The next day arrived. I moved to the promised duel site, a wide open field. The Shandian warriors came out in full combat gear. Looking closely, they had equipped themselves with Dial-powered firearms and skate-like shoes for rapid movement, but I just walked out carrying a single wooden club. Wiper shot me a displeased look at the sight, but with the duel right in front of us, he said nothing.
This duel was being watched by everyone. Aside from a few guarding Sky Island, all the residents and the entire Shandian tribe had come to observe.
"Wow~ Is that the new god, Lord Taejin? He's incredibly handsome!"
"Does he have a girlfriend?"
"Thank you for freeing us from Enel!!"
"Marry me, God!"
Hearing them call me "god" over and over felt strange. They only did it because they didn't know what a real god was, but since I did know a god existed, it was awkward to hear. I'd have to change that title later.
The Shandian warriors and I stood across from each other at the center of the field. Gan Fall agreed to serve as the referee.
"Is everyone ready?"
"Yeah."
Wiper, still annoyed, answered with a scowl.
"Don't regret it once we start!"
Gan Fall, standing between us, spoke up.
"For this duel, the winner will be the one who takes all the headbands from the opponent's side. If anyone has an objection, speak now."
"None." "None."
"Then let the duel begin!"
As soon as Gan Fall announced the start, the Shandian warriors began circling me fast, gliding on their skates. The way they moved without colliding showed they'd coordinated this well.
Bang!
One warrior fired a shot at me, testing the waters. I just stood there. Naturally, since I had the power of a Logia-type Devil Fruit, the bullet passed straight through my body. Without [Armament Haki], an attack like that wouldn't work on me.
"Kyaa! Lord God!"
Seeing it, the residents screamed, thinking I'd been hit, and the Shandian warriors' faces lit up. But when the hole in my body vanished in an instant, their expressions darkened sharply.
"How..."
"That's impossible..."
"There's no way."
It seemed both Sky Island and Shandia were terrible at gathering intel on enemies. Even in the original story, they didn't know Enel could turn into lightning. That said it all.
"What are you waiting for? Attack all you want."
"Grr!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Boom! Boom!
The warriors began firing their guns in rapid bursts, but all they did was kick up dust. They couldn't deal any damage. I walked slowly toward one of them.
"Uwaaaaah!!"
Bang bang bang bang!!
I raised my club, coated in [Armament Haki], and brought it down on his head with just enough force to knock him out. With my ability, regulating strength like this was easy.[Control]
Thwack!
"Guh."
"Braham!!!"
I collected the unconscious warrior's headband and moved toward the next one, but Wiper shouted.
"Everyone, spread out and attack!"
At his order, the Shandian warriors scattered quickly and began shooting.
"It's pointless."
I teleported instantly and knocked out four of them one after another, like playing whack-a-mole.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
"Guh!" "Argh!" "Ugh!" "Ack!"
Of course, I didn't forget to grab their headbands.
"This can't be."
Seeing that, the Shandian warriors stared in disbelief and even stopped attacking.
"You frogs in a well, why aren't you attacking? Have you given up?"
Just then, a bulky warrior got close and fired a weapon that looked like a bazooka.
Boom!
This time, if I just let it pass through me, the residents would get hurt. I saw that future, so I caught the shell with my bare hand.
Grab!
"Huh!"
I teleported right in front of the big guy.
"Hey! That attack could have hurt people. Be more careful."
Thwack!
Thud!
Whether it was from shock or the despair of realizing he couldn't do anything, he offered no resistance and took the hit to the head, collapsing unconscious.
"Genbo!!"
"Four left now."
"Damn it!!"
My overwhelming display had already broken one of them. He just stood there doing nothing, so I walked over easily and knocked him out with a tap to the head.
Thwack!
"Three left."
"Uwaaaaah!"
One of them screamed, threw down his weapon, and tried to run. I teleported behind him and struck the back of his head, knocking him out.
Thwack!
Thud!
"Two now. Give up."
Wiper and the warrior in sunglasses hadn't given up yet. They were whispering about something. I just waited.
"Let's go, Wiper."
"Yeah, Kamakiri."
The two spun in circles while firing. It still didn't work. Then Kamakiri rushed at me with a spear and began thrusting repeatedly.
"Hyaaaah!"
"Stop it. You know this won't work."
I dodged for a bit, then grabbed the spear. Suddenly, Kamakiri dropped it and locked me in a tight hug.
"Now, Wiper!"
Wiper placed his hand on my back and said.
"Thanks, Kamakiri."
"Reject!!!"
KABOOM!!
From the force of Reject, Kamakiri was blown forward and a huge hole opened in my back.
"We did it..."
