Ultimate Fruit

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Chapter 73: Message of the Past

It happened when Lucas had just left the Ryugu Palace. He felt something tug in his chest. A sort of feeling as if a part of him was outside...and was nearby…

Following this feeling, Lucas sped up and arrived outside the Fishman island to see what was happening.

As soon as he did, he saw a familiar-looking ship. It took a moment for him to realize that it looked like Thousand Sunny, only...way bigger!

Sure enough, the mark on the flag was indeed the Strawhat Pirates!

Finally!

Though Lucas was excited, he still managed to restrain himself from reuniting with them as he needed to be careful in revealing his identity.

Jinbe, Shyarly, King Neptune and his family are still fine. But there are others here so it may be inconvenient to show himself.

Lucas decided to observe the situation first. Anyway, he doubts these small fries can do anything to them.

When it looked like they were about to start fighting, Lucas saw a small figure with long white hair standing in front of the others while pointing at the sea monsters and grabbing onto Nami’s pants.

“Mommy! I want!”

!!!

Mommy...this kid called Nami...her mommy!?

Then...is she perhaps…!?

Lucas was shaken to the core as he looked at the child.

This is...my daughter!

While he was still surprised, the sea monsters started to charge forward and he could see small tears were about to form at the corner of his daughter’s eyes.

Lucas’ mind went blank and before he knew it, he had already unleashed his Emperor’s Haki!

His face started to twitch in anger.

His previous plans and caution were all thrown away!

Screw it! These bastards dared to make my daughter cry!

His anger boiled the water around him and the helmet with limited vision had started to annoy him so he removed it to get a better look at the bastards in front of him.

“Which one of you bastards made my daughter cry!?”

“S-shit! It’s the Shark Knight! What is he doing here!?”

Lucas’ reputation had already made him retake his previous nickname of Shark Knight but instead of the marines giving it to him, it was given by the mermaids and fishman in Fishman island.

The New Fishman Pirates trembled and slowly tried to back down but the instant someone made a move, Lucas was already in front of them the next moment.

“Was it you!?”

“N-no! I don’t know your daughter!”

“Bullshit!”

Lucas swung his fist and a tremendous amount of force hit the New Fishman Pirates, sending them to god knows where!

Samegawara Seiken!!!

“Gh-!?”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

After blowing most of the New Fishman Pirates away, Lucas turned to look at the remaining New Fishman Pirates and spoke in a cold voice.

“Go back and tell Hody that the Strawhats are under my protection! If I ever see you again, I wouldn't mind dyeing the sea red with your blood!”

“Y-y-yes!”

The New Fishman Pirates trembled and nodded quickly. While escaping, they tried to retrieve their sea monsters only to be interrupted by Lucas once again.

“Are you bunch deaf!? My daughter wants these sea monsters! They’re no longer yours!”

“Y-y-y-y-yes! U-understood!”

They nodded quickly again and retreated in a blink of an eye.

“...”

The surrounding area was filled in silence once the New Fishman Pirates left and Lucas finally snapped out of his anger.

D-dammit! I was supposed to only observe!

Now things have gotten awkward…

Lucas faced Luffy and the others, looking at each of them while trying to figure out what to say.

When his gaze landed on Nami, he was about to open his mouth to speak when suddenly, a small white figure left the bubble and quickly swam at him!

“Daddy!”

“Ah! Hey! Why did you leave the bubble!? The water pressure under here is...eh? You're fine? And you can breathe underwater?”

Lucas panicked when he saw his daughter leave the bubble and tried to quickly control the water to create another bubble for her only to find that she was still perfectly fine…

Still, Lucas created a bubble for them as he felt worried.

Looking at the small figure who's trying hard giving him a bear hug, Lucas’ face softened and a smile formed.

He slowly patted her head and her face lit up with smiles.

“Ehehe~! Luna finally meets daddy!”

“Luna...is it your name?”

“Un! Luna is Luna!”

Lucas smiled.

“It’s a pretty name. Just like you.”

“Ehehe~”

Lucas held onto Luna and lifted her up slowly as if she was made of glass.

He looked back on the others and jumped as he landed on the ship.

The bubble surrounding him merged with the bubble around the ship as he landed.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Nami dashed at him and gave him a hug.

“You...idiot! Where have you been!?”

Lucas smiled wryly when he saw Nami’s face full of tears.

Robin also came at him and joined the group hug.

Luffy was about to join thinking that it was going to be a big group hug but thankfully, Hancock managed to stop him from interrupting.

“It’s...a long story. I’ll tell you guys about it later. But right now, there’s only one thing I want to say.”

Lucas looked at Nami, Robin, Luna, and the others on the ship with a smile.

“I’m back.”

Everyone smiled as they all felt various feelings within them.

