Ultimate Fruit

Chapter 36: Butterfly Effect

“WHAT!?”

Marineford.

Several marine cadets were running laps when they heard a loud shout from the main building and tripped.

Was that...the Fleet Admiral shouting…?

Inside the Fleet Admiral’s office, Garp was laughing hard while pounding on Sengoku’s desk.

“Bwahahahaha! He actually sent Belo Betty to watch over that brat! This is blatant seduction! As expected from my son! Bwahahaha!”

“Garp! This is no laughing matter! If that guy turns to the Revolutionary…”

Sengoku rubbed his temples as his head hurt just thinking about it.

“Why is a Commander of the Revolutionary even in the first half of the Grand Line!? Are they planning something?”

“You ask me, who do I ask? It’s not like I know what that guy’s thinking.”

Garp shrugged and said jokingly.

“Just send Momousagi then, that should balance the odds. Hahaha!”

“...You’re right…”

“Bwahaha-...eh? Hold on Sengoku, I’m just joking! If she finds out that I suggested this, she won’t shut up about it!”

“Not my problem. Anyway, we can’t send anyone Admiral ranked, they all have things to do. And as far as I know, Momousagi doesn’t have any critical assignments at the moment.”

Sengoku no longer cared about Garp’s reaction and called Momousagi.

Seeing as Sengoku was serious, Garp no longer stayed and left! It wasn’t like he was afraid of Momousagi, but it’s too annoying when that girl nags him!

Sengoku saw this and sighed while shaking his head.

Really, this guy is supposed to be the Hero of the Marines…

If Lucas knew about their discussion, no doubt, he would be distressed.

Damn! Why do these people keep sending women to me!? Do they really think I’m that kind of person!?

Well, Lucas doesn’t really know about it so there was nothing he could do...

On a certain island.

A certain man with runic tattoos on his left side of his face looked around.

This man was none other than the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Monkey D. Dragon!

“...And? Where’s Betty?”

“Umm, she just reported in. She said she’s monitoring that new Shichibukai, Lucas, and is now sailing with him along with the Marine Captain, Black Cage Hina.”

A guy with a top hat and goggles answered. He had blonde hair and what seemed like a burn mark on his face.

If Luffy was here, he would recognize this guy as his sworn brother that had died in the past, Sabo!

“...The one who betrayed the Strawhats? Why?”

“That...she said she was just passing by and was about to help an island that was being terrorized by some rogue pirates when the shichibukai appeared and saved everyone. She seems to think that she can make him join us.”

After saying that, Sabo hesitated but eventually asked.

“...What is it with the Strawhats that even you seem to pay attention to them so much? And this Strawhat Luffy...somehow...seems familiar…”

At this point, Sabo hasn’t yet recalled his past so hearing about Luffy, he only had this faint feeling inside him but can’t quite put his finger on it.

Dragon naturally knew Sabo’s past with his son Luffy. He thought for a moment before deciding.

“Since that’s the case, just let her be. I’m sure she has her own plans. But with her gone, Sabo, why don’t you go to East Blue after the meeting?”

“Well...okay then. Also, it seems she already used you as her excuse anyway.”

“...”

Dragon turned to look at the rest of the commanders.

“Well then. Let’s begin the meeting. In around 2 years time...we will be launching an attack on the World Government!”

Just like how a small flap of a butterfly’s wing can cause a storm on the other side of the world, the calm balance of the world has...slowly but surely...started to waver!

At this moment, Lucas has no idea just how much he has already changed the future that he knew.

Currently, Lucas is in a dilemma. A crisis even!

There was only one bed in this small ship. He was able to make Hina sleep on the couch but this Betty…

“I don’t mind sleeping with you.”

“You…”

“Of course, just sleeping...or were you expecting something else, you piece of trash?”

“...”

Lucas’ mouth twitched. At the corner of his eyes, he can see Hina looking at him smugly…

These two bitches!

If he can master that awakening ability, he can just directly sink these two and be on his way!

The Author: You deserve this for taking away Nami and Robin you bastard!

“...”

Lucas thought of simply pushing these two down and have his way but ultimately sighed and simply laid on the bed. He wasn’t that kind of person anyway.

The following day, Lucas was still wide awake...he wasn’t able to sleep at all!

He was a bit worried that Betty or Hina would suddenly pull a camera denden mushi from somewhere and take a picture of him and Betty on the bed together and use it to blackmail him…

Of course, he can just refuse to sleep on the bed but this was his ship! He can’t let anyone push him away from his bed!

…Thanks to this stupid stubbornness, he wasn’t able to sleep a wink at all…

And then, he thought.

If he wasn’t going to sleep anyway...why did he have to put himself in that position!?

No way...did I get infected by Sanji somehow?

“Achoo-!”

Back in Water 7, Sanji sneezed inexplicably.

“Ahh~ I wonder which pretty lady is thinking about me?~”

“...”

Zoro simply stared at the idiot for a moment then continued to train…

Back to Lucas, after ‘waking up’, Lucas continued with his training.

