[Kaienreki Calendar 1516, April]
It was a few weeks, after Lupin had stopped the Marine fleet, when he once again sensed a very strong presence near Wano and it wasn't the alone.
Lupin stopped sparring with a blindfolded Yamato, as he addressed her.
"It seems we have visitors again. Stay here and continue your training, I will be back soon."
"Yes, teacher.", Yamato answered respectfully, though when she removed the blindfold to take a peek, her teacher was already gone.
…
Lupin needed only a few seconds to appear on the shore of Onigashima, as he looked at the ship approaching the waterfall in the distance, several giant kois already captured and strapped to it.
Lupin didn't need a second look to recognize the ship as Mobby Dick, the flagship of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Stepping onto the air, Lupin appeared before the ship amoment later and his Conquerer's Haki made the kois and most of the crew lose conciousness.
Even though he didn't see himself as a pirate or Emperor of the Seas, Lupin knew that he couldn't just let anyone walk into the territory, he had claimed just weeks before.
It would be a sign of weakness, that others might seek to exploit and he preferred to spent his time more meaningfully than chasing off rookie pirates and other forces all the time.
His wings extended and flapping to keep himself in the air, Lupin looked at the tall white-bearded man that stood at the helm of the ship.
"Trying to enter my territory without an invitation? You already have one foot in the grave old man, you want me to put you there entirely?", Lupin voiced out deeply, his Haki pulsing around him and clashing with the old man's, causing dark clouds to appear in the sky.
*BOOM* *CRACK*
"Do you know who I am, brat? I am Whitebeard!", the veteran pirate called out, his imposing manner alone enough to shake the atmosphere.
Seeing a flaming bird appear at his side, ready to attack, Lupin understood that his display of power wasn't enough to gain the respect and acknowledgement of someone like Whitebeard, so he loosened the shackles on his spirit enitrely.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOM*
The world seemed to tremble and space seemed to crack under the weigth of Lupin Haoshoku Haki. An invisible repelling force had blasted back not only the flaming bird, but the entire Flagship opposite to him.
Creaking sound could be heard, as the ship was unable to endure the pressure and damage spread in multiple places. The ocean itself was pushed back by the might Lupin had unleashed on his surroundings, denting inwards and causing sky-high waves to tear through the sea.
…
"Don't test me old man, or I will cut you down.", a growling voice echoed through the atmosphere, shaking the hearts of Whitebeard's crew.
They had seen a lot after following their 'father' on adventures of all kinds, but never had they met someone like the winged-man before them.
Whitebeard himself was astonished at the strength of the man in front of him, and he also understood that the man before him hadn't been lucky when he decimated Kaidou an his crew.
He truly had power that surpassed an Emperor's and their crews combined.
Still, he was Whitebeard and he couldn't just admit defeat. His pride simply wouldn't allow it, but he could feel it in his bones, that if he started a fight with the man, he would certainly die and most importantly his children would too.
He wasn't afraid of death, as he had long since been prepared to lay down his life, but sacrificing the lives of his children for his mere pride wasn't something he was capable of.
So in a display of acknowledgement and respect, he reigned in his own Conquerer's Haki, signaling his unwillingness to fight.
Soon the overwhelming force, that threatened to tear apart his ship, also receeded and the shadowy atmosphere was replaced by the afternoon sun shining down on them.
The winged-man gave Whitebeard a deep look, before he said lightly: "Welcome to Wano."
…
[Kaienreki Calendar 1516, October]
Roughly six months had passed since Whitebeard's visit and after a slightly tense start, the rest of their stay in Wano was very unproblematic, though they had to stay on Onigashima, as the civilian inhabitants of Wano were still very antagonistic towards outsiders.
They only stayed for roughly two weeks, before they departed again. Not all of them left though, as Izou decided to stay and help in his homeland's recovery, which Lupin allowed as Wano was incredibly short on high-level combatants.
And while Lupin had wanted to stay out of Wano's internal affairs, he quickly realised that this wasn't feasible as Hyori was too young and inexperienced to keep all her people in check, while ensuring their well-being and loyality.
So Lupin simply forced their compliance and ordered several reforms to be carried out, as he was left with no choice but to do so. Well, either that or he would have to watch 'his territory' degrade even further.