“Shisihshi! Welcome back!”

“Uwaaah! Lucaaaas!!!”

“Heh, took you long enough.”

“You bastard! Welcome back! But don’t forget I still have a score to settle with you dammit!”

“Lucasshhh!!!”

“Yohohohoho! It’s nice to finally meet you!”

“Supeeeer! My manly tears are pouring out!”

“Fufu, welcome home.”

Usopp, Chopper, and Franky cried while the rest laughed and smiled. Well, Sanji is also crying but for a different reason…

Kaya and Hancock watch them with a smile.

Unlike the others, the two of them are a new addition to the crew. Even though Kaya was previously in Lucas’ crew, they didn’t have that much interaction with each other and Lucas also only met Hancock that time in Impel Down.

Lucas patted Luna again and looked towards Fishman Island.

“Come. I know a place where you can settle down the ship. We’ll talk more once we're inside the island.”

Lucas waved his hand and the surrounding water moved to carry them at a comfortable pace as he headed towards the Sea Forest where Jinbei is staying.

Oh, let's not forget the sea monsters too...

Lucas waved his hand again and carried the sea monsters with them.

“The new ship is quite big huh?”

“Of course! This is the super work of me! She’s called the Million Sunny!”

“Millions Sunny?”

Franky nodded proudly.

“Yeah! I created this ship to withstand a million seas! This will be the ship that will sail the entirety of the Grand Line!”

Lucas smiled wryly at that.

From the original Thousand Sunny, it had become Million Sunny due to its size.

In the past, because Lucas had raised a lot of money, they were able to procure more Adams Wood to create a ship of this size.

Going Merry is also still safe and sound inside the belly of this ship so the size needed to be big.

Other than that, the ship also has even more features than the original but Franky didn’t explain it all just yet and wanted to surprise Lucas.

Lucas laughed.

It’s not going to transform into a huge robot...right?

The original Franky General is already absurd, if Franky made a ship that can transform…

Lucas shook his head.

Forget it, let’s just not think about it now.

“How long have you been here?”

Nami asked.

“A few days. What happened to me is a bit...crazy. To you, it may have been 2 years since the war at Marineford, but it has been 4 years for me.”

“!?”

“Four!?”

“What happened?”

Lucas sighed and thought that it should be good to tell them what happened while they are on the way to the Sea Forest.

He lifted Luna up and settled her on his shoulders.

Luna didn’t know what was happening but she cheered when Lucas did this.

Lucas smiled at her reaction and searched his pockets for his phone.

Seeing the phone, Luffy was surprised.

“Huh? I thought that phone shattered back then?”

“Yeah, but didn’t I shatter too? I could vaguely remember dying that time...yet here I am.”

It was a weird feeling of having felt dying then coming back alive…

“Anyway, take a look at this.”

Lucas showed them his photo with Roger and Rayleigh.

“Huh? Is this Rayleigh? He looks young?”

“Hold on...the man beside him looks familiar…”

“I-isn’t he Gold Roger!? The Pirate King!?”

!!!

Everyone’s eyes nearly popped up when they heard that.

That’s right! Isn’t this the Pirate King!? What’s he doing in this picture!? And with Lucas too!

“After the war, I...found myself 30 years ago in the past...or rather, 32 years from now.”

“Y-you mean...you actually...met the Pirate King!? You traveled to the past!?”

Usopp’s jaw dropped to the ground once more.

The others were also just as shocked and surprised.

Lucas laughed and scrolled through more pictures.

“Look, there’s also Shanks and Buggy here as kids.”

“Woah! Shanks looks so young!”

“Buggy still has that red nose since back then huh?”

Luffy and Zoro laughed when they saw the picture.

Lucas also showed them Whitebeard and the others.

Seeing the pictures, Luffy frowned and felt worried.

For the past 2 years, he had been training with Rayleigh in order to get stronger...but Lucas spent 4 years in the past traveling with the likes of Roger and Whitebeard!

How can he not get even stronger during that period of time!?

Lucas saw the worried look of Luffy and thought it might be because of the last island.

“Ah, don’t worry though, I only stayed with them for a few years but I didn’t get to go with them to reach the last island so I still don’t know where it is. I only have clues as to how to get there.”

As Lucas scrolled through the pictures, it showed a picture of a familiar woman with white hair. The woman was angrily pinching on Lucas as if scolding him.

This was a picture that Roger took to tease him about.

“Hm? This girl looks like Robin!”

“...Yes...This is Nico Olvia. Robin’s mother.”

“!!!”

Robin’s hand trembled as she took the phone and stared at the image.

Lucas sighed.

“I...told her about what will happen to Ohara...I tried to tell her to take you and leave but...seeing as you’re still here...did she still remain on that island?”

