DISCORD LINK: https://discord.gg/r7kcKke
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After picking up a ring and asking Luna to keep quiet about it, Lucas and the rest headed back to the main hall where everyone is.
"Hm? Shirahoshi! You're out of your room!?"
"Un! Father! Lucas-sama and Luffy-sama said that they will protect me!"
"Ah, very well then. With them around, I can rest assured."
Hearing their conversation, Nami asked what was going on.
"Lucas? You just went out for a bit and you already picked up a mermaid princess!?"
"Err, What pick up...it was Luffy who picked her up!"
What the hell, why am I being accused so suddenly...
"Mommy! Don't be angry! Daddy is going to give you a ring and ask you to marry him!"
"Ah?"
"Ah?"
"..."
LUNA!!! What happened to pinky swear!? Weren't you gonna keep a secret for daddy!?
It seems Luna remembered it just now and quickly covered her mouth with her little hands.
"Oops! Mommy, forget what I said! I made a promise to Daddy not to tell you! We pinky swore!"
Right right! We pinky swore! Why are you telling her that!?
Lucas sighed and gave up. Since the cat is out of the bag...he can only follow through with it.
Lucas coughed and cleared his throat before getting down on one knee.
Nami, who was angry at first, started to get flustered and didn't know what to do.
"Eh? Ehh!? I-is this really happening!?"
"Nami...thinking about it, our relationship started 4...no, 2 years ago. By some stroke of fate, we were blessed with a child...and for 4 years, I can only think of returning to you and our child...it has been one of the driving thoughts I had when I was stuck in the past for 4 years…"
It wasn't really wrong when he said it like that.
Back when he was in the past, all he wanted was to get back and make sure Nami and their child was safe. It was just that it was too complicated to think of a way to go forward in time…
Despite being angry for Toki who pushed him away when he was trying to help, he was still grateful to her for sending him back to the future.
Pulling up the ring I took from the treasure vault. I presented it in front of Nami.
It was a ring with a pearl mounted on top of it which seemed to glow as it reflected the light from its surroundings.
King Neptune saw the ring and recognized it.
"Hey, that's-"
"So wonderful! Right, dear?"
Otohime quickly stopped him from ruining the atmosphere and sent a death glare at him, making Neptune sweat in fear.
"R-right…"
Naturally, Lucas ignored King Neptune's plight and continued on.
"Nami, will you marry me?"
"Yes!"
Nami rejoiced as tears appeared in the corner of her eyes. She jumped to Lucas' embrace and hugged him tightly.
While embracing, Nami whispered.
"Where did you get the ring?"
"I stole it."
"Kyaa! You know me best! Mwa!"
Nami kissed Lucas' cheek hard and squealed even more.
Everyone approached with smiles and congratulated the couple.
"Congratulations, you two. I'm truly...happy for you both."
Robin smiled at them but both Lucas and Nami can tell that her smile was a bit forced.
Nami looked at Lucas worriedly and opened her mouth but didn't know what to say without hurting Robin's feelings.
Lucas smiled and nodded at her before walking towards Robin.
"Robin, just because I married Nami, doesn't mean that I've forgotten you."
"...I'm fine. In the end, I am just a little lover. It was you and Nami who were a couple to begin with."
"That's not what I meant. It's just that, I wanted my marriage with you girls to be...special. I didn't want to do something like a double wedding where I marry you both at the same time."
Robin froze, she asked as her voice shook.
"So you mean…?"
"Un. Robin...one day, in a very special place...will you marry me as well?"
Robin looked back at Nami who nodded at her happily.
Seeing Nami's approval, Robin hugged Lucas as well and answered.
"...Yes!"
"That's a relief. Ah! For the ring, I already have it but I'm keeping it a secret until the actual day."
"Fufu, I'm sure I will like it anyway."
"Hehe, I got it from the past and is full of historical memories."
Robin's heart skipped a beat when she heard that and quickly grabbed onto Lucas' collar.
...Eh?
"Where is it!? Quickly let me see it!"
"L-like I said, I'll give it to you on the actual day. It has to be speci-"
"Screw that! I want it now!"
"...Yes ma'am…"
Lucas conceded and handed her the ring which he found in one of his travels in the past.