Kaidou's and Orochi's administration had left the country with severe problems, which were manly of an environmental and ecologic nature. The many weapon facturies polluted the environment and had made a lot of arable land unusable, while except for the residents in the Flower Capital the rest of Wano's residents were basically impoverished.
Food was naturally a serious issue for Wano, though as this was nearly ten years before canon, the environmental damage wasn't as extensive and with the right plan, the country could still feed itself comfortably in the long term.
The short term solution included opening up the granaries and having as many people go fishing as possible.
A lot of the weapon factories were also to be dismantled or turned into something else. While several of them were to be renovated to be more environmental friendly and put back into operation.
Wano would need weapons to defend itself in the future and also to facilitate trade.
Lupin had also used a few hours to carve out enough room in the volcanic structure surrounding Wano to build a small trading city, where outsiders were welcome to visit and trade.
The city would manly trade weapons for things unavailable in Wano and would also be the only place outsiders were allowed to visit when coming to this country.
The rest of Wano Kuni would stay closed off to the outside world to preserve their culture and avoid outside factions interfering with internal matters.
Inhabitants of Wano were also allowed to travel the outside world after serving the country's army for at least five years and working as a guard in the new port for at least two years.
This ensured not only that they wouldn't die a quick death in the outside world, but also that there was constant stream of recruits for a limited number of positions in Wano's army.
Outsiders were allowed to settle down in the limited space of the new port town and after living there for at least ten years, they were then allowed to move into Wano Kuni. Of course all this came at a considerable cost, which would help improve the economical situation of Wano.
Izuo was made the Administrator of the new trading city,which Hyori insisted to be named Okami, after hearing about Lupin's transformation.
The man had enough experience in dealing with the outside world and administrative work as one of Whitebeard's former commanders.
Finally, Lupin had also come to the decision to give Kaidou's fruit to Hyori. She may not be an ideal candidate for the fruit, but it would give her more than enough power to protect herself, which she severly lacked at the moment.
She knew a little about swordsmanship, but against a real fighter she was practically helpless, so in a way the fruit made up for her current weakness.
Lupin had also decided to take up residence on a mountain in Rugi and act as Wano's guardian from there, as he enjoyed the wintery climate there.
Suddenly Yamato burst through the door of Lupin's small room in their little hut, shouting exitedly: "Teacher! A visitor has come! It's a Fish-Man!"
The last few days had been hard on Yamato, as she liked the busy atmosphere of the Capital very much and could hardly stand the quiet life in the snowy mountains. She had been depraved of excitement and human contact in her childhood, so she was very much drawn to it.
Sadly for her, Lupin abhorred the hectic atmosphere in big cities. His Observation Haki alone made sure that he could feel the presence of every living being in Wano Kuni and even receive a dampened emotional feedback from them, as a precaution for potential dangers. So he at least prefered for his physical body to live in a relatively peaceful environment.
And even though he took Yamato to the Flower Captial and other nearby cities regularly, it wasn't enough for the girl and she would always get excited when others passed by this place.
Seeing a visitor, and especially one of another race, had obviously caused her bubbly personality to shine through and she had even forget her manners, as she just burst into his room.
"I know, Yamato. I knew of him the moment he stepped into Wano, which you would have realised if the excitement hadn't gotten the better of you. *Sigh* You will never become a master of Observation Haki, if you do not learn to keep your emotions in check.", Lupin reminded the girl patiently.
"Sorry, teacher. It's just …", Yamato didn't finish her sentence, as her gaze was directed at the floor.
She knew her teacher treated her very well, so disappointing him was the last thing she wanted to do. Her desire for vengence having slowly vanished under the continuous care and love of her teacher.
Ruffling her hair, Lupin said: "Forget it, girl. You will just have to make up for it with pure strength in the future."
"I will, teacher!", Yamato answered with conviction.
"Now, bring in our guest and then you can go to the nearby village for the rest of the afternoon, though make sure you are back for dinner."
Lupin could hardly finish his sentence, before Yamato had already turned into blur, vanishing from his room, while shouting excitedly: "Yes, teacher!"
…
Stepping into the living room a few minutes later, Lupin first prepared some tea while wholeheartedly ignoring his guest.
It was only, when the water was hot and he poured it onto the tea leaves in the cups a few minutes later, that he passed one of the cups to his guest and addressed him neutraly.
" 'Knight of the Sea' Jinbe, why have you come here?"
