A special ability only the Pirate King Roger had possessed… Gavin had never imagined that he would suddenly awaken something like this one day.
Compared to a mutated branch of Observation Haki, the Voice of All Things felt more like a special skill that could not even be called Haki.
At least in Gavin’s opinion, it was closer to an extremely unusual form of empathy.
In the original story, only a handful of people had awakened this ability.
Aside from Roger and Kozuki Oden, only Luffy, Shirahoshi, and that damn perverted brat could hear the thoughts of certain special animals.
And Gavin’s current situation was similar to when Luffy heard Zunesha’s voice.
He could only understand the whale’s thoughts.
He could not hear the thoughts of other humans.
“Of course you can.
The sea isn’t going to get angry just because humans and a whale become friends.” After receiving his answer, Laboon’s eyes turned watery, and he lifted his head excitedly before letting out a loud cry.
Aside from Yorki of the Rumbar Pirates several decades ago, and Roger seven years ago, Gavin was the third living being capable of communicating with him.
‘Family~ Crewmates~ Promise~’ Another thought reached him, and this time, Gavin was finally certain that he really had awakened this special ability.
“That’s right.
We’re crewmates and family now, Laboon.
From now on, make sure you follow us closely.” ‘No problem~!’ “Um… Gavin…” Shanks came to Gavin’s side with a pitiful expression, his face nearly collapsing into tears.
“Why don’t I have this ability?
Teach me, okay?
I really want to talk to animals too.” Buggy flew over as well and hugged Gavin’s leg tightly.
“Me too, Gavin!
From now on, you’re the great Captain Buggy’s big brother!
Can you teach me this ability too?” “If I can make friends with whales, then all the treasure at the bottom of the sea will belong to the great Captain Buggy!
Wahahaha!!!” “Let go, let go!” Gavin tried to peel the two twisted things stuck to his body off him, but failed.
Buggy, trapped in his own fantasy, was still laughing wildly, while Shanks wallowed in self-pity and kept muttering about why he had not awakened the ability.
“It’s useless.
At times like this, only this works best.” A shadow loomed over the two of them.
Crocus stood there with a dark expression, Armament Haki flowing over his fist and forming a slightly distorted “gauntlet.” “You useless brats, stop embarrassing yourselves here!!” Bang!
Bang!
Shanks and Buggy’s eyes instantly turned into spirals as they collapsed to the ground.
Shanks: unconscious.
Buggy: unconscious.
Crocus kicked the two unconscious idiots aside with visible disgust, then looked at Gavin.
“Are you sure you heard Laboon’s voice just now?” Gavin nodded and said to Laboon, “Laboon, spray a fountain?” ‘No problem~ Three~ Two~ One!’ As Laboon counted down, Gavin counted with him.
When the countdown reached zero, Laboon sprayed a large amount of seawater from his blowhole again.
Feeling the seawater scatter down, Crocus could not help sighing.
“This really is… what should I call it?
The wheel of fate turning again?
Roger and Rayleigh from back then have somehow appeared again around Shanks.” “Gavin, that guy Shanks has caused you plenty of trouble, hasn’t he?” “That willful, proud, and foolish personality of his really did inherit Roger’s worst traits perfectly.
Luckily, Rayleigh was there to discipline him back then.
Otherwise, Shanks would probably be Roger Number Two by now.” Gavin smiled and answered, “It’s not that bad.
Honestly, if Shanks hadn’t taken in a homeless guy like me back then, I’d probably still be wandering around some kingdom in East Blue.” “With that spirit of yours, you’re definitely not the type to remain quietly beneath others for long.
I’ll leave Shanks and Buggy to you from now on.” Crocus sighed with feeling as he walked toward the Red Force, not forgetting to grab the unconscious Shanks and Buggy on his way.
“We’re all old now.
We can’t look after you youngsters of the new generation for much longer.
Since you awakened the same ability as Roger, you’ll be helping me navigate this time.” “Set sail!
We’re heading for South Blue!” Gavin jumped onto Laboon’s head.
“We’re setting off, Laboon!
Swallow that ship, and let’s enter the Calm Belt!” …
At the end of July, Sea Circle Calendar year 1499, late at night.
The crescent moon was covered by dark clouds, and the occasional fierce gust of wind carried thick moisture.
A huge Island Whale covered in wounds burst out of the Calm Belt and swam toward the increasingly hot waters of South Blue without looking back.
Sitting on top of the whale’s head, Crocus let out a breath of relief.
“Damn it!
How did we end up provoking that herd of pig-headed squids?!
Are those huge herd-living Sea Kings in mating season or something?!” Unfortunately, Gavin and Shanks had no energy left to answer.