But the hole closed up just as fast.
"I told you it wouldn't work."
Thwack!
Thud!
"Wiper!!!"
"One left."
I retrieved Wiper's headband and walked slowly toward Kamakiri. He couldn't get up from the damage of Reject and was sitting there with difficulty.
"This was a fight we couldn't win from the start."
"Yeah. That's why I was going to come unarmed."
"I see..."
This time I didn't strike him. I just took his headband. Kamakiri didn't resist.
"Victory goes to God Taejin!"
Woooaaah~~
The chief came up to me and knelt.
"From now on, Shandia will follow you, Lord Taejin. But please, protect the Light of Shandora."
In short, he was asking me to protect their identity and culture.
"Understood."
The next day, I divided land so the Shandians could live there. I also supported them in various ways so they could build homes. Among the warriors, aside from Wiper and Kamakiri who self-destructed with Reject, no one was seriously injured. And I healed them myself.
I received the Dials from the Shandians that were nearly extinct and hard to obtain, analyzed them, and returned them. I also found Enel's ship, the Ark Maxim, but the design was so awful that I stripped off all the gold and decided to rebuild it for use.
Brrring brrring brrring
"What is it?"
"Boss, some pirates who know you showed up. I don't recognize them. They don't even have wanted posters."
"Really? Got it."
I returned to the Merchant's Island. Looking down, I saw the Going Merry, so I sent the lift down.
"Oh~ It's Luffy's crew."
"Luffy? Who's Luffy?"
Nico Chunja didn't know about Luffy. Was I meeting them earlier than in the original story? He couldn't be a crewmate, though.
"He's Vice Admiral Garp's grandson."
"Two grandsons? Ace came by before too."
"Yeah, two of them."
"Ah... It's going to be noisy again."
Nico Chunja rubbed her forehead like she had a headache and shook her head. The lift came up and the Going Merry docked at the harbor.
"Hey~ It's been a while."
"Candy bro! Long time no see!"
I took Luffy's group to the dining hall and cooked for them myself. Thankfully, they all ate it happily.
"Wow~ It's as good as Sanji's cooking. Delicious."
"I've been studying ingredients, so my cooking improved too."
Sanji nodded in agreement.
"Makes sense, Taejin-hyung. You've been studying ingredients for a long time. Good food comes from good ingredients."
Suddenly, Zoro spoke to me.
"Hey merchant, fight me! I got all three swords now."
Looking at the swords Zoro wore, I saw Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri. He must have gotten them in Logue Town, just like in the original. But since we were still eating, I smacked him on the back of the head and said.
Thwack!
"Hey, eat your food first. I'll play with you after you're done."
"Ugh... You promised."
"Yeah."
While we were eating, the female staff rushed in all at once. Come to think of it, it was lunchtime. Seeing them, Sanji couldn't take his eyes off.
"Huh! This place really is heaven!"
Usopp said, watching him.
"Whoa~ He's right. Sanji kept telling me to come, and there really are a lot of beauties."
"Right? There are a lot of beauties here. Honestly, if it weren't for All Blue, I'd work here too."
Sanji was saying weird things, so I told them why there were so many beauties. I thought they needed to know.
"Want to know why there are so many beauties? They were all captured as pirates or war prisoners and were going to be sold as slaves. I rescued them and hired them as staff on the Merchant's Island. That's why there are so many."
Luffy and the others said, surprised.
"Is that true?"
"Yeah. The world is crueler than you think. Almost everyone here has a dark past. So be careful not to make any mistakes around them."
"With that kind of background... Got it."
We finished eating and went outside. I guided them around the Merchant's Island. Zoro briefly met and greeted a master at the Isshin Dojo branch, since he knew him, then came back out. After touring the village and the orphanage, Luffy said.
"Hyung, you're a really good person."
"Hahaha, you're embarrassing me. I earn a lot, so I should spend a lot too."
Nami chimed in.
"Seriously... Strong, handsome, super rich, great at cooking, kind... You're the perfect man."
"Why? You wanna marry me, little lady?"
Nami's face suddenly turned red and she panicked.
"W-what! I have a dream, you know!"
Usopp said from behind.
"Whoa~ Her face is all red."
"Shut up!"
Nami punched Usopp in the stomach.
Thump!
"Guh!"
"Hahaha, okay. Let's head to the training grounds first. I have things to tell you."
We arrived at the training grounds. I plucked a reed and brought it with me.
"Zoro, you wanted to fight me, right? Come at me."
"Good! But you're not drawing a sword?"
I showed him the reed and smiled.
"This is enough."
"Damn... After what happened with Mihawk, I can't argue. Fine, I'm coming at you for real!"
