Ultimate Fruit

*Growl~*

While Lucas was looking at the katana in his hands, there was a loud growling noise from beside him.

Looking over, he saw O-Tama embarrassingly clutch her stomach with a red face.

"Are you hungry?"

"N-no! That was just...umm...I need to go to the restroom!"

O-Tama quickly ran out of the temple and went off somewhere, causing Lucas to frown and look at Hitetsu in askance.

Hitetsu was shocked for a second but snapped out of it quickly.

"This is bad! That child probably ran over to the river to drink the water!"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Of course it is! Haven't you seen the towering factories!? Those things have been contaminating the waters! Even the animals who drink from there are also poisonous!"

"What!?"

Lucas' face paled from anger.

However, he had no time to be angry. He quickly flew out and chased after O-Tama.

Sure enough, he saw her by the riverbank and was about to scoop her hands on the river to drink.

Lucas quickly landed beside her and stopped her.

"Tama! What are you doing!? Hitetsu said these waters are poisonous!"

"B-but I…"

"No buts! Isn't there someplace clean where you can eat and drink?"

O-Tama looked down on her feet.

"There is...but...I don't have money…"

"..."

"Tell me, when was the last time you have had a proper meal?"

"Umm...4…"

"4 days ago?"

"4...years ago…"

"..."

Lucas' face sank.

4 years...isn't that when she said Ace was here?

O-Tama could feel that something wasn't right in Lucas' expression. She waved her hands and smiled weakly.

"Ah! But, but...Master gives me enough money to buy rice on New Year and on my birthday...my birthday will be in a few days so...I just need to hold on until then!"

"..."

Lucas continued to remain silent.

Then, he made up his mind.

He stood up, smiled, and patted O-Tama���s head.

"How many days till your birthday?"

"Eh? Uhh…"

O-Tama looked down on her fingers as she counted.

"11 days! My birthday is next week!"

"I see…"

11 days...she plans to not eat for 11 days!?

"Alright. Be good and don't drink from this river again, okay? I'll do something about food."

"Eh? How?"

"Hehe, just wait."

Lucas looked down on the river and thought of purifying it with his ability. However, just having drinkable water wouldn't do. There needs to be something to eat as well.

Since that's the case…

Lucas turned to the factories at the distance with a cold look.

Somewhere in Kuri…

A man with long blond hair and three pointed lines as eyebrows sat on a chair while frowning.

In front of him were various floating cards arranged mysteriously.

"Strange…"

This man was none other than Basil Hawkins! One of the Pirate Captains of the Worst Generation alongside Luffy!

In the past few years, he had made an alliance with certain pirate groups and they had ended up under Kaido for some time now.

Now, he has become one of the Headliners of Kaido.

At the moment, he was predicting his own fate. But the results had only confused him more and more.

"Why is it...no matter how I calculate...there is 100% chance that I will die today…!?"

What was going on?

Hawkins frowned for a moment and tried another fortune.

"Chances of fleeing...65%...."

He paused for a while and continued to keep predicting his fortune.

Hawkins was a cautious man and believed in his fortune-telling more than anything. Though he had no idea what would cause his death, he didn't want to risk and find out.

Back in Kuri, Lucas had returned to Hitetsu with O-Tama and told them he'll be going out for a bit.

He flew to the air and expanded his Observation Haki.

After a while, he frowned and looked in one direction.

He recognized a man that was here. Basil Hawkins.

What was he doing here?

Though Lucas knew that he was powerful enough, he still paid attention to certain individuals like Shanks, Big Mom, Kaido, the Admirals, and the other Pirates from the Worst Generation. So seeing Hawkins here, Lucas wondered what he was up to.

...No matter. He didn't have time to deal with him now.

Lucas shook his head and focused on another location.

He found a place that was clean and without any toxic substance...there were also various foods there as well as some drinkable water.

He also saw Kaido's men guarding it while lashing on some 'slaves' to work harder in harvesting.

The next moment, Lucas disappeared in the sky and appeared before them.

"Who's there!?"

Kaido's men quickly reacted and pointed their guns and weapons at him.

Some of them seemed to have weird body structures...as if they were combined with an animal...and crudely too…

Is this...the product of that SMILE devil fruits?

Lucas' back was still turned on them when he landed, as he turned around, he waved his hand and a mask appeared on his face.

The mask was red and looked devilish. Like an angry demon.

Lucas didn't create this mask out of nothing. As powerful his ability is, he still hasn't been able to do something like that. The mask looked real, but it wasn't real. In other words, an illusion.

Why the need for a mask?

No reason actually, if there had to be a reason...then it's just Lucas feeling nostalgic about his time in Wano as the Red Demon. Akaoni!

"It's been 20 years...has Wano already forgotten about me?"

"You…"

Kaido's men actually didn't know who Lucas was. Not all of them had seen what had happened 20 years ago and only the core members would have recognized the mask and what it meant.

However, looking at the mask that seemed real yet unreal gave them a sense of...fear. As if it was a subconscious thought deep in their minds.

