April 16, 1497, Age of the Sea Circle
Orion opened his eyes with difficulty and immediately felt a sharp pain in his back.
It took him a few moments to remember what had happened, and as he did, he sat up, enduring the intense pain in his back, and looked around.
He was on a beach, and gentle waves lapped the shore, creating a beautiful landscape. In the sky, the sun was high on the horizon, but he didn't know which direction it was facing, so he couldn't determine whether it was sunrise or sunset.
He bought a Health Brownie from the system shop and ate it immediately. Right now, he needed to treat his wounds and figure out where he was.
Inspecting the beach, he couldn't see any sign of Gloriosa, so he opened the system map to see if he could find her location.
However, to his surprise, he found that the marker indicating her location didn't appear on the map.
For a moment, he feared the worst. His clothes were completely wet, so he'd obviously fallen into the sea and been lucky enough to be dragged ashore, but what if Gloriosa hadn't been that lucky? She was unconscious too. If she'd fallen a little further than him, or in a bad position…
He didn't dare pursue that line of thought.
He looked at the list of registered characters on the map and saw that next to Gloriosa's name, there was a phrase that read: "Out of system range."
Orion breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the lively girl hadn't died as a result of his ability.
'Space Gate' was a gateway that allowed him to connect to a previously set point, but since he hadn't set a point, he'd been randomly transported to another location.
Fortunately, he'd been lucky enough not to be transported into a volcano or something similar, and he had to be grateful that he'd survived the precarious situation he'd found himself in.
Evidently, Gloriosa had been transported to another location, which told him one thing: the 'Space Gate' didn't form a random fixed point, but was likely in a state of continuous chaos, and once someone entered that chaos, they could end up anywhere.
They had entered at different times, and therefore had been transported to different places.
He could only pray that the girl was safe somewhere in this world. It was somewhat sad that he wouldn't be able to see her anymore, but he trusted that their paths would cross again in the future. As long as they both remained alive, there was certainly a chance that day would come.
Orion opened a door in the air, ready to enter his Pocket Dimension, but before he could, Kalifa jumped out at full speed, landing face-first in the sand.
The little girl stood up with difficulty and spat out some sand that had gotten into her mouth. Then, she looked at Orion with tearful eyes and ran to hug him.
"Orion! You finally woke up! I was so worried; I thought you were dead! Waaa!"
Orion gritted his teeth and endured the pain caused by the little girl's hug, as she burst into uncontrollable tears.
It was normal; she had been trapped in the Pocket Dimension for a long time while he had been unconscious. In that small dimension where there was nothing, and the rest of the world was separated by a thin membrane that clouded vision, spending hours or days trapped inside could drive a person crazy.
Orion had left some supplies in the Pocket Dimension, so at least the little girl wouldn't have starved or died of thirst while he was unconscious.
"I'm fine, Kalifa, don't worry. How long was I unconscious?" Orion said, stroking the girl's hair.
Kalifa didn't answer immediately continuing to cry for a long time, until she finally released all her pent-up emotions and calmed down.
With her eyes swollen from crying, she looked at Orion, pouting, and replied:
"It's been almost a day. It's already sunset of the next day."
Orion nodded and with difficulty removed the girl from his body.
"I need to rest a little, but I'll do it in the Pocket Dimension, just in case," Orion said, and opened a door in the air again.
The two children entered the small sphere, disappearing completely from the beach, as if they had never existed.
Once inside the other dimension, Orion took medicine from his inventory and, with Kalifa's help, managed to treat his wounds and bandage his body without any problems.
The attack by the CP0 agent had been quite severe, and probably the only reason he had survived was because the agent had not attacked with the intention of killing him, but only to incapacitate him.
In the Pocket Dimension, there was a bed that Orion had prepared in advance in case he had to sleep there. He still felt exhausted and needed to rest, so he lay down on the bed and fell asleep again, under the worried gaze of Kalifa, who continued reading a book, waiting for Orion to wake up again.
April 17, 1497, Age of the Sea Circle
After a good night's sleep, Orion woke up feeling much better.
He still had some difficulty moving normally, but at least he could begin to deal with his current situation.
He opened a door in the small dimension and returned to the beach with Kalifa, who ran to the shore to dip her feet in the seawater. Being inside the small alternate dimension was tremendously tedious for the girl, who felt great happiness to return to the outside world.
Orion ate a piece of bread he had saved in the inventory and looked at the system screen, where there were unread notifications.
*Mission 11 - The Opportunity in the Crisis.
Objective (2) has been completed. Evaluation: Poor.
You have obtained the skill 'Watering the Plants' (Level 3). Named Character Kalifa's favorability has increased to 80.
Objective (3) has been completed. Evaluation: Normal.
You have obtained "Random Kingdom Building Box" *1. You have obtained 1000 SP.
