Lady Sami's Villa
In a room dripping with luxury, live music drifted through the air as barely-dressed dancers moved with fluid grace.
They swayed and twisted, eyes gleaming like water, doing everything possible to grab the attention of the man in the room.
But Aus couldn't give less of a shit about these background decorations. Right now, a Den Den Mushi was running its mouth in front of him.
Lounging on the sofa with his legs crossed, Aus grinned as he grabbed a massive bucket of juice and chugged it. The insane sugar rush got absorbed instantly, refueling what he'd burned through training.
"Got through... Hey, Buggy, quit hogging it!"
When the call first connected, the Den Den Mushi still had red-haired features. Then immediately switched to showing a red nose.
"Aus!! Finally reached you. How've you been?"
"Sashimi wa iranai, Buggy, Shanks. Living the dream, obviously."
"Good to hear... Oh right! When Shanks and I were dropping everyone off, crazy shit went down. We basically hit every corner of the New World..."
Aus melted into the luxury sofa, legs crossed, soaking up No. 6's massage while No. 7 wiped his mouth.
Listening to Buggy ramble, he casually waved his hand. The room cleared out one by one, leaving just the two little maids working quietly.
Smart girls knew their master was talking business. They kept their mouths shut and acted like they heard nothing.
"...And the old-timers told us to see Captain Roger off one last time."
Eventually the conversation hit the inevitable topic—Captain Roger's execution. Buggy's voice got heavy:
"We just dropped Uncle Bitam back home. Shanks and I are hitting Sabaody Archipelago in a few days, then heading to Loguetown. You coming, Aus?"
Aus nodded.
"Hell yeah. Wouldn't miss seeing Captain Roger one last time."
Then a wicked grin spread across his face.
"Course, there'll be Marine brass crawling all over the place. Maybe even Admirals. You and Shanks better watch your asses."
"What?!?"
On the other end, aboard the Oro Jackson with just Rayleigh and two others left
Buggy's eyes went wide as dinner plates, jaw hitting the floor.
Marines?
Back when the Roger Pirates sailed, Marines left one hell of an impression. Especially that laughing Iron Fist bastard.
Even Captain Roger had major headaches dealing with that guy, and he was just a Vice Admiral.
If stronger Admirals showed up, or hell, the Fleet Admiral—without the Roger Pirates crew backing him up, he'd get dragged straight to the dungeons!!!
"Vice Captain Rayleigh! Maybe you should come with us after all. There's gonna be Marines there..." Buggy immediately started panic-planning, face all twisted up.
"Chill out, Buggy. The Marines won't touch you two."
Rayleigh smiled. He knew Aus was screwing with Buggy but wasn't about to spoil the fun: "Roger traded his life to get every Roger Pirates crew member wiped from the World Government's bounty list."
"No way... Captain Roger did all that for us..."
Hearing this, Shanks and Buggy got misty-eyed, hit right in the feels by their captain's final sacrifice.
"Nah, nah, nah, Uncle Rayleigh..."
Aus's eyes danced with amusement as he drained his juice, gently petting No. 7's white hair:
"Those bounty cancellations Captain Roger fought for? Don't cover these two idiots who never made it to Laugh Tale. Plus, even the canceled ones might get bounties again if they cause trouble."
Buggy's heart, just warmed by emotion, went ice-cold again.
Lucky for him, Aus threw him a bone.
"But you two clowns don't need to sweat it much. You don't even have bounties. Unless you bump into someone who knows you, nobody's gonna recognize your faces. Hahahaha!"
Hearing Aus's brutal laughter, Shanks and Buggy stood there not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
They'd been shitting themselves about Marine attention, only to find out the Marines didn't even know they existed.
"What about you though, Aus? I saw your bounty recently—shot up to a billion berries! That's like a fifth of Captain Roger's! You'd be a massive target."
Once his own problems were sorted, Shanks immediately worried about Aus.
"I mean, back in the day you pissed off so many Marines. Even Garp remembers your face."
"If Marine top brass comes after you, even you'd be in deep shit, right?"
Aus shrugged it off, filling them in:
"Don't sweat it. After leaving the ship, I already ate that Devil Fruit Captain Roger lost to me. With maxed-out Future Sight and the Warp-Warp Fruit, I can ghost in and out of anywhere in the world."
This left Buggy and the others staring at each other.
Shocked that Aus actually ate a Devil Fruit, sure. But also—just like he said, Future Sight plus teleportation meant they literally couldn't imagine him getting caught or beaten.
Not to mention his already insane raw power and talent.
The crew hadn't seen each other forever and talked for ages.
Finally, after setting up when and where to meet, they killed the call.
After hanging up, Aus sat there quietly, leaning back into softness, staring at the ceiling.
He'd just had a thought—go see Captain Roger early.
The World Government's supposedly impregnable Impel Down? Complete joke to Aus.
With Future Sight and teleportation, even Marine Headquarters was basically Swiss cheese.
Even if they spotted him, Aus was confident he could bail before their heavy hitters reacted.
Hell, even if an Admiral personally blocked the exit, so what? Aus was sure he wouldn't go down easy, and nobody could cage him if he wanted out.
But if it wasn't Admiral-level people showing up... whoever came would just eat one Conqueror's Haki-coated seastone bullet.
Think it, do it. He'd never been one to second-guess himself, and he had total faith in his strength.
Aus slowly stood up, tilted the little maid's chin, and said calmly:
"Lock up Doflamingo and those officers with seastone. I'll handle them when I get back. And tell Lady Sami I've got business to take care of. Anything comes up, have her call me."
"Yes, Lord Aus."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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