"Hmph!"

Lucas snorted. And in that instant, all of Kaido's men except for one immediately fell to the ground.

The remaining person shivered and collapsed on her feet.

She had the lower body of a horse and an upper body of a woman. A centaur so to say. Her hair was colored white on one side and black on the other. She also had horse-like ears as well instead of normal human ones.

Lucas had singled her out as she seems to be fast on her feet.

"You, what's your name?"

"H-hii! I-I am Speed! One of K-Kaido-sama's Headliners!"

Speed neighed like a horse in fright.

Lucas tried not to laugh about it and retained a serious tone.

"Speed. Do you know why you are still alive?"

"N-no...sir!"

"Because I want you to use those horse legs of yours and run. Run as fast as you can to Kaido and tell him my message."

Speed's face turned pale as she asked.

"W-what's the...message?"

"Tell him...I'm coming to claim a 20-year long debt."

Lucas let out a bit of murderous intent which shook Speed in fear. She quickly nodded and ran away, even stumbling for a bit before galloping at high speed.

After Lucas saw that she had left, he turned to the poor people being forced to work.

The people all flinched upon meeting Lucas' eyes.

Remembering that he was 'wearing' a mask, he chuckled and waved his hand again, dispelling the mask in a cloud of smoke.

Lucas smiled.

"You're all free now. Please help distribute these foods to those in need as well. You do not need to fear Kaido anymore."

After saying this piece, he turned back and let the wind, which he definitely didn't make happen, to blow his shirt a bit, revealing the tattoo on his lower back.

The mark of the Kozuki Family.

Plenty of the people present were old and knew what that symbol meant.

They cried tears of joy and knelt on the ground.

"We are saved!"

"The Kozuki family...is back!"

"Finally! We are free!"

Lucas smiled seeing them happy. He took a few meats, vegetables, and some water and left.

Soon, he arrived back at the temple.

"I'm back! I've brought food!"

Hearing that, Hitetsu and O-Tama both had their eyes widened and their jaws dropped as they saw him unload a bunch of food on the table.

Hitetsu looked back at Lucas and asked.

"This...where did you get this!?"

"I stole it from Kaido!"

"WHAT!?"

"Jeez, don't shout so loud. It's fine~ Kaido and I go waaaay back! He will probably kill me when he finds out, but I'll kill him first so it's fine~"

Hitetsu was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say…

Why does he say it as if he's just meeting an old friend!? Just who is this man!?

Lucas didn't care what Hitetsu was thinking. He looked over at O-Tama who was staring at the bunch of food but not eating.

"What's wrong? Come and eat."

"I…I…I can't afford this! Please take it back!"

"Haha! What are you saying? I'm telling you, you can go eat it already. Don't worry. There���s a lot more where that came from."

Lucas laughed and patted her head.

"On your birthday, we will have an even bigger feast! I promise!"

"...Really?"

"Yeah. That's why, go ahead and eat to your heart's content!"

O-Tama looked at the apple on her hands and bit on it. Suddenly, tears formed in her eyes as she munched on the apple.

"Uuuu...It's so delicious! This apple is so delicious…!"

"It's just an apple...come, try this one next."

Lucas grinned and kept placing more and more food in front of O-Tama like a doting father.

Maybe it was because O-Tama was only a bit older than Luna that he felt very protective towards her. Or maybe he just felt sad about her circ_u_mstance and felt sorry for her. For being unable to beat Kaido in the past, resulting in the Wano today…

Lucas felt responsible for why Wano is like this today...if only he had defeated Kaido back then…

Lucas shook his head.

No matter what, the past is past...though I was somehow able to travel to the past one time, I am already grateful for that one time. I can't get complacent and keep changing the past because of my mistakes…

After making sure that O-Tama was eating properly, Lucas left again.

"Big brother, where are you going?"

"Oh? I'm not a bad uncle anymore?"

Lucas chuckled while O-Tama pouted.

He patted his head again and reassured her.

"I need to go and help the others. I'm afraid someone might cause them trouble."

"Then...I want to go too!"

"You can't. Just stay and eat here first."

"No! I'm going!"

Lucas sighed and looked at Hitetsu.

Hitetsu shook his head and shrugged.

"Don't look at me, I can hardly keep this unruly little girl."

"..."

Lucas sighed again and scratched his head.

"Fine. Come on then."

"Yay!"

Lucas carried O-Tama on his shoulders and flew away.

A few seconds later, they arrived at a town nearby. Well, two towns...they seemed to be separated clearly. One is a prosperous town, while the other is simply made. However, it was unusually active due to the amount of food that was brought over.

O-Tama pointed at the poor town and explained.

"That is Okobore Town."

"Okobore?"

"Un. In other words...they are the leftovers. They live only from the leftovers of those from Bakura Town. Big Brother, did you help them get those food?"

"Yeah. And as I thought...they are attracting unwanted attention…"

Just as Lucas said, Kaido's men had noticed the people from Okobore town had somehow gotten food. Unable to contact the team responsible for the food, they thought of the worst.