The two lay on Laboon’s broad back, panting heavily.
They had entered the Calm Belt in April of 1499.
More than three months had passed since then, and they had gone through an enormous amount of effort before finally breaking free.
According to Crocus’s original estimate, they should have escaped the Calm Belt and entered South Blue by late June or early July.
But who could have expected those giant Sea Kings that lived in the deep sea to surface for no reason?
And in a whole group, no less.
The moment those enormous Sea Kings with pig heads and tusks saw Laboon, they launched a fierce attack.
If Crocus had not noticed in time, and if it had not happened right at the end of June, with Gavin luckily switching to Hyōrinmaru at the perfect moment… Laboon might have ended up inside the stomachs of those giant Sea Kings.
Even so, their group had been forced to take a long detour sideways, doing everything they could to avoid the herds of pig-headed squid drawn over by the smell of blood.
[Zanpakutō: Hyōrinmaru withdrawn… Drawing new Zanpakutō… locking result… confirmed Zanpakutō: Minazuki.
Trial duration: 1/month.] Hm?!
Gavin suddenly felt all his exhaustion vanish.
The strongest ice-type Zanpakutō, Hyōrinmaru, had just left.
Gavin had already mentally prepared himself to receive some trash Zanpakutō next.
He had not expected the one to arrive to be Captain Unohana’s blade!
[Minazuki: Retsu Unohana—Do not worry.
I will not cut you down right away.
Minazuki will heal you.] [Bonus attributes: Strength S-, Agility A+, Spiritual Power S-] [Bonus skills: Shunpo, Basic Attack, Constant Healing, Instinct (Sealed), Kendo Max, Dynamic Vision] [Basic Attack: Use Kendo Max to perform technical Basic Attacks!] [Constant Healing: After Shikai, Minazuki transforms into a strange one-eyed flying creature.
As long as it swallows a target that has not died, all negative injuries will be healed when the target is spat back out.] [Instinct (Sealed): You possess an extremely strong instinct for slaughter, but the deepest part of that instinct is hidden.
Only the most brutal battles can release the seal.] A pale-purple katana, slightly more curved than the other Asauchi-like blades, replaced Hyōrinmaru.
Gavin gripped the katana and closed his eyes, sensing it for a moment.
Then his brows slowly furrowed.
This blade felt… He could not say it was weak.
It was more that it felt strange.
Gavin held the purple sheath in his left hand and gripped the plum-red hilt with his right, slowly drawing the blade out.
The bright blade shone like the crescent moon in the sky.
A cold gleam flashed across it, as if telling the story of its owner.
Memory fragments flashed through his mind one after another.
Her mad slaughter during the time when she was known as a great villain.
Her meeting with the Captain-Commander.
Her refinement of swordsmanship and the way of killing.
Finally, the moment when the young Kenpachi Zaraki stabbed her through the chest… But the fast-forwarding images stopped just before her Bankai was about to be released, leaving a pool of blood as the final image in Gavin’s memory.
A pair of emotionless eyes stared through the curtain of blood falling endlessly from the sky.
Beneath those eyes, thin lips moved several times, as if trying to say something, only to be blocked by an invisible force.
“Minazuki…” A barely audible sigh slipped from Gavin’s mouth.
As the different Zanpakutō came to him one after another, the one that had left the deepest impression and influenced him the most was still Nozarashi.
Even Hyōrinmaru could not compare.
The feeling of controlling ice in battle was certainly good, and its power was decent too, but Gavin always felt like something was missing.
Whenever he held Hyōrinmaru, Gavin would forget about its special abilities and instead keep wanting to rush forward and carve countless wounds into his enemies with the blade.
And now, Minazuki was the second Zanpakutō during this period that came with the Basic Attack skill.
After searching through the memories related to Captain Unohana, Gavin suddenly had a feeling.
Compared to the violent and straightforward Nozarashi, Minazuki was probably a technical Basic Attack blade.
In the original work, before joining the Gotei 13, Retsu Unohana had been known as the most notorious criminal in the history of Soul Society.
She claimed to have mastered every school and sword style in existence and even gave herself the name Yachiru, meaning “eight thousand styles.” That alone was enough to show how special Minazuki was.
“Huh, Gavin, did you switch swords again?” Looking at the heavily wounded Shanks beside him, Gavin remembered Minazuki’s Shikai ability, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
“Shanks, let me heal you.
This blade, Minazuki, has very powerful healing abilities.” With a thought from Gavin, Minazuki transformed into a large one-eyed manta ray and opened its mouth, swallowing Shanks whole.
Minazuki: chew~~ chew~~ “No need to worry, Crocus.
This is my special ability.”