Now then. The timeline shifts again… the flashback ends, and we return to the present.
In other words—this is after I saved Marianne and the others, rescued the remnants of Baroque Works… and, after they'd begged for more strength, left them in Papa's care.
Papa and I were together, visiting Dr. Indigo's lab—either for a tour, or an inspection.
"Thanks, Papa. For taking Marianne and the others in."
"Hah. Don't mention it… They do seem promising, I'll give 'em that. Living in the underworld toughened 'em up some. But they're still half-baked. And the Ability Users? They're the worst—leaning on their Powers so hard they never built any fundamentals. Honestly, it's a waste."
Yeah. I get it.
People who've only trained halfway, but act like they've reached the peak… as enemies, sure, they're convenient.
But watching them? It's frustrating. You want to grab them by the shoulders and shake them.
He was brutal about it, but Crocodile's line from the original Alabasta arc—about "those idiots who get complacent and rely only on their abilities"—yeah. That one stings because it's true.
Non-Ability Users like Marianne and Babe are one thing, but Gem, Mikita, Dorothy, Zala… there were plenty of people who still had room to grow, ability-wise.
Of course, Marianne and the others can grow stronger in their own ways, too.
…Lassoo, though… I don't know. He's a gun. A literal inanimate object. Is there even such a thing as "training" for him?
Well. That's going to depend on how hard they work from here on out.
"At their current level, they won't survive the era that's coming… Jihahahaha! They came to me, so I won't tolerate anything half-assed. I'll raise 'em properly—and make 'em useful as my pieces."
"Yeah… I get it, to a point. But go easy on them, okay?"
Marianne and the others must've braced themselves before they knocked on the door of the Golden Lion Pirates.
Giving them harsh assignments is one thing, but don't throw them at missions designed to be disposable. Not like the Black Cat Pirates back in the original story.
Anyway, I was about to ask what we'd be seeing at Dr. Indigo's place today when—
A laugh hit my ears.
A laugh so obnoxious, so familiar, it made my stomach drop.
"Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Did you see that?! This is the power of yours truly! The true worth of me—Prince Wapol!"
"...Huh?!"
I whipped around on reflex, half convinced I was hearing things.
But no.
There he was—surrounded by researchers, dressed in an expensive-looking suit, puffed up like a king on a throne.
Wapol.
Wait—what?!
Why is he here?! Why is that thing here?!
"Hm?" Papa asked. "That man catch your interest, Sue?"
"Wha—! N-no, it's just… I've met him before. Papa, isn't that the former king of the Drum Kingdom…?"
"Yeah," Papa said. "Bit of a while back, but one of our affiliated crews picked him up."
Lately, the Golden Lion Pirates have been focused on expanding our influence—quietly, so the Marines don't sniff us out.
Papa's been leaning on the crews under his flag, too—sending them out to scout for useful talent.
And one of those crews happened to stumble across Wapol.
At first glance, they thought, "Some filthy homeless guy with a weird look."
But then they watched him more closely and realized he might be an Ability User.
Apparently he'd been crunching down metal junk he found by a riverbank—chomp, chomp, chomp—and then… somehow turning it into toy-like shapes and spitting it back out.
So they figured there might be value there, and dragged him in.
When they offered him a clean place to live and proper food if he'd come with them… he'd nodded instantly, crying his eyes out.
And once they brought him back and looked into him, it turned out the alloy he produces with his ability has exceptional shape-memory properties.
I still hadn't heard the technical details, but supposedly it combines strength and elasticity in a way no one had ever seen before—something that could become revolutionary across countless applications.
They'd named it after its "creator"… or rather, its "producer."
Wapometal.
And now that he had a place to stand again, he'd regained his arrogance too—strutting around like, "I'm the one who created this alloy!"
Papa snorted.
"Training a small-time punk like that is easier than twisting a baby's wrist. You butter him up, praise him, toss him a few treats, make him feel good… and he'll get satisfied on his own and work to meet your expectations without even noticing he's being used."
"Yeah… coming from you, that sounds like breakfast."