“...Yes…”

“...I see...I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to help more…”

“...No, it’s fine...I understand now why she…”

“Hm?”

“...It’s nothing.”

Robin shook her head and looked at the picture one last time before swiping to the next picture as she didn’t want to see it anymore.

However, the next image wasn’t just a picture, but a video.

It was still Olvia on the screen.

“Is this thing on? I don’t really know how to use this...anyway, I should just wrap it up before that annoying guy comes back.”

“...”

Lucas was surprised.

So she’s the one who took my phone at that time!

Before, he had lost his phone on Roger’s ship and he nearly turned the whole ship upside down to search for it which annoyed Roger and they ended up fighting again.

So it seems that Olvia took it…

This damn woman really wants to harm me!

Lucas doesn’t really look at all the photos or videos on his phone as there is a lot already.

At most, he only looks at it when he feels like it so he hasn’t checked if there are more pictures that he doesn’t know about.

If he did check, he’ll probably find a lot of pictures by Roger, Rayleigh, Shanks, and Whitebeard…

The video continued to play.

“Ahem...my daughter...if you are seeing this, then it means that... as that guy said, I will most likely die. I didn’t want to believe it but I can’t ignore it as well.”

Olvia sighed and looked at the camera.

“Since you are seeing this, then it means that guy has also somehow gotten back to his own time and that you are traveling with him. That guy may be a bit annoying and a blockhead most of the time but he’s a powerful and reliable guy. I...approve of him if you wish to love him...”

Olvia paused for a moment before continuing.

“Uhh, listen. Don’t blame him if I ended up dying. He already warned me about what will happen so I’m the only one to blame if I still die. I didn’t want him to stay on the island...because…”

Olvia hesitated for a moment.

Lucas was confused as to what was happening but it seems Robin and the girls understood so they quickly pushed Lucas away along with the guys.

“Robin, pause it! Let’s continue it inside! You boys stay here! Especially you, Lucas!”

“Y-yes ma’am…”

Nami scowled at him and pulled Robin and the girls inside to continue to watch, leaving Lucas and the others confused.

Zoro didn’t seem to care all that much and just sat on the deck while the others looked at each other and shrugged.

Luna, who was on Lucas’ shoulders, also tilted her head in confusion, not knowing what was happening.

Lucas sighed again then continued to play with Luna.

Inside the cabin, Robin continued to play the video left by her mother.

“...Because...if I continued to stay with him...I might really fall in love with that blockhead…”

“...Mother…”

“I knew it...that idiot…”

Robin and Nami sighed.

Olvia sighed as well and looked back at the camera.

“My daughter...it feels weird to call you than when you haven’t even been born...still...Lucas has shown me pictures of you and it’s enough for me to know that you are safe and sound and happy as well. I know...that I will always love you no matter what.”

Olvia smiled and finished the video.

“Take care of that blockhead for me. And make sure he doesn’t get more girls! It would be troublesome if more and more women fall for him!”

“...”

The video finally ended at that.

The next picture was Lucas and Olvia smiling together. It was the picture that Olvia secretly printed back then.

Nami sighed again.

“That idiot...to actually hit on Robin’s mother as well!”

“Is that guy really so attractive? My Luffy is better!”

Hancock frowned and felt that Lucas shouldn’t be that attractive...well, it was only understandable as she hasn’t looked at Lucas too much.

Most of the time, she’s always looking at Luffy.

Even earlier, she didn’t even notice the Emperor’s Haki as she was too busy looking at Luffy...

“Err, I don’t know...but for me, Uso-”

Kaya’s voice became smaller and smaller as she spoke.

Looking at the two, Nami shook her head.

Of course these two are immune...they already have someone else in their minds!

Nami looked back at Robin.

“So...what are you going to do?”

“...I...will do as my mother asked and make sure to keep a tight leash on Lucas from now on.”

“...”

Robin was smiling but for some reason, Nami felt like she wasn't smiling at all!

On the deck, Lucas suddenly shivered for some reason but didn’t know why.

...Is there another pretty chick that’s thinking about me?

Lucas laughed at the idea and shook his head as he continued to play with Luna.

While playing, he continued to chat with the others about what happened in the past 2 years.

Finally, they reached the Sea Forest and met with Jinbei.

Luffy chatted with him for a bit and even tried to ask Jinbei to join but Jinbei refused for now, saying that he still needs to do a few more things here in Fishman Island and can’t sail with them for some time.

Finally, Lucas led the crew to the city.

“Sanji, I’ll introduce you to some mermaids but hold on to your nose and don’t bleed out too much.”

“I-I’m ready!”

So he says but...the instant he shows them to the Mermaid Cafe, a fountain of blood appeared once more…

“Ahh~ I found...ALL BLUE!!!”

“...”