Buckingham Never Wants to Leave!
3: The Power of Dreams!
Buckingham Never Wants to Leave!
Chapter 3: The Power of Dreams!
Buckingham Never Wants to Leave!
The massive Marine warship cut through the waves as it sailed back toward Marine Headquarters.
On deck, the recruits had gathered in small groups, laughing and messing around.
Their final assessment had ended successfully, and even the powerful enemies who had suddenly attacked them had been defeated.
Even someone as strict as Zephyr wasn’t about to push recruits who had just survived a crisis.
Aside from the minimum crew needed to operate the ship, everyone was allowed to take the day off.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Nate sat blankly on the railing, his eyelids still drooping.
This time, however, his eyes were completely lifeless, making him look almost like an automated machine.
In his right hand, he held an enormous barbell and repeatedly performed curls.
The plates stacked on either side looked like two small hills.
“How heavy is that thing?” A Marine watching Nate train clicked his tongue in amazement.
“The railing looks like it’s about to crack under him!” The solid wooden railing beneath Nate was indeed making strange creaking noises, proof enough of how absurdly heavy the barbell was.
In fact, Nate’s arm muscles were already trembling violently.
Sweat poured off him like rain, and he clearly seemed close to his limit.
Yet his right arm continued rising and falling like a machine, never slowing or losing rhythm.
“I’ve told you guys already.
Don’t compare yourselves to Nate.
That guy’s a monster.” Binz crouched in front of Nate with narrowed eyes, waving his right hand back and forth in front of his face.
Nate didn’t react at all.
His eyes didn’t even move.
“No matter how many times I see it, this still looks weird.” Binz raised his voice.
“Are we really sure he’s not asleep?” “Hehehe.” One Marine leaned closer with a mischievous grin.
“Still don’t believe it, Binz?
Why don’t you punch Nate again and find out?” Binz immediately shuddered, his face turning pale.
“No thanks.
If Nate’s reflexes make him punch me back again, I’ll be stuck in a hospital bed for at least two weeks.” Whenever Nate devoted himself completely to training, he entered this strange state.
He became almost completely unaware of his surroundings and simply trained like a machine until his body was utterly exhausted.
Back when everyone first noticed it, Binz had volunteered to try “waking” Nate up.
He lost several front teeth for his trouble.
Binz had no interest in finding out how much heavier Nate’s punches had become since then.
Not far away, Ain had just finished another round of training and was still breathing hard.
She stared at Nate, who hadn’t slowed down in the slightest despite being drenched in sweat, and quietly gritted her teeth.
‘Is this guy seriously not a robot?’ ‘His body is already near its limit, but his movements haven’t broken down at all!’ …
Inside an endless, empty world, Nate floated leisurely through the air.
He watched Weevil run around excitedly in the distance while Buckingham Stussy sat helplessly on the ground, her face filled with despair.
Binz was actually right.
Whenever Nate trained, he really was “sleeping.” Nate had transmigrated into this pirate world exactly one year ago.
And the way he arrived had been rather unusual.
It wasn’t a physical transmigration, but it didn’t seem like normal soul transmigration either.
Before crossing over, he had been playing a One Piece game.
He had randomly rolled an absurdly powerful new character who started with a formidable Devil Fruit, maxed-out potential for all three types of Haki, and a special-race starting companion.
Then, the instant Nate excitedly pressed the button to begin the game, he appeared in this world.
He had become his game character.
The game system hadn’t come with him, but Nate had inherited every ability his character possessed.
He wasn’t actually a special race, yet his body was still far stronger than that of an ordinary human.
He possessed incredible potential for all three types of Haki.
He also had an initial companion who was absolutely loyal to him.
And then there was the Dream-Dream Fruit.
Controlling his real-world body from inside a dream so he could train without experiencing the pain was merely one of its most insignificant uses.
Entering another person’s dreams or forcing someone directly to sleep was equally easy.
The true essence of the ability was that it gave Nate an entire Dream World.
That world had no fixed appearance and no fixed boundaries.
Because it was Nate’s dream.
A true mental world where everything existed according to his will.
As long as something fell within the limits of his understanding, Nate could do anything he imagined inside this world.
But even that wasn’t the most important part.
Reality and dreams overlapped within Nate himself, blurring the boundary between mind and matter.
He could forcibly drag others into the Dream World.
And he could also make the dream itself invade reality.
Forcing someone into a dream was easy enough to understand.
If their Haki or willpower wasn’t strong enough to resist him, they couldn’t stop Nate from pulling them into his Dream World.
And once someone entered that world, even Imu would be completely at Nate’s mercy.
As for dreams invading reality, the concept was just as simple.
Nate could project things from the Dream World into the real world.
Mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, forests, lightning, flames— As long as it was something tangible, Nate could project it into reality however he wished.
The Illusion-Illusion Fruit was merely the fake identity he’d created around this ability.
He produced corresponding images and sounds inside the Dream World, then projected them into reality.
Even the unexpected blow that struck Buckingham earlier had been a projected physical object.
Nate had simply made it invisible.
However, just like the ability wielded by Killingham of the Knights of God, Nate’s projected creations ultimately weren’t real.
They were only dreams given temporary form.