Wapol's a born villain, sure—
But he's getting played by Papa, a villain of an entirely different class. And he doesn't even realize it.
…Honestly, that ignorance might be its own kind of happiness.
It reminded me of something I'd heard back in my old life. A line—maybe from a book, maybe from TV.
'Do you know why you shouldn't grow up into a "bad kid"? Liars, cowards—those "bad children"… they're perfect prey for truly evil adults.'
In a way, it's even more true for them than it is for ordinary "good kids."
Watching Papa casually use third-rate pirates like puppets, I can't help thinking it.
The difference in experience, in rank, in sheer weight as an outlaw… it's not even close.
Well—whatever.
If Dr. Indigo's team can make good use of Wapometal, they'll build even more outrageous things than before.
☆☆☆
After that, Papa and I met up with the lab's master, Dr. Indigo, and he walked us through a number of projects.
And… yeah.
I don't even know how else to say it.
All I could think was: of course.
Of course Papa's personal engineers would be capable of something like this.
To be precise, it wasn't that they'd "made" it recently—more like we were being shown the progress and development of things that had already existed for some time.
I'd heard brief reports before, but seeing it with my own eyes was still shocking.
'TABOO…'
That word had never appeared anywhere in the One Piece I knew.
Artificial Devil Fruits beyond SMILE—details, risks, even foreshadowing… as far as my knowledge goes, none of it existed.
So this has to be the butterfly effect.
Me being born here. Me cooperating with Papa.
And if that's true, then TABOO—and the "Ability Users" born from it—are going to affect the future of this world in a major way.
Maybe the day my original-story knowledge becomes useless… is closer than I think.
Not that it matters. Even if I did nothing, in just over two years my knowledge would "catch up" anyway—right around the late Dressrosa portion of the story.
After that, the future becomes completely unknown.
But that's a problem for later.
I haven't really lived my life by the original story up to now… not much, anyway.
There were a few exceptions.
Helping Hancock during the "Mary Geoise raid incident."
Stealing a Poneglyph from Alabasta.
Stuff like that.
"That's a fine result," Papa said. "This'll be plenty of force… even more than those island animals boosted with S.I.Q."
"I'm honored, Boss," Dr. Indigo replied. "But if we want absolute certainty, it will take a little longer…"
"That's fine." Papa's grin sharpened. "The gears went off track halfway through… but it wasn't all bad. If we're moving, it'll be in about two years… though even sooner, things might start shifting. I'll think on how to move when that happens."
As always, Papa sounded like he was plotting something.
And if those creations are completed… depending on how they're used, they could become overwhelming force—strong enough to surpass even some real Devil Fruit users.
Even without any bias, it's an absurd increase in power.
…Though for me—
And probably for my three daughters, too—
I doubt we'll ever look at them as "just weapons."
If anything… we'll end up doting on them.
Especially Leona and Alice.
"The Maid Squad is nearing practical deployment," Dr. Indigo said. "I've heard some may soon be cleared to accompany you on outings, Miss. Perhaps within a few days."
Honestly… Dr. Indigo really did build something ridiculous.
I still remember the first time I saw it. I kept my mouth shut—
But in my head, I screamed, 'This is One Piece, right?!'
And while I was thinking that—
"Sue," Papa said. "I've got something I want to ask you."
"Ask me… what?"
"Dr. Indigo," Papa said. "Explain."
"Yes, Miss. Please look at this."
He handed me a set of documents.
…Blueprints?
Papa's prosthetic leg?
No—this is slightly different from the one he's using now. An upgraded design?
"As you've already seen," Dr. Indigo said, "our research into the shape-memory alloy Wapometal has progressed to the point where we can expect a significant improvement in performance. With that, we've redesigned the prosthetic from the ground up… and we can now create several internal compartments. Space that can be used to store weaponry."
"Huh. You're right… there's room in a lot of places. But with compartments this small, you can't really install anything big, can you? Weight and mobility would start to suffer."
"Exactly. But leaving them as dead space—or using them solely to increase strength—would be a waste at this size. So I'm considering incorporating Dials."