Robin separated from Lucas and snatched the ring as she started to scrutinize it in detail.
"Amazing! The metal on the ring seemed to be a material only found in...and the jewel is also something from...judging from the inscriptions and engravings, this should be the long lost treasure of…"
Aaand she's started mumbling about it.
Lucas sighed and shook his head as he went back to Nami's side.
"Well, I went and married another woman without consulting you...is it okay?"
"Why are you asking me now?"
Nami rolled her eyes.
After everything, is she supposed to reject now?
Lucas smiled and knew that Nami was okay with it. He bent down to Luna and lifted her up.
King Neptune coughed to clear his embarrassment and no longer mentioned the circumstances of the ring Lucas gave to Nami.
"I believe this calls for a celebration! Guards! Tell the chef to start cooking a feast!"
"Shishishishi! Let's party!"
It seems to Luffy, this was the only thing that truly mattered.
But if it's like this…
Lucas smirked and walked towards Hancock who seemed to be eyeing Nami's and Robin's rings.
"Psst, this is your chance!"
"E-eh?"
"Look, if you tell Luffy that there will be a huuuuge feast if you two get married...then…"
"!!!"
Hancock's eyes widened and lightning seemed to strike in the background…
Her eyes started to shine as if enlightened. She grasped Lucas' hands and spoke excitedly.
"When we give birth to a child, you will be his/her godfather! No, if its a boy, I'll name it Lucas!"
"O-oi, aren't you planning a little too far!?"
"Luffy~!"
Ah, she's not listening anymore…
While watching Hancock chase after Luffy, Lucas noticed Zoro approaching him as well.
"Well, it's my first time attending a wedding. Congratulations."
...What congratulations? Why does it sound like he's congratulating me because he's going to attend the wedding!?
Lucas sighed.
"There's booze after the wedding."
"Say no more! Do you need a best man!?"
"..."
Best man huh?
Speaking of which, who would I assign as my best man? Logically, it would be Luffy as he is the captain...but that guy...nope, he's not suited for it.
As for the others, they don't feel quite right as well.
Kohza would do fine too but he's not here at the moment.
Who else...ah, there's Jinbei.
Yep, he sounds more reliable than these guys here…Jinbei it is then.
While the rest of the crew were celebrating, another voice rang out from the door.
"Oh? What's this? Is there a party here?"
"That voice…!"
Luffy heard the visitor and his eyes lit up. Hancock was about to trick, err...propose to him but Luffy no longer minded her as he ran to the door.
"Ace!"
"Haha! I heard my little brother finally arrived. How can I not welcome you all?"
Ace laughed as he ruffled Luffy's hair.
His appearance had somewhat changed since 2 years ago. His black hair was still short but a bit longer than before and you could see a small mustache growing above his mouth. Looking at him now, Lucas was once again reminded by Roger.
Lucas smiled and reminisced in his memories.
Damned captain, white beard geezer...your son is still alive now…
However, the scar on his left shoulder was new. Judging from the marks, it looks like a frostbite scar.
Lucas already asked Jinbei a bit of what had happened in the past 2 years.
It seems that instead of Big Mom taking over Fishman Island when Whitebeard died, Ace and his crew were able to deter her from taking this territory.
As the new captain of the Whitebeard pirates, Ace's own strength had also grown considerably and he had also grasped Awakening.
When he did, he tried to go against the new Fleet Admiral, Aokiji, to prove his strength.
Just like in the original where Akainu and Aokiji fought in Punk Hazard, Ace also battled Aokiji on that island. It was said that the island is now divided into burning hot and freezing cold. But the cold area was far larger than the fiery one.
The result was naturally, Ace lost. If it wasn't because of Marco who had arrived in time to save him, Ace would've died then and there if not captured.
Still, the aftermath of the battle had shocked the world enough to acknowledge him as the new captain of the Whitebeard pirates.
He is, after all, just a young man at the moment. It was unreasonable to think of him being Whitebeard's equal in terms of strength. But the potential is there.
Not to mention, he is also the son of the Pirate King Roger himself!
Just due to this identity alone, Big Mom hesitated to have a full-on war against them.
Roger may be dead, but his crew isn't. If news of Ace being in trouble reaches them, they may just gather again and serve under him. If that happens, it will only be troublesome to deal with.