Instantly, they moved to 'confiscate' the food so they can get it back.

The situation was getting worse and they were about to start hurting people. Luckily, Lucas had arrived in time.

Lucas landed and glared at Kaido's men behind the demon mask.

"Who gave you all the guts to steal from me?"

He didn't bother bickering with them anymore and unleashed his haki again, directly neutralizing the enemies in one go.

However, some were left standing.

"Hoh, it seems you're not just a mere grunt."

Lucas turned to the man who was still standing after his haki release. He was a large man with...a lion's head on his stomach…

Eh, the lion also has its own pair of paws too…

Lucas was momentarily dumbfounded at the ridiculous transformation.

The man growled and shouted back.

"Listen up! I, Holdem, won't allow for thi-"

"Well, whatever. Shut up."

Lucas didn't want to keep seeing this ridiculous looking guy anymore and waved his hand, sending a high-speed water jet towards him.

Holdem was shocked for a second but immediately crossed his arms to guard the attack.

He was pushed back for a bit but wasn't blown away.

"Hm."

Lucas raised a brow and increased disappeared in his position. The next moment, he was in front of Holdem and sent a palm strike.

"Shut up. You're an eyesore."

*BOOM*

Holdem's eyes bulged as he spat out blood, but soon after, he was blown away into the distance!

O-Tama watched as the most fearsome man in Bakura Town was simply handled by Lucas. Instantly, her reverence towards Lucas had skyrocketed even further!

Seeing no one else causing trouble, Lucas turned towards everyone else.

"Go ahead and eat. This is just the beginning…"

The townspeople looked at each other for a moment before erupting into cheers.

Lucas looked on with a smile on his face and was about to pull O-Tama along so she could continue eating as well when suddenly, two figures approached them.

One of them was quite tall and looked feminine. However, Lucas knew otherwise…

"Akaoni-sama! To think that you are safe...this Kiku is very glad!"

"Oh, Kiku. You are also here?"

Kiku kneeled before Lucas while another woman looked at him curiously beside Kiku.

"O-Kiku, do you know him?"

"O-Tsuru, this man is none other than Akaoni-sama! 20 years ago, he alone was able to fight Kaido to a draw!"

"What!?"

While O-Tsuru looked surprised, Lucas looked at her and frowned.

Tsuru…

This name made Lucas' face twitch as he couldn't help but remember his encounter with the Vice Admiral Tsuru…

Come to think of it, I wonder how is she now?

…

Marine Headquarters.

Tsuru was sitting in her office as she looked out the window, seemingly absent minded. As if recalling a certain memory from the past.

Suddenly, her denden mushi rang.

"Tsuru here."

"This is Hina."

"Hina? Why did you contact me? I thought you already quit the Marines to chase that damn bastard."

Tsuru spoke sullenly.

"It's like this, Lucas suddenly went off alone to Wano. We think he may be facing Kaido on his own...Hina wants to know if there's anything you can do on your side to stop him before its too late…"

"HE'S FIGHTING WHO NOW!?"

Tsuru shouted in shock.

What did she say? Lucas fighting one of the Emperors!? Did she hear it right!?

Unfortunately, she did hear it right…

"Yes. We don't know what happened, but he suddenly left while Hina and the others took care of Doflamingo…"

"That stupid...ugh! Fine! Leave this to me! And try to head there as soon as possible!"

"Understood!"

With that, Hina ended the call.

Tsuru looked at her denden mushi for a bit then quickly called another person.

It took a while but the call finally connected.

"Who is this?"

"This is Tsuru."

"..."

The person on the other end paused for a moment. After a while, he spoke again.

"Vice-Admiral, why did you call me? Do you want to risk my cover being blown!?"

"X Drake, enough chit chat. There's something I need you to do."

Right. The person Tsuru was contacting was none other than X Drake! Former Rear Admiral who later turned into a pirate. And now, he has made it as one of Kaido's Flying Six Fellows. However, this was all a facade as he was working undercover and was still a Marine.

He led a secret special force of the Marines called the SWORD.

Currently, he was still undercover as one of Kaido's men so he was shocked to suddenly hear from Vice-Admiral Tsuru.

He moved to a secret location first before continuing their talk.

Hearing the seriousness in her tone, X Drake stopped blaming her and asked.

"What is it?"

"Guardian Wing...no, was it Sea Reaper? Remember the man who fell alongside Whitebeard in the war 2 years ago?"

"...Lucas?"

"He's back...and he's headed for Kaido's head!"

"!!!"

"Captain X Drake! Your mission is to prevent these two colossal figures from clashing at all costs! Wait till reinforcements arrive!"

"Reinforcements? Are we really gonna risk blowing my cover, after all this time?"

Drake frowned.

However, as soon as he heard what Tsuru said next, his mouth hung open.

"The reinforcements are the Strawhat crew! They are headed to Wano as well!"

"..."

--------------------------------------------

AN: Tsuru appears!

See ya next chap!