Jinbe, who until this point had kept a respectful silence in Lupin's presence, answered in a clam tone: "It is not I who wished to disturb you, but my Queen who asked me to come and meet you, Lone Emperor."
"Hmm. I take it she has something to ask me or wants something from me?"
"Actually, my former captain Fisher Tiger has left something in her care, that he wanted to give you, so he could repay the favour of you freeing him.", Jinbe answered, as he took out a small chest and placed it on the table we sat at.
Lupin slowly opened the chest, even though he could already sense what it contained.
A black apple with orange-red swirls all over.
Lupin recognized it at a glance, as he had memorized all of the most noteable fruits from the compendium. It was the Magu Magu no Mi – Sakazuki's fruit.
A pondering look settled on his face, as Lupin couldn't help but think about the twists of fate that brought such an incredible devil fruit into his hands.
Just as he had finally gotten rid of one devil fruit, another one of equal power landed in his hands. Putting away the chest, Lupin decided to think about it some other time and settled his gaze back on Jinbe.
"Is this all you came here for?", Lupin asked the imposing Fish-Man before him.
"A year ago when you passed by Fish-Man Island, why do you kill those people?", Jinbe asked with a dark look on his face. The Fish-Man knew that this question could easily cost him his life, but he couldn't help but ask.
"Does it matter? What good would it do, if you knew the answer? You couldn't have prevented their death either way, because you lacked – and still do – the strength to do so. So do my motives really matter?"
"You just hope to be able to accept their death easier, if I didn't do what I did on a whim, but had a good reason for killing them. And yet I could kill you right now with a wave of my hand – reason, or not – and you could do nothing but wait for your death … Strength, Jinbe, is the only truth … Now leave, before I decided that you remain here forever.", Lupin voiced out in calm manner.
Without another word Jinbe placed down his full tea cup and left the small hut quietly, not daring to test the Lone Emperor's patience any longer.
…
[Kaienreki Calendar 1517, March]
It was another few months later, when especially good news reached Lupin's ears through a messenger send by Hyori.
The Road Poneglyph had finally been found.
Lupin had expected it to take much longer, as he was prepared to wait until something akin to stability had returned to Wano, but an unexpected discovery had been made in the prison located in Udon.
The original prisoners had been freed only hours after Kaidou's demise, but the prison was still in use. A lot of nobles in the Flower Capital were imprisoned there after Hyori assumed the position of shogun and their crimes came to light.
When taking in some new supplies, a newly-appointed guard had apparently found a hidden door in the storage room of the prison that lead into a secret underground chamber, where the Road Poneglyph had been stored.
Lupin had not hesitated and gone to read it, the moment he had gotten the message.
It was a few days later, that he found himself standing at the shore of Rugi and was about to set off and find Zunesha with the Vivre Card in his pocket.
Looking at Yamato, who fought hard to surpress the tears in her eyes, as well as Hyori and her followers, who had come to bid him goodbye, Lupin felt that this scene was all too familiar for him.
"Take care and don't forget about the things I have told you, Hyori. Also make sure you find someone loyal and worthy of the devil fruit I gave you, don't let its power go to waste.", Lupin instructed calmly.
He had done enough for Wano, now it was time for them to protect themselves. Lupin didn't want to stay here forever and shoulder the responsibility of protecting them. He was a free spirit at heart afterall.
This wasn't to say that he wouldn't come back and stay here, but Lupin didn't want them to rely solely on him. Hyori had to rule Wano without considering his constant protection, or problems would arise sooner or later.
Lupin had also given her the Magu Magu no Mi, as he had no use for it and knew that it could help Wano in producing another powerhouse capable of protecting this land in his absence.
"Yes, Lupin-sama.", Hyori answered, while performing a respectful bow. Her perfect mannerism only disturbed by the tears gathering in her eyes.
Turning towards his student, Lupin said, while he gently placed his hand on the teary-eyed girls head: "Make sure you train hard, otherwise you won't beat me in this life, Yamato."
"I *sniff* will, Teacher. *sniff* I promise.", Yamato answered in a quiet voice, feeling her teacher's hand leave the top of her head.
"Teacher, I- … ", raising her head, ready to admit that she didn't really want to beat him anymore.
Yamato's didn't manage to finish her sentence though, as Lupin had already vanished.