You have obtained the extra reward "Skill Upgrade Card *1" as a bonus for completing all three objectives. *
Mission 11 had been successfully completed, although objective two had received a poor rating. Perhaps that was why the skill he had received was so poor. As its name suggested, the skill 'Watering the Plants' improved his effectiveness when watering plants. Orion wondered if that could even be considered a skill. In that case, wouldn't he have all sorts of strange abilities like 'Eat', 'Walk' and the like?
Orion didn't bother exploring the logic behind these skills too much. So far, the system had been very good and had provided him with all sorts of useful or powerful abilities, so it wasn't a problem if, every now and then one of these strange skills appeared, he would simply let it sit on his list of unused skills, as he had done with the 'Squirrel Cheeks' skill.
Still, Orion could understand the system's poor assessment; after all, he could only free Gloriosa and Kalifa from the hands of the World Government, and even Gloriosa's whereabouts and well-being were uncertain at this point.
Orion turned his attention to the other two rewards. The skill enhancement card was truly an excellent addition. This card could not only increase the level of common skills, but could also enhance skills he had specially obtained that had no levels, though there was a warning that the effect on those skills might not be as effective as on normal skills.
Orion didn't rush to use this card; for now, he would save it and use it in the future after thoroughly analyzing all the options. After all, this type of item, which could instantly increase the level of any skill, could save his life in a time of danger.
The item's description indicated the higher the level of the skill being improved, the less effective the card would be, so he wouldn't try to wait until he had a skill with a very high level to use this card.
Another thing to note was that the increase it produced wasn't fixed. That is, it didn't increase a skill's level by one, but rather, depending on the skill being improved, the level could increase more or less, and there wasn't a fixed growth rate.
Although the description didn't say anything about it, he suspected that the more complex or powerful the skill, the less effective the card would be, just as was the case with Devil Fruit-derived skills.
Finally, Orion focused his attention on the small blue box that had appeared in his inventory.
*Random Kingdom Building Box: This box contains items, techniques, or technologies that can aid in the construction and development of your territory*
*You currently do not have a territory under your command. Do you wish to designate one for your kingdom? Yes/No*
Orion chose the 'No' option and paid no further attention to this item for the time being. This was also a great reward, but he would have to wait until he returned to Pacific Town before he could use it.
He then opened the map once more and saw that he was in the middle of a completely unexplored section of the map. The first thing he had to do was identify where he was, and then make his way back home.
He turned around, looking at the jungle that stretched a few meters from the shore, and decided it would be best to explore this island a bit. If there were people living here, he might be able to get the information he needed.
"Kalifa! Come, let's explore this island," Orion said, raising his voice so the little girl on the shore could hear him.
Kalifa immediately ran over with her shoes in her hand and took his hand.
"Let's go! It's time to explore! Maybe we'll find something interesting here!" the little girl said with great joy. Now that she had escaped from Guanhao, her curiosity about the outside world had been heightened, and she was eager to learn more about this wonderful world.
The two entered the jungle hand in hand and began their exploration.
.............................
Meanwhile, in the South Blue, Gray Harbor.
Gion was saying goodbye to her parents with tears in her eyes.
"Mom, Dad, I'm going to miss you so much," Gion said with a broken voice, hugging her parents.
Mr. Harewood stroked his little daughter's back and said with difficulty, "We'll miss you too, Gion, but don't worry about anything and focus on your training with Miss Shimotsuki."
"That's right, Gion. The Marine ship will depart for the Marines headquarters tomorrow. That's the safest place in the world. Your father and I will wait for you there," said Mrs. Harewood.
Gion continued to cry in her parents' arms for a long time, and finally, Ren Shimotsuki stepped forward and separated her from them.
"Gion, I understand your sadness, but you must remain composed. Remember that you've already begun your training, and this occasion is no exception," said Ren solemnly.
Gion held back her tears, looked at her parents lovingly, and bowed to greet them.
"Dad, Mom, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'll train hard and become very strong. Wait for me at the Marine headquarters," Gion said, trying to apply the Geisha training she had been practicing. Although with her swollen eyes, there was no way she could look as elegant as she wanted.
Gion boarded the ship and sailed toward the horizon with Ren Shimotsuki, while her parents remained at the port until the ship disappeared beyond the horizon.
Ren watched the little girl staring at the horizon even though the port was no longer visible, and sighed. Goodbyes were always difficult, especially for a girl of Gion's age. However, it was a necessary step.
Gion's progress had been getting slower and slower, and she was in danger of stagnating if she didn't do anything. It was for this reason that Ren had decided to embark on a training trip with her young apprentice.
Gion needed to face all kinds of situations to grow and become stronger. Only then could she reach the top of this world's power ladder. She couldn't allow the only apprentice she'd ever taken on to live in mediocrity; she had to at least become an admiral in the future!
Over the past few months, Gion had once again received the attention of the Marines, who this time had attempted to recruit her directly, despite her young age. The potential shown by the precocious girl was too tempting for the Marines, who were always on the lookout for talent.
