in his hands.

"You! It was you!"

"Kh-!?"

Lucas didn't have any sort of plan like ignoring him or pretending not to know about it. There was no need for such things.

He had caught him red-handed. That was enough.

"W-what are you saying!? Who are you!?"

"Hoh? Have you already forgotten me, Kanjuro."

Perhaps it was his cold voice, or perhaps it was his cold eyes. Kanjuro's eyes shrunk as he recalled a man in the past.

The man who could fight toe to toe against the likes of Lord Kaido...Akaoni!

"Y-y-y-y-you…!"

"Have you remembered?"

"A-Akaoni-sama!? W-why are you doing this to me!?"

"Why? Let's see…"

Lucas snorted and recited the information he read in the note earlier.

"Orochi-sama. My apologies for not reporting for a while as I had been turned into a toy by Doflamingo! I was separated from Kinemon and the brat Momonosuke, however, I've returned back to my human form now and will go find them. Please await further reports."

As Kanjuro continued to hear Lucas speak, his face grew paler by the second!

I was exposed!

Thinking of this, he no longer continued to act as he gritted his teeth and tried to escape instead.

But…

Suddenly, he found himself...turn back into a toy!

"Killing you is too good for you. You will face your punishment like this. Unable to move or speak. Everyone would forget about you. You shall remain like this for all eternity. This is...our contract."

Lucas smiled, but in Kanjuro's eyes, it was simply the smile of a devil!

DEMON!!!

Kanjuro wanted to shout but was unable to move his mouth. He wanted to flee but was unable to move his body.

"You will continue to live, knowing that all your efforts...were for nothing!"

Lucas scoffed and tossed him to the ground. He didn't care about even bringing him along.

At this moment, the wind blew and Lucas' shirt was lifted a bit on the backside, revealing a distinctive tattoo behind him.

The mark of the Kozuki Family.

This mark was the last thing Kanjuro saw before everything went black. Without noticing it, he was already buried under the earth…

It was better this way. At least this way, Kinemon and the rest wouldn't be too disheartened that a close friend of theirs had betrayed them…

Actually, even though Lucas read the note, he wasn't still completely sure. After all, it could be just a ploy. Maybe he is acting as a double agent or something…

Then he recalled Viola's power and figured he could do the same.

He could read into Kanjuro's mind. The result? He was even more infuriated. So much that he wanted to kill this man immediately.

This Kanjuro could be said to be an excellent actor. From the very start, he had played the role of Oden's retainer extremely well.

Lucas also saw...how Oden had died while standing inside a boiling pot!

"OROCHI...KAIDO…!!!"

Lucas was already impatient. He can't simply stay idle anymore.

His figure flashed and reappeared in front of Rebecca.

Rebecca saw the cold look on his face and was worried.

"Lucas...what happened?"

Lucas sighed and calmed his thoughts as he knew he was leaking out killing intent. He didn't want to scare Rebecca or wake up Luna who is in her arms.

He smiled and walked over, gently stroking Luna's hair.

Luna woke up drowsily and looked up.

"Daddy?"

"Luna, daddy needs to go and do something. Can you promise me to be a good girl while I'm gone?"

Luna was surprised and no longer looked sleepy.

"Daddy, where are you going? Luna wants to go too!"

"Hehe, don't worry. I won't be gone long. When I'm back, I'll take you with me as long as you behave, okay?"

Luna pouted but didn't want to refuse.

She held out her small pinky finger towards Lucas.

"Promise?"

Looking at Luna's eyes, Lucas remembered that day Nami also asked him the same thing.

Lucas smiled warmly and held out his pinky finger as well.

Their two fingers, one big and one small, intertwined.

"I promise. I won't break it even if I die."

Luna grinned brightly and nodded.

"Un!"

Lucas kissed her forehead and stroked her head one last time before turning to Rebecca.

"Sorry, I need to handle something. If anyone asks, tell them I'll be in Wano."

"Ah...un. I understand. I'll tell the others."

Lucas nodded and turned back to Luna.

"Luna, when they get the bad guy later, turn him into a toy so he doesn't do bad stuff anymore, okay?"

"Un! I'll turn him into a new toy!"

Lucas laughed at Luna's eager tone.

He stepped out and a pair of white wings emerged from his back.

Taking out the vivre card he got from Kanjuro's pocket, confirmed his direction, and flew away.

He flew quite fast and had already covered a hundred kilometers before the day ended.

Looking at the slowly dimming sky, Lucas looked around to see if he could find a spot to land and rest.

Then, he saw a shadow underneath.

"Hm? Is that a...snail?"

Right...the shadow beneath him was actually a huge snail...and on its back, there was a castle and a...mast!

Looking at the number on the sails showing two number 6s...Lucas knew that this was none other than the Germa 66!

