Six years.
That's how long the Rocks Pirates had been together — and Rocks still had nothing to show for it. Not one piece of his plan had actually moved forward.
Shiki was getting tired of hearing the man go on about Elbaf's giant king Harald, about how everything would fall into place the moment Harald joined up. Tired of the promises with no results behind them.
"He keeps saying all he needs is Harald and the world is his — but nothing's happened. You're fed up too, aren't you, Anus?"
"Let's be honest. The only reason any of us are here is because there's something in it for us."
"The plan is insane, sure — but if it actually works, the payoff would be unlike anything else. That's the whole reason the Rocks Pirates exist."
"But if Rocks fails? That's not our problem. Our lives don't go down with his ship."
"Everyone's been putting something aside. Building a way out. That's just common sense."
"Catarina, Lingling, Wang Zhi, John — everyone except that big idiot Newgate has been preparing. Every last one of them."
"You're no different, are you, Anus?"
Shiki grinned — that wild, hungry smile of his — and fixed his eyes on Anus's face like he was watching for the exact moment the mask slipped.
As far as Shiki saw it, this whole crew was full of people playing their own angles. A breakup was coming. Just a matter of when.
Anus picked up the gold cup from the table and took a slow sip of tea. "So what's your point? You've been building up to something. Just say it."
Rocks's failure was inevitable — Anus had always known that. Most of his memories from his past life were hazy by now, but he was certain about the Valley of the Gods. That battle was coming, and when it did, Rocks would be broken by Im's dark influence and turned into something monstrous. That had been the last piece of news that leaked through before Anus crossed over.
But it didn't change anything for him.
He wasn't leaving until Rocks actually fell. The man had done more for his growth than anyone. When Anus had first arrived in the Blues, he was nothing close to what he was now. His Haki had been forged in hundreds of fights, and in the exchanges and spars with Rocks himself.
In a way, Rocks was half his teacher.
When his casual response clearly didn't land the way Shiki expected, Shiki steadied himself and pressed forward.
"Then work with me, Anus."
"With your strength and mine, we could even bring Roger on board. Nobody in the world would be able to touch us."
"When it's all done — we rule these seas from the sky itself."
Shiki, with the Float-Float Fruit, had always thought Anus was the best possible partner in the crew. Anus was a Sky Islander, someone who'd grown up living above the clouds. And Shiki's ability — it was practically built for running an empire from the sky.
But he didn't get the answer he expected.
"We can talk about all that after Rocks goes down." Anus leaned back into the sheepskin sofa, completely at ease.
Shiki blinked. "Why are you turning me down? Anus —"
He genuinely couldn't think of a single reason. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the Float-Float Fruit together — just the mental image of it was something else.
"We can pick this up later. Diumili, show him out."
The words had barely left his mouth before a crack of lightning split the air.
Anus was gone. Not walked out — just gone, like he'd stepped through a hole in the world.
"Hey! Don't just disappear on me! I wasn't done!" Shiki snapped.
From the shadows, a figure stepped out. Lean, almost gaunt, wrapped head to toe in black bandages. A pair of huge, dark wings spread behind him — silent as a shadow.
"My apologies, Mr. Shiki," the figure said. "On Lord Anus's orders, I'll need to ask you to leave."
Shiki glared at him, jaw tight with irritation.
Diumili didn't flinch. Didn't blink. Shiki's reputation — the feared name of Clown — didn't seem to register on him at all.
"Fine." Shiki turned toward the door. "I'll be back."
He left in a storm of bad temper.
Diumili walked him to the entrance and stood there, watching, until Shiki's figure had completely disappeared from view. Then he turned and headed back inside.
A distant rumble of thunder rolled through the air, and Anus's voice came with it, low and clear in Diumili's ear.
"Come up to the top."
"Yes, my lord." Diumili dipped his head slightly and started for the stairs.
The spiral staircase was narrow, the walls close on all sides. Only the sound of his own footsteps followed him up. Thin blades of light cut through the arrow slits and small windows, the wind growing stronger with every floor.
Then he stepped through the heavy timber frame at the top, and the space opened up. Wide arched windows on all four sides. Wind howling through. A map of Beehive Island hung on the wall.
"Diumili. Good."
Anus was slouched on a comfortable sofa in the observation room, one leg crossed over the other, a coffee cup in hand, watching the view outside.
"Sit. Any news from your people lately?"
"No, my lord." Diumili shook his head.
"Nothing at all?" A hint of something that looked like regret passed over Anus's face.
Among his three officers, Diumili was the unusual one — because, like Lunarian in the original story, Diumili was a Lunarian.
Once called gods. They had lived on the Red Line in the Land of the Gods, wielding immense power, their bodies able to endure extreme environments that would kill anything else.
Then the World Government had hunted them nearly to extinction.
Before Diumili found Anus, he had been a fugitive — CP agents on his heels without rest. He had escaped to Skypiea, where Anus pulled him out. He'd stayed close ever since. Outside of Lilith, there was no one Anus trusted more.
"It's alright, my lord. You've already done more than enough for me."
"I'll keep having Lingling and Kanzhi watch for any leads on your end." Anus set down his coffee. "Your people are under my protection. That's not changing."
That was the real reason he'd turned Shiki down. He had his own plans.
Not that he'd always had them. For the first few years, his entire plan could be summed up in two words: get stronger. It was only as his growth started hitting a ceiling that he'd begun thinking further ahead.
The mindset shift had come first.
When he'd arrived in this world, his only thought was survival. Then, as his strength grew and he could actually hold his own fate in his hands, the urgency that came with knowing the future slowly loosened its grip.
He'd found himself looking at this world the way a player looks at a game.
What he saw wasn't pretty.
The Celestial Dragons sat above everyone, untouchable. The people at the bottom suffered without end. This world was broken, and Anus wanted to be the one to break it further — and then rebuild it the way he saw fit.
The way he used to build things in Minecraft, back in another life. Whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted it.
Doing that properly was going to take time and planning. His current strength wasn't there yet.
So he'd set short-term goals.
The same way Rocks wanted two legendary Devil Fruits and the power of the war band — Anus had things he was after too.
One of them was exactly this: more Lunarians.
In this timeline, with Rocks still active, the Lunarians were rare but not yet gone the way they would be in the original story. If he looked, he'd find something. Some thread to follow.
On top of that, the years spent based out of Beehive had given him time to quietly build something of his own.
"Speaking of which, Diumili — how's the latest batch of Angel Corps recruits coming along?"
"Reasonably well. By current assessment, they can hold their own against elite Marine Headquarters units."
"Good. Take them out tomorrow. Run them through a live exercise. They've been training long enough — time to see what they actually do when it counts."
You never really knew a unit's level until they'd been tested in the field. Anus was curious to find out what all that time and effort had produced.
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