This was why Ace was able to keep Fishman Island as part of their territory.
As for the internal strife happening here with the New Fishman Pirates, it was because Jinbei has asked them not to intervene. Matters of fishmen will only get worse if humans were to involve themselves so Jinbei wanted to deal with the issue himself.
While Ace and Luffy chatted amongst themselves, Marco approached Lucas with a smile.
"Lucas. How was the old man?"
"Haha, still as stubborn as ever."
"Hehe, that's our pops!"
Nami asked while carrying Luna in her arms.
"Old man? Ah, you did mention that you sailed with Whitebeard in the past too. Were you a part of his crew back then?"
"Yeah. I'm glad I was able to meet him in his prime."
Lucas laughed as he remembered Whitebeard's antics in the past.
Marco saw Luna and gave her a warm smile.
"So this is your kid?"
"Yeah. This is Luna. Luna, say hi to uncle Marco."
"Uncle Bird!"
"..."
Hearing what Luna said, everyone but Marco laughed.
Lucas also laughed but then remembered.
Huh? How did she know Marco turns into a bird...err, phoenix?
Though Lucas was confused, he didn't know the answer so he could only sigh.
Ace also approached them and grinned.
"Hehe, so this is Luna? Come greet your big bro Ace!"
"Uncle Red!"
"..."
Luffy laughed hard when he heard that and started calling Ace uncle Red as well. Ace naturally got pissed and they started pulling each other's cheeks.
Everyone laughed again.
After a while, mermaids appeared and started serving the dishes.
"LET'S PARTY!!!"
Luffy shouted with a big grin together with Ace as they hugged each other's shoulders.
"PARTY!!!"
Seeing everyone being so loud and energetic, King Neptune sighed and smiled wryly.
Humans seem to like having parties too much.
That night, everyone danced and sang as they ate and drunk! Soon, even the guards stationed and the mermaids also joined in.
Suddenly, loud crashes rang out from the walls around them. Everyone stopped speaking and looked around.
"We're under attack!"
"Men! To your positions!"
"Protect the royal family!"
Zoro let out a nasty grin and touched the handle of his sword.
"Now this is my kind of party."
Brook touched his cane as well and laughed.
"I suppose it's time to stretch my muscles a bit...Not that I have muscles to begin with! Yohohohoho!"
Usopp adjusted his goggles and pulled out a small cylinder handle. Clicking a button on it, the top exploded and shot out white cloud which formed into a long slingshot.
Lucas raised a brow at that.
Wasn't that the iron cloud sword he got back in Skypiea?
Usopp noticed his look and grinned as he explained.
"Hehe, using the weather technology Nami gave me from Weatheria, I was able to find a way to stabilize the iron cloud form even below a sky island. I figured such a weapon is a perfect fit for me!"
Certainly, with that weapon, he can adjust the length and form of the slingshot depending on the situation.
It's certainly quite useful to Usopp who has a lot of tricks in his sleeve.
"Plus…"
Usopp waved the iron cloud slingshot and changed it's form into a sword!
"Zoro and Brook are no longer the only swordsmen in the crew!"
"You know how to use a sword?"
"Only a little bit. As a sniper, my biggest weakness is close distance fights. In the past 2 years, Jabra hammered into me a way to fight in close range so I would not lose out too much. Of course, I'm not really an expert with the sword, but I still know enough to use it!"
Lucas smiled.
How about that? The cowardly and unmanly Usopp from the Original has become reliable now...it was a good choice to put him and Jabra together.
Nami also got battle-ready and extended her new clima tact while Robin simply crossed her arms. Kaya pulled out a vial of...something from her bag and Hancock raised her leg, ready to kick some ass.
Ace and the rest also got into their battle stance and got ready.
Luffy crackled his fists with a grin.
"Shishishi. The party's just starting!"
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AN: Managed to sneak a chap while working.
I'm sorry if the chapters are getting fewer by the week but I really am too busy with work and I am also called in for work even during the weekends...so just bear with it. :P
As you can tell, the scenario is really different from the original now but there are some similarities. The effects of Lucas' actions in the earlier half are now showing in a way that would change the story greatly.
As for how much, well, just continue reading then XD
See ya next chap!