He did some push-ups and curl-ups with Betty and Hina watching over him.

Being stared at by these two women, eventually, Lucas felt uncomfortable.

“Can’t you guys do anything other than, you know...staring at me?”

“Hina is monitoring this Revolutionary exhibitionist too.”

“Betty is staring at this Marine hag too.”

“...”

Once again, the of them started to bicker.

Lucas stopped caring about them and focused on training his body.

Before, he can only do simple push-ups. But after a few days, he can do one-hand push-ups, then one finger, then handstand push-ups…

Seeing that the push-ups had become easier for him, Betty started to sit on his back.

Every time Lucas pushed up, she would talk trash to him, it was a...weird scene...

The next day, Lucas saw a faint shadow of an island in the distance.

Looking at the eternal log pose, he knew that they had finally arrived at their destination.

Lucas stared at Alabasta in front of him and sighed.

He had arrived in this world and the first island he saw was Alabasta. Now, he is returning so soon...

At the harbor, people started to clamor when the saw a pirate ship getting near.

“A pirate ship!”

“Isn’t it a bit too small for a pirate ship?”

“You’re right...hm? That sign…”

When the ship got near, they also saw the logo on the flag and recognized it.

“It’s the Guardian Wing! He has arrived to Alabasta!”

“Quick! Inform the King and the Princess!”

After getting off the ship, Lucas was already greeted by a number of soldiers. All of which had their weapons turned to him.

What a...warm welcome this was…

Even Hina was a bit taken aback. From what she remembered, his treatment shouldn’t be like this?

“You’re a traitor of the Strawhats, then you are a traitor to Alabasta! Leave at once! We don’t want you shichibukai here!”

“...”

So it was their fault…

Hina thought so as she watched Lucas’ reaction, expecting him to be saddened with this situation but...she only saw him still calm despite seeing an entire nation he had saved in the past now hate him.

Still, she knew that this was just a front. No doubt, he is hurting very badly inside…

Suddenly, Hina snapped out of it.

Why was she so worried about what this guy feels? He’s a pirate, she’s a marine...there was no need for her to care so much.

...But what was this feeling? As if this situation...feels wrong?

Right, it was supposed to be Lucas’ job to regain Alabasta’s trust. Hina thinks he’s not doing his job properly. No wonder Hina was so worried.

After thinking that, Hina patted Lucas.

“Don’t listen to them. You just arrived and they don’t know your situation.”

Lucas turned to look at Hina in a confused shock.

He lifted his hand and touched Hina’s forehead and muttered.

“That’s weird, are you sick?”

“...”

Hina’s face twitched and her fist trembled as she tried to hold herself back from hitting him.

This bastard! If only you weren’t a logia, Hina will definitely hit you in the nuts!

…

Just then, a big duck ran over to their side while carrying a familiar blue haired girl.

“Lucas!”

“Ah, Vivi, Carue, are you both well?”

Lucas didn’t mind the weapons pointing at him as he warmly greeted the two.

“Quak!”

“Eh? Carue, you seem to look tastier than before!”

“Quak!? Quak quak!”

The angry Carue smacked Lucas in the head with his wing but Lucas didn’t mind it and just laughed.

He had truly missed these two.

Vivi chuckled when she saw that Lucas didn’t seem to have changed much at all...no, he had certainly changed, but the overall feeling she got from him was still the same as before.

In fact, she doesn’t really know if she had fallen in love with this man.

She can only recall the fact that he, a person from another world, had risked his life to save her kingdom...and she could also tell at that time, whenever things went sideways, Lucas never really looked surprised...as if he already knew that things would be alright.

I guess...seeing that, I felt reassured as well for some reason…

Vivi thought so.

This was also the main reason why she wanted him to stay before...as if she could feel that if Lucas is with her, everything would be okay. Lucas gave that kind of vibe to her.

Actually, this can only be blamed on Lucas’ mentality.

Back when he had just arrived in this world, he had no power. But he knew the story. He knew that even if he did not intervene, everything would still be okay.

He was not needed in this world at all.

But...there are still a few people who do need him.

If it had happened like in the original story, there would be plenty of casualties in that war in Alabasta.

The sky island will also be in even worse shape than it is now.

All there are also the future victims of Blackbeard.

All these people may be meaningless and unknown...but that’s alright. Maybe Lucas thinks of himself as one of them. An extra...back in his homeworld, he was a nobody...an extra, just like them.

If he deserves a second shot on being something more, then those people also deserve this chance.

Of course, this does not include those meaningless evil pirates. If he had unknowingly saved one, then he will just catch them in the future.

Lucas knows he can’t save everyone, but he can save as much as he can.

This was not him having some sort of Hero complex. This is him still figuring out what to do with this new life other than helping out Luffy and the others.

Lucas is not some evil unfeeling bastard. If he can save someone, then why not? He has the power now anyway.

Vivi smiled as she looked at Lucas.

Seeing him now, she was no longer worried. She can feel that Lucas has his own reasons for leaving Luffy and the crew.