Why...are they here?

Lucas frowned and tried to remember the original story.

Wasn't it...I think they were looking for Sanji? And forced him to marry into Big Mom's family so as to unite their two forces...or something?

Sanji is still in Dressrosa. Were they waiting for Sanji to appear here?

Lucas frowned.

No matter what, these guys are sure up to no good. Since that's the case…

Lucas waved his hand and created a huge tidal wave in front of the snail ship.

I don't have time to deal with these guys. In any case, they are still Sanji's family so I won't harm them. As for this...hehe, it can be considered a small prank.

Lucas was sure that something like this wouldn't really kill them with their enhanced bodies.

After doing so, Lucas flew off. He no longer bothered to look for a pitstop to rest.

Back in Dressrosa, things had managed to wrap up by the end of the day.

As expected, Doflamingo wasn't able to hold his own against multiple forces going against him.

When he was captured, Luna had directly turned him into a flamingo and had it displayed on the lawn on their ship.

As the country starts to rebuild and everyone celebrated, they all noticed there was one person missing.

"Where's Lucas?"

Nami asked while looking around.

She felt uneasy and there was this strange foreboding in her heart.

The way Lucas disappeared...it felt just like before…

Rebecca smiled wryly and explained.

"Lucas said...he needed to deal with something first then took off."

"Deal with something?"

Zoro frowned.

Robin turned to Kohza and asked.

"Kohza, do you have any idea?"

Kohza didn't answer immediately and closed his eyes.

Lucas was still holding onto his card so he could pinpoint his location using it.

Sensing his direction and trajectory, Kohza frowned.

"He seems to be...heading for Wano."

"Wano!?"

Kinnemon shouted.

"Why is he heading there now!?"

Kohza shook his head.

"I don't know the answer to that question. I just know where he is."

Sanji puffed a mouthful of smoke and sighed.

"The reason why he left...is not important for now. What we need to ask ourselves is…"

"Do we follow? Or stay put?"

Franky continued what Sanji was about to say.

Brook was calm as he took a sip on his coffee, only to end up falling off his jaws. Still, he ignored it and turned to Luffy.

"What should we do, Captain?"

Everyone turned to Luffy who took a large bite off a piece of meat handed by Hanc_o_c_k. He grinned.

"Is there still a need to ask? We go!"

"Aye!"

Meanwhile, on a certain island.

A man who looked similar to Lucas sat on a throne made from a pile of bodies.

Other than him, there was only one man standing as well. Shiryuu.

"Lucius...Captain...a ship from the World Government has arrived on the island."

"Kill them."

"..."

Shiryuu hesitated for a second. He looked at the pile of bodies beneath Lucius and shook his head.

"Captain, don't you want to talk to them first and ask why they came?"

Lucius shifted his gaze over to Shiryuu who froze in place.

Shiryuu still can't believe how that skinny weak boy he picked up had grown to be so...terrifying!

He regretted picking him up as he may as well be the one who will one day end his life. However, he was also excited to see how far this man can go…

Lucius didn't speak for a while before nodding.

"Fine. Bring them here."

Shiryuu nodded and left.

Soon, he reappeared together with an old man.

This old man was the reason why Shiryuu didn't directly obey Lucius when he was told to kill earlier.

Because this old man...was one of the 5 elders at the very top of the world!

The old man looked at Lucius calmly, unafraid of his gaze.

Then...he spoke.

The contents of what he spoke had shocked Shiryuu to the core!

Lucius was also surprised.

A few moments passed.

Finally...Lucius nodded.

No one knew this meeting was happening. But if the world knew...it would undoubtedly shock the entire world down to its core!

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AN: DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN!!!

I apologize for the delays in writing as I am guilty of playing Genshin too much hehe. Another reason was because I am also stalling, I guess? The manga has stopped updating due to Oda falling sick and even though I have already thought of an ending that will be different from Oda's I still wanted it to be as close as possible.

But anyway, I've decided to just go with it. This is a fanfic anyway. There will be huge changes that aren't canon at all like the 'meeting' of one of the elders and Lucius. And I know you guys are thinking that I skipped whole cake island, but the thing is, on the way, Luffy and the others will still be forced to go there first...

Anyway. Lucas is still the MC of this novel so we'll be breaking away from the chill dad Lucas for now and go to kickass Lucas.

The story is also nearing its end. As for the continuation of the story itself outside of One Piece...well, that will be a talk of another time.

More mysteries will be uncovered soon. Who exactly is Lucas? Who is Lucius? What is Lucas' power? What did the elder talk about with Lucius? What will be the fate of the Strawhats?

Next time! On Ultimate Fruit! Kaido! Prepare yourself!!!

See ya next chap!