books44 Chapter 501 - 501: A Perfect Fit
Chapter 501 - 501: A Perfect Fit
After a fight, Charles and Raizen grew much closer.Oddly enough, even though Charles took out potions and saved Raizen's life, the bond they forged couldn't compare to trading blows. That's just the nature of demons.
Over the next few days, Charles turned the raw materials he had on hand into potions and left them with Raizen.
If Raizen only maintained the bare minimum to survive, lasting another thousand years wouldn't be a problem. If the person he was waiting for still hadn't reincarnated after a millennium, there would be nothing anyone could do.
During those days, Charles also met Raizen's other sparring partners.
You can imagine what kind of people get to be Raizen's sparring partners; even their greetings with him weren't something ordinary demons could withstand.
When they heard Charles and Raizen had fought to a draw, they naturally challenged Charles.
Though there was still a considerable gap between them and Raizen, Charles didn't brush them off and fought several serious matches.
With that, Charles's final goal in this world was accomplished. It was time to head to the next.
After saying goodbye to Raizen, Charles activated World Magic and took Stella to a new world.
…
Whoosh, whoosh!
The tide kept lapping against the golden beach. The sun was half sunk below the horizon, dyeing the clouds crimson.
"Achoo!"
Charles let out a huge sneeze and rubbed his nose. For some reason, despite the beautiful beach, there was a pungent smell hanging in the air.
Being too sensitive to smell was a downside here; Charles could clearly catch the scent of industrial waste in the air.
He didn't know which world this was, but his goodwill was already plummeting.
"Are you okay, Charles?" Stella asked, worried.
"I'm fine," Charles waved it off. "I just need to get used to it. Let's find where people are."
Privately, Charles wondered what kind of world had such a strange environment and hoped this trip wouldn't be a waste.
With air like this, he assumed it was a world that had entered a modern era, but strangely, after walking a long while, he still hadn't seen any matching architecture.
Passing a small river, Charles couldn't help frowning.
The river gave off the same acrid stench, its surface coated with a greasy, multicolored sheen. With a single glance, Charles mentally reeled off half the periodic table.
Even the soil along the banks was stained in eerie hues, and nothing—literally not a single blade of grass—grew there.
Charles and Stella said nothing and kept moving.
At last they saw man-made buildings, but not the modern structures they'd expected—just a village of ramshackle wooden shacks with thatched roofs.
The villagers outside wore kimono typical of an island nation, but the garments on these gaunt, sallow-faced people were patched to tatters, a testament to their poverty.
Seeing this, Charles felt he'd guessed which world this was.
Sure enough, as they entered the village, he spotted a distinctive figure.
A little girl with light-purple hair, her kimono as patched as everyone else's, stood there hawking.
A basket of woven bamboo sedge hats sat in front of her, and she called out tirelessly.
Ordinarily, a child this small shouldn't be doing this unless forced by circumstances.
Everything pointed to her dire situation, yet her face wore an optimistic smile.
Precisely because of that, she tugged even harder at the heart.
Stella spotted the girl too and couldn't help walking over.
Seeing someone approach, the girl's smile brightened. "Big sis, would you like to buy a hat?"
Stella knew that if the girl's family were happy, she wouldn't be out here selling hats, so she didn't foolishly ask where her parents were.
The best thing now was to support her business, give her a little more income to improve her life.
She reached for a hat and then realized, embarrassed, that she didn't have this world's currency.
Just then a commotion sounded at the other end of the street. The villagers all showed panic, quickening their steps back home.
The girl hurried to pack up her little stall and still found time to warn Charles and Stella.
"Big sis, hide, quick—the samurai are coming!"
But even after she shouldered her big basket, Charles and Stella didn't move.
Flustered, the girl didn't stop to think and grabbed Stella's hand, running.
Stella, completely at a loss, let herself be pulled along. Charles picked up the pace to follow. There was still a lot he didn't understand; better to keep a low profile for now.
They followed the girl out of the village, and only then did she stop to catch her breath, looking as if she'd escaped a disaster.
"You're not from the Hat Village, are you, big brother and big sister?" she said, face still flushed. "If the samurai found you, it would be terrible!"
"Then thank you for saving us," Stella said with a smile. "I'm Stella, and this is Charles. What's your name, little sister?"
"You can call me Otama," the girl said, smiling.
When Charles heard her verbal tic—"de yansu"—he confirmed her identity.
This was the famed world of One Piece, and the place where Charles and Stella had arrived was the most unique nation in the latter half of the Grand Line—the New World—Wano Country.
And the little girl was, of course, the Otama who would later influence the war that reshaped the Yonko. But clearly the new generation of Emperors hadn't arrived yet. Wano was still under the rule of the so-called Strongest Creature.
As Charles sifted through related intel, Otama's stomach let out a growl.
Charles walked over, crouched down, and ruffled her hair. "So your name is Otama. As thanks for saving us, let me treat you to a meal."
"Really?" Otama's eyes lit up.
"It's just one meal," Charles nodded. "No big deal. And I have a lot I'd like to ask you."
…
By the time Charles and Stella reached this world, dusk had already fallen, and after all the running around, night had settled in.
The three of them sat around a campfire, looking for all the world like a family of three on a camping trip.
Otama clutched a piece of bread, chewing carefully like a squirrel, though her eyes were fixed on the chicken roasting over the fire. Stella gently wiped the cream from Otama's cheeks.
Talking with Otama, Charles pieced together the current point in time.
Wano is a place with closed-off information, but Otama was important enough that even what she knew let him infer a lot. She mentioned one thing in particular.
A year ago, Ace landed in Wano and promised Otama that when she grew into a bewitching kunoichi, he would take her out to sea.
Which meant the story had just begun. Luffy had probably already set sail—who knew what his bounty was up to.
What Charles was really thinking, though, was whether to go pick a fight with Kaido.
After all, Kaido is top-tier combat power in this world, and by testing himself against Kaido, Charles could gauge where he stood here.
Whether Devil Fruit powers or Haki, Kaido sits at the peak, and he's a very fitting opponent for experiencing both.
Not to mention that Kaido's Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan—Azure Dragon form is, for a Dragon Slayer mage like Charles, a perfect professional match.
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