At first, Gion hadn't accepted the offer, as her intention was to live a quiet life on this island and then marry Orion and be a faithful housewife and wife, always remaining by his side.
If she had been training hard under Ren's tutelage, it was only because Ren had told her that if she didn't increase her strength, she wouldn't be able to remain with Orion, and she had no other ambition beyond this wish. However, things had changed months ago, when Orion disappeared. She contacted her fiancé's family and learned what had happened.
For the little girl, knowing that her fiancé was involved in these types of dangerous situations, where his life could be lost with a single careless act, made her understand the weight of the words her sensei Ren had repeated to her multiple times.
Her thoughts underwent a qualitative change, and her desire to become stronger grew more intense than ever before. It was this change that finally led her to decide to join the Marines.
She reasoned that it wasn't enough to passively stay by his side; if she wanted to help him, in addition to having great combat power, she had to have enough influence to be able to help him with whatever he needed!
If she joined the Marines and managed to rise to the top of the chain of command, she could become the best partner for Orion, and she could even protect him from the dangers of this world.
If Orion had been present, he would have told her there was no need for her to join the Marines, and that it might even be counterproductive. After all, he was destined to come into conflict with the status quo of this world, and with the powerful organization that maintained that status.
Unfortunately, Orion was on the other side of the world, unable to communicate with her, and it was his absence, coupled with the girl's desire to help him, that paradoxically pushed her down a path that wasn't the most appropriate if she wanted to be by his side.
In any case, the relationship between them was too strong for something like that to come between them, but it would undoubtedly complicate things a bit in the future.
Gion, who had decided to join the Marines as soon as she finished her training with Ren Shimotsuki, began a journey with her teacher that would take her to the next level of power.
...........................
"Knock, Knock"
Galette knocked on the bedroom door, but no one answered. She tried to open it, but it was locked.
"Poire, let me in. It's me, Galette," she said with a hint of concern in her voice.
In her family, it was normal for several siblings to be born simultaneously, and she was no exception. Her sister Poire was her twin sister, and they had a very close relationship.
Although the Charlotte family was generally very close overall, there were small factions within it. Especially since this was a pirate family, it was impossible not to have subgroups that silently fought for certain privileges, although major conflicts never arose and the family remained harmonious under Big Mom's leadership.
Galette heard no movement inside the room and knocked on the door several more times, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get a response from her twin sister.
She sighed bitterly and didn't press the issue any further. Perhaps it was best for her sister to spend some time alone and calm her emotions.
She went out onto the deck and found several of her siblings, who were cheerfully drinking and enjoying the warm day.
Charlotte Angel saw that Galette had returned and said, "What happened to Poire? Is she still mad about what we said about her mouth?"
"Poire has always been a crybaby, so she won't be able to achieve anything in the future!" said Smoothie, who was sitting to the side, drinking nonchalantly, pretending to be cool.
"That's because you guys always make fun of her mouth every time you get drunk! Why can't you just leave her alone?!" Galette said angrily, shaking her fists in the air.
She was quite frustrated by her siblings' attitude, who used to tease Poire about her big mouth, which many found striking and even unpleasant.
Poire had grown up suffering this kind of bullying. Although it wasn't constant, it had taken a huge toll on the girl's self-esteem. On numerous occasions, she had locked herself in her room to cry after receiving derogatory words from her own family.
As for strangers or people outside the family, none would dare say anything about her, even if they had an opinion on the matter. After all, she was Big Mom's daughter, and offending her could mean death.
"She's a very sensitive child. I can understand what she's going through because I suffered through it too, although to a much lesser extent than her," said Charlotte Effilée, who was smoking a cigarette and wore a worried expression for her little sister.
Although she tended to be rather taciturn, she was very kind by nature, and this was especially true when it came to her younger sisters.
"She has to learn to bear it; if she's not strong enough, she'll only have more problems in the future. Ultimately, it's for her own good that she learn to deal with her emotions as soon as possible," said Charlotte Basskarte, who was the only male sibling present on the ship.
"But she's very sensitive! Is it necessary for her own family to treat her like this?!" Gallete replied angrily, unable to accept her family's logic.
"Enough, Galette. There's no need to discuss the matter further," Basskarte said firmly, in an unquestionable tone.
Galette didn't continue arguing with her siblings. She simply turned around and walked angrily toward her room. She didn't want to stay here and listen to her other siblings criticize her twin.
"Poire is a crybaby, and Galette is also very emotional. It must be a problem they inherited from their father," Angel said thoughtfully.
"Sigh, I hope she can become stronger in the future. I don't like seeing her sad," Effilée said.
The Charlotte siblings continued drinking, paying little attention to the matter, unaware that little Poire had escaped on a small boat and was now sailing on her own, heading in the opposite direction to the large boat her siblings were on.