Zoro drew all three swords and charged. I coated the reed with Armament Haki and blocked him lightly.
Clang! Cling! Clang!
"No way, with a reed..."
I immediately whacked Zoro on the head with the reed.
Tap!
"Ugh!"
"You're dead, you idiot!"
Zoro was more shocked that his sword had been blocked by a reed than that I hit him, so he asked me.
"How is that possible?"
I explained Haki to Luffy's crew, giving the same demonstration I gave Ace.
"So there was something like that..."
"Once you get to the Grand Line where the strong gather, almost everyone knows it. You guys should train your Haki constantly while sailing. You won't last otherwise. And it works on Devil Fruit users with weird abilities, so it's practically essential to learn."
"Got it."
There was a reason I taught them Haki. Since Nico Chunja wasn't here, I told them early in case any variables popped up.
Just then, Hina ran into the training grounds.
"You damn merchant! A pirate ship came to our island and what are you doing!"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down. These are the guys. This is Luffy, Vice Admiral Garp's grandson."
"What? Some guy named Ace came before. There's another one?"
"Yeah, two grandsons."
"Hina is flustered, but they're still pirates."
"Cut them some slack. They don't even have bounties yet."
Because I dealt with Nezumi back in Cocoyasi Village, Luffy's crew didn't have bounties yet.
"But... Ugh... Fine."
Hina glared at Luffy's crew and said.
"You guys! You don't even have bounties, so I'll let it slide, but quit being pirates."
Luffy stuck out his tongue and said.
"Nah~ Don't wanna!"
Hina immediately used her Cage-Cage Fruit power and captured Luffy.
"Huh!"
Hina walked up to the trapped Luffy and flicked his forehead. With [Armament Haki], too.
Thwack!
"Ow, that hurts!"
"You idiot, your grandfather is a Marine hero!"
Sanji said, surprised.
"Hey, hey, that hurt him... Luffy's a rubber man."
"That's the effect of Armament Haki."
"Ah! I see."
Since I'd explained it, they caught on quickly. Hina said as she headed back to the orphanage.
"Anyway, quit while I'm being nice."
Once Hina left, Luffy rubbed the spot she hit and asked me.
"Ace was here too?"
"Yeah, about three years ago? He stopped by and hung out."
"I see."
Nami asked Luffy urgently, surprised.
"Luffy, what do you mean? Vice Admiral Garp, the Marine hero, is your grandfather? And you have a brother?"
"Vice Admiral Garp is my real grandpa. And I have a sworn brother named Ace."
Luffy's crew looked shocked. We talked, and they learned earlier than in the original, but it didn't seem to matter.
"What??? The Marine hero is your real grandpa?"
"Yeah."
Usopp asked again.
"You... Are you allowed to be a pirate?"
"What does that have to do with anything? Grandpa is grandpa, and I'm me."
Nami sighed at that.
"Haa... Should I say that's so Luffy..."
I led Luffy's group to the lodging. Nico Chunja was out too, so I introduced her.
"This is my secretary, Chunja. We're from the same hometown."
"Ah~ So that's why your eye color and hair color are the same."
Sanji hurried over to greet her. He seemed drawn because Nico Chunja was a beauty.
"I'm Sanji. You're a beauty. Nice to meet you, Miss Chunja."
"Oh my~ A beauty, you say. Hehe! Thank you~ Sanji-kun~"
Nico Chunja smiled at the compliment and answered.
"Haa~ Hyung, should I just work here?"
"Hahaha Sanji, don't you hear something?"
"Huh? What sound?"
"Chef Zeff cursing you out."
"Damn it!"
Luffy's group got their rooms assigned, unpacked, and headed to the bathhouse. Living at sea for so long, bathing wasn't easy. According to the author, Luffy bathes once a week. Other people might think that's dirty, but I totally get it. Bathing on a ship without modern facilities isn't simple. On long voyages where even drinking water can run short, bathing isn't a trivial issue.
Laundry is the same. Regular pirates just wear clothes until they get dirty, then throw them away and put on new ones. It's not that they're lazy about laundry. If there's spare water they'll do it, but it's not easy. In the world of One Piece, you never know what'll happen, so the amount of fresh water is always critical.
When Luffy's crew came out of the bath, they asked for their laundry and I gave them new clothes. With [Life Magic], it was easy to handle, so it wasn't hard. That doesn't mean I did all the laundry on the island. The Merchant's Island had several large washing machines pre-built for the residents to use freely, so there was no inconvenience with laundry.
Since I intervened, the schedule moved up by a few days, so there wouldn't be any problem if they rested here. No, resting would actually be good. That way they'd meet Vivi too.