Especially after seeing that mark on his left arm.

In the past, they only used a marker to make that sign so naturally, it had faded after some time. For him to still have this sign now...it must’ve been tattooed.

Ah, but it seems he added a design of his own as well.

On Lucas’ left arm was a thick X mark, and on both sides was a pair of small wings.

Looking at his tattoo, even Vivi had an urge to have one as well…

“Alright everyone, lower your weapons. These people are our guests.”

“But...princess, he-”

“It’s fine. In any case, he had come with a Marine Captain, they are guests. Now, go back to your stations.”

“U-understood, your highness!”

The soldiers saluted once and left to go back to their stations.

Betty saw this and clicked her tongue.

“You piece of shit have quite a charismatic wife.”

“Uhh, she’s not-...we’re not really…”

Lucas turned to look at Vivi to see how she’ll react but...Vivi seemed to act as if she never heard anything and simply walked away.

Still, Lucas can see the back of her ears turn red…

Lucas sighed.

It seems...he is in big trouble this time…

Because of that, the 4 people and 1 duck walked with an awkward air around them.

Lucas glanced at Vivi and whispered.

“Shall we ditch them?”

“Eh? How?”

“Hehe, hold on tight!”

Lucas grinned and took Vivi in a princess carry. His wings opened up behind him which he flapped as they flew to the skies!

Hina wasn’t able to react in time and only sighed when she saw the two already in the sky.

She looked at Betty and Carue then puffed a smoke.

...Maybe it was a mistake to volunteer for this mission…?

On the other hand, Betty looked at Lucas’ wings and was curious.

Just why is it that he has such wings? It’s not like he came from a winged race. And he can also make it appear and disappear at will.

Lucas probably isn’t aware of it, but his image as an angel is quite impactful. If the Revolutionary can rope in this guy, and together with her own ability...they can convert more people to fight with them!

Betty licked her lips as numerous ideas formed in her head…

Meanwhile, Carue was also looking at Lucas’ wings, then to his own wings.

Quak! My role is being stolen!

…

In the skies, Vivi’s eyes dazzled at the sight of her kingdom below.

When she was a kid, Pell would also carry her on his back as they flew across the kingdom. Later on, as she grew older, she was no longer able to ride on his back again and enjoy that sensation.

“Thank you, Lucas.”

“It’s nothing.”

After that, the two fell silent while slowly flying in the sky.

Eventually, Vivi asked him.

“How’s Luffy and the others?”

“They’re still the same. It was really fun...sailing with them.”

“...What happened, Lucas? Why did you become a Shichibukai?”

Lucas sighed and recounted what happened, starting from Long Ring island.

Vivi didn’t interrupt him as he told his story.

After hearing what happened, Vivi was also worried.

“I didn’t know that Miss All Sunday had that kind of past...but will they be okay? After they leave Water 7, won't the marines be waiting for them?”

“Haha, they should be alright. They will have their new ship by then, I look forward to seeing it one day.”

Lucas remembered Thousand Sunny’s Coup de Burst in the original story.

With something like that, they should be able to easily escape the marines.

Vivi looked at Lucas and her heart skipped a beat.

There it is again. That calmness...as if he really knows that everything will be okay.

Vivi snapped out of it soon and they continued to chat about their journey.

Some time passed, Lucas finally landed in front of the royal palace and met King Cobra who was visibly upset seeing him together with Vivi.

Lucas cleared his throat in an attempt to smooth things over.

“Cough, umm your Majesty. Have you been well? How about I give you a massage?”

“I don’t need a...mass...age…”

Lucas didn’t bother hearing his reply and quickly massaged his shoulders while using his healing ability.

The result was naturally quite relaxing. It was so relaxing that King Cobra could only glare at Lucas and no longer spoke.

Vivi saw this and thought she should also ask for a massage later...but thinking about it, it was quite embarrassing!

At the side, Betty asked.

“Trash, give me a massage as well later.”

“...”

Can’t this girl speak nicely at all!?

Lucas sighed and pretended not to hear her. Anyway, he’s not obligated to listen to her…

“Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask, but these two are…?”

King Cobra finally snapped out of it and asked Lucas as he looked over the two women wearing shades and smoking a cigarette. Are they sisters or something?

“Ah, the ice block over there is Hina. She was sent by the Marines to monitor me. And that exhibitionist over there is Belo Betty. Apparently, she was sent by the Revolutionary to monitor me as well.”

“...”

What the heck!?

...Now that he mentions it, one is indeed a Marine Captain and they also saw her back when Luffy and the rest were here previously. She was the one attacking their ship at that time.

As for the other...upon closer look, the logo on that flag she’s carrying...is the Revolutionary Army!

Revolutionary flag...that appearance...Belo Betty…

Isn’t she the East Army Commander of the Revolutionary Army!?

Why the hell is she here monitoring a Shichibukai!?

Lucas saw their reaction and just waved his hands.

“Don’t mind them. Just think of them as a statue and a pervert.”

“...”