"Oh… I see. Their applications are limited, but they can produce huge power for very little space."
And since we've succeeded at breeding Dials at and around this facility, there's no shortage.
"Yes. However, given this is for Boss Shiki himself… anything half-baked would only get in the way. Which is why I'd like you, Miss, to seek out powerful Dials we haven't yet discovered."
"There aren't many Ability Users besides me who can fly freely," Papa added. "And among those, you're the only one I trust. Find a Sky Island we haven't visited before. Bring back as many different kinds of Dials as you can. I've had my men gather information on where Sky Islands might appear—someone will deliver it to you later."
"You make it sound easy… Fine. I get it. I'll try. But if I can't find anything, don't blame me."
"Yeah. I'm not sweatin' it. Just do it easy."
☆☆☆
"So… that's how I ended up having to search for a new Sky Island."
"That's… quite the assignment, Miss…"
Honey—my companion for this trip—looked like she wanted to say "wow" out loud.
It'll be a long journey, and probably not a gentle one. So I decided not to go alone—like before, I wanted companions, and I called her.
After this, we'll meet up with the three fishman sisters too.
The plan is for the five of us—the same group that traveled together near the end of our journey through the Four Blues—to set out together.
And now that I think about it… I might not have said this earlier, but it was Papa who told me back then, "You're absent-minded. Bring a few companions."
That's part of why that five-person trip ever happened.
As for my daughters, who had all volunteered with variations of "Me too!"—
They were rejected.
Still too inexperienced.
Training period.
But anyway… when Honey said "that's a tough mission," she was probably thinking about the Sky Island environment.
Me?
I meant something else by "tough."
Because… the timing.
It's that timing.
After the unrest in Alabasta—after the Alabasta arc ends—and then you hear "Sky Island"…
In the original story, this should be exactly when the Straw Hat Pirates head into the Sky Island arc.
Which means if I go up there now, the chance of running into them goes up.
Sure. "Sky Island" doesn't only mean Skypiea. There are other Sky Islands.
So you could say, "Just go somewhere else."
But most Sky Islands drift. They move with the winds. They don't stay in one place.
Which makes finding them—getting to them—hard.
We've already explored most of the Sky Islands we can reliably reach, and I'm pretty sure Papa already has all the Dials we collected from those.
So we need one we've never been to.
And the problem is…
I've never been to Skypiea.
More than that—
I know where it's going to appear soon.
Not the exact day. Not down to the hour.
But around this time, if I go to Jaya, the nearby sea should produce that "cloud fossil"—
the Stacked Imperial Cloud.
And if I fly toward it…
I'd almost certainly get dragged into trouble. Probably.
But if I'm careful—if I avoid crashing straight into the main cast—maybe it'll be fine?
I don't want to get involved with the protagonists. I don't want to recklessly change the original flow of events.
…But that's rich coming from me, isn't it?
I've already met plenty of original characters. I've already done plenty.
So maybe it's too late to worry.
Still… meeting the protagonists feels different.
Side characters, minor roles—running into them is one thing.
But the moment I cross paths with Luffy and his crew, I have no idea what the ripple effects will be. That's what scares me.
And then—
I thought it again.
Yeah.
It's too late.
There's a reason people call it the "butterfly effect."
The moment an anomaly like me exists in this world, it's already diverged from the original story—sometimes in tiny ways, sometimes in big ones.
Trying to predict what it all leads to is pointless.
Besides…
I already decided this once.
This isn't just "the world of the One Piece original story" anymore.
It's the world of One Piece, and it's also the world where I was born and where I'm living.
So… I'll live how I want.
Go where I want.
Do what I want.
If I end up getting involved with Luffy and the others, then I'll deal with it when it happens.
And who knows?
If I keep my head down, maybe nothing happens at all. Maybe I finish my errand cleanly—
and somewhere else, behind the scenes, Luffy and the others are busy punching out the god of funny faces.
Yeah. I should loosen up.
I'm overthinking it.
Nothing weird is going to happen that easily.
Alright—let's go.
Skypiea!
…Yeah.
That was a flag.
To be continued...