After Issho untied the knot in his heart, he was no longer so gloomy.
He spent his days smiling and did not leave the ship.
He knew White Ghost wanted to recruit him and had taken an interest in his strength.
But Issho neither agreed nor refused. He simply stayed aboard.
When he had time, he trained with the others.
Issho's physique was somewhat weak.
Of course, that was only by White Ghost's standards.
Against those Supernovas in the original path, he might have been fine.
But if he fought the Three Emperors, then heh.
His Devil Fruit was troublesome, yes.
But Haki was everything.
Because of that, Issho also joined the training group. When he had time, he sparred with the others in swordsmanship.
Of course, White Ghost also fought him.
Issho's swordsmanship was at the intermediate level of a Great Swordsman.
A little stronger than Shimotsuki Koushirou.
Combined with his Devil Fruit, he was extremely troublesome.
That very day, White Ghost let him understand what it meant for strength and Haki to be the true path.
White Ghost was happy to see it too.
He did not force Issho to make a statement.
After all, having another admiral-level fighter aboard made him feel much more at ease.
Recently, White Ghost's eyelids had been twitching.
It felt as if something was coming, and that made him a little uncomfortable.
White Ghost's crew continued traveling through the North Blue, stopping here and there.
During that time, they met quite a few people.
Among them was one of the original Supernovas: Basil Hawkins.
When White Ghost met him, Hawkins was holding his cards and performing a divination.
White Ghost was curious to see what this number one mystic among pirates could divine.
As a result, Basil Hawkins calculated that White Ghost would soon face a major calamity.
His chances of survival were fifty-fifty.
White Ghost did not say much.
After all, he had been feeling uneasy for the past two days. With this mystic's words added on, he became certain.
But White Ghost's women were not having it.
Wasn't this cursing their man?
Together, they beat Hawkins up.
This man had already eaten his Devil Fruit, so he was not injured much.
The nearby passersby, however, were unlucky.
White Ghost invited Basil Hawkins and asked if he wanted to board the ship.
Although this man's strength in the original path was not outstanding and he had been dealt with by Law, Law had also been seriously injured.
But Hawkins hesitated.
It was obvious that he did not want to board White Ghost's ship, because he trusted his divinations greatly.
White Ghost did not bother forcing him.
He had several other candidates in mind who could fill that level of combat power.
White Ghost traveled leisurely, wondering why he had not encountered Germa.
Just as he was thinking that, Kuro's voice came over.
"Captain, there's an old sickly ghost behind us chasing us on a raft. There's also a horse. But that horse seems unusual."
White Ghost sensed outward with Observation Haki, and the corner of his mouth rose.
What was this?
Had he emptied out Blackbeard's future crew?
"Let him aboard. That guy isn't some simple small character."
On the raft behind them, the man and horse who were rowing with all their might saw the large ship ahead slow down and were overjoyed.
"Stronger, hurry. That great figure seems interested in us."
Doc Q rowed hard while speaking to the horse beside him.
When the white horse heard that, it rowed even harder, excitement appearing in its eyes.
Was its miserable life finally about to end?
Splash, splash!
Before long, the man and horse reached the side of the ship.
Once Doc Q and his horse boarded, everyone looked at them strangely.
It was not that no one had chased after them before.
Most of them had wanted to join.
But the captain usually glanced once and said nothing.
This was the first time someone had chased them and the captain allowed him aboard to take a look.
Lafitte's first instinct was that this man was the same type as him.
"Come along, old man. Our captain is waiting above."
"Hah… hah…"
Doc Q lay across his horse's back like he was about to die. Hearing Lafitte's words, he raised his head.
"I'm only twenty. I'm not an old man."
Lafitte looked at him with a false smile.
"But your face, and that dying, terminally ill appearance, do not resemble a young man."
"I'm a Paramecia: Sick-Sick Fruit user. This is a side effect of the Devil Fruit.
"Of course, this appearance also helps confuse enemies."
Doc Q argued as he moved.
"Heh. Alright, 'Grim Reaper' undertaker. I've heard your name in the North Blue. Let's go. Don't keep the captain waiting too long."
Doc Q glanced at Lafitte, the corner of his mouth rising.
"What a coincidence. I've often heard the reputation of the North Blue's most brutal security officer too."
"Fate truly is mysterious," Doc Q suddenly said from behind him.
"Or perhaps it is misfortune," Lafitte replied, leading him to the bow.
White Ghost narrowed his eyes at this man, who, in the original path, had likely hidden much of his strength among the Blackbeard Pirates.
Doc Q carried his basket of apples and looked at the great figure before him.
His instincts told him this was the man he had been searching for.
Stronger trembled beside him.
An animal's sixth sense warned it that if the man before them became unhappy, horse meat would be on the menu.
Seeing Doc Q looking as if he wanted to speak but did not dare, White Ghost smiled and reached into his apple basket, grabbing an apple.
Crunch.
The crisp sound of an apple being bitten rang out.
It did not explode.
Doc Q's eyes lit up, and he knelt on one knee.
"It seems the captain knows about my apples. I truly did not come to the wrong place."
"This apple tastes pretty good. Enel should like it."
White Ghost finished the apple and reached for another.
"Earlier, a fortune-teller told me a disaster is about to come for me. My odds of life and death are fifty-fifty.
"Are you sure you want to board my ship?"
Doc Q watched White Ghost eat two apples in a row without anything happening, then raised his head to meet White Ghost's gaze.
"Captain, I believe in fate. Fate does not lie to me.
"Besides, some fates can be changed."
White Ghost took out a third apple and ate it directly.
He used nothing.
No future sight.
No Mythical Zoan danger prediction.
None of it.
He simply wanted to gamble and see whether he really was, as Kuro had said, blessed by fortune.
White Ghost stood and looked toward the sea ahead.
"Then come.
"No matter what it is, I'll take it.
"Isn't it just a fight to the death?
"I've never been afraid of anyone."
Buzz!
White Ghost's Conqueror's Haki shot into the sky.
Boom!
The dark clouds covering the sky were blasted open by his Conqueror's Haki, leaving a huge hole above.
And the power of that Haki was still increasing.
White Ghost's eyes widened.
Boom!
The surrounding dark clouds were blown apart completely.
Doc Q stared at White Ghost with a face full of excitement.
His eyes were exactly the same as Lafitte's had been back then.
Stronger collapsed beside him, foaming at the mouth.
White Ghost's Conqueror's Haki had not been aimed at it, but the aura he radiated had frightened it unconscious.
When the crew saw this, their expressions turned fierce.
Wasn't it just a life-or-death battle?
It was not as if they had never gone through one.
Only those who survived had the right to step onto the next stage.
Issho looked up at the sky.
"Break it with force… Is this what you meant?
"What considerate words."
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