Flames produced no heat.
Ice carried no cold.
Projected seawater couldn’t weaken Devil Fruit users either.
But that flaw wasn’t impossible to overcome.
The projections were false only because the connection between dreams and reality wasn’t yet strong enough.
And if Nate alone wasn’t enough to serve as the bridge between them— Then he simply needed more bridges.
The balls of light Nate had given Buckingham and Weevil were actually a form of two-way Dream World access.
Nate opened his dream to them.
And they opened their dreams to Nate.
Because the mother and son were outsiders, and because Nate didn’t understand the true nature of the soul, he couldn’t directly rewrite their wills.
That exceeded the limits of his understanding.
So the connection couldn’t simply be forced onto them.
They had to accept it themselves.
Once they accepted that access, however, their dreams became linked to Nate’s Dream World.
Or more accurately, they became part of it.
From that moment onward, both of them could enter the Dream World whenever they wished.
Of course, because access worked both ways, Nate could also pull them inside whenever he wanted.
He could even use the connection to project his own consciousness into their bodies and control them directly.
Buckingham and Weevil had now become additional bridges.
Naturally, two people weren’t nearly enough.
Which meant the next step was obvious.
The more people Nate connected to the Dream World, the more bridges he gained.
And the more bridges he had, the stronger the connection between the Dream World and reality would become.
As that connection deepened, the amount of power Nate could exert in reality would steadily increase.
Eventually, true creation from nothing might become possible.
Perhaps he wouldn’t even be limited to projecting physical objects.
Maybe one day, Nate could make the very rules of the Dream World descend into reality.
And perhaps, someday, the Dream World and the real world would completely overlap.
When that happened— Nate would truly become a god walking among mortals.
Since he needed more people, naturally he wanted capable ones.
In Nate’s opinion, Impel Down was perfect.
That place was packed with talented individuals.
But as an outstanding Marine, Nate obviously couldn’t personally commit crimes.
That was precisely why Weevil and Buckingham were so important.
‘All right.’ ‘I should probably give them a little reward first.’ Nate lightly snapped his fingers.
God issued an order to this world.
And the world obediently answered.
Buckingham, who had been sitting blankly on the ground, suddenly widened her eyes.
She had only blinked once.
Yet the entire world had changed.
She was now inside an enormous palace that seemed to have been built entirely from gold.
Buckingham sat atop a towering golden throne, covered from head to toe in glittering jewelry.
Two neat rows of elegantly dressed servants stood beneath the throne.
And outside the palace gates lay mountains of gold, silver, and precious treasure.
Buckingham swallowed instinctively.
Money had always been one of her greatest weaknesses.
“Whoa!
So much treasure!
We’re rich!!” Her idiot son had already wrapped both arms around a gleaming golden pillar.
Weevil turned excitedly toward his mother.
Then he froze.
“Mom!
You look really young!” Buckingham instinctively looked down at herself.
Her hands, once covered in wrinkles from age, had become smooth and delicate again.
Her legs had regained the fair, slender appearance of her youth.
Even her chest had become full and firm once more.
‘I’ve really become young again?’ Then she immediately shook off the thought.
‘No.’ ‘None of this is real!’ ‘This is only a mental world.
No matter how convincing it looks, none of it means anything!’ “Weevil—” She was about to say something.
“Weevil, Stussy.
What are you two still standing around for?” A man’s voice came naturally from a side door in the palace.
A towering figure stepped through.
Golden hair shone like molten sunlight.
A crescent-shaped mustache curved over his lip.
His chest was broad like the sea itself, and his massive body seemed tall enough to hold up the sky.
Yet his face carried a warm, happy smile.
“Our family gathering is about to start!” Buckingham froze completely.
“New…
Newgate?” “You…
you’re—” Weevil reacted even more dramatically.
His eyes trembled violently as mucus shot straight from his nose.
“DAD!!” The young man called Edward Newgate—better known as Whitebeard—looked at his overly excited son with visible confusion.
“Of course I’m your dad.
What’s wrong with you, idiot son?” “Dad!
I finally got to meet you!” Weevil rushed forward and threw both arms around Whitebeard.
Tears and snot immediately poured down his face.
“You idiot son.” Whitebeard smiled and patted him on the back.
“Your old man will always be here with you.” Weevil burst into even louder sobs.
Buckingham could only stare blankly at the scene before her.
Her reasons for giving birth to Weevil had never been entirely pure.
And yet, watching a scene she had dreamed about for years unfold before her still filled her with an emotion she couldn’t quite describe.
Even if she knew— “Hey, Stussy.
How long are you going to stand there?” Whitebeard sighed impatiently.
Then, almost awkwardly, he turned his head aside with a faint blush and opened one arm toward her.
“You want a hug too?
Seriously, you’re hopeless.” “…” ‘It’s fake.’ ‘This is just something created by that mysterious ability to fool me.’ Buckingham repeated those words inside her head.
Yet her body had already stood up on its own.
Her legs carried her forward before she could stop herself.
One stumbling step became another.
Then her pace quickened.
Before she realized it, Buckingham had already thrown herself into his embrace.
“Newgate!” The woman who was more than sixty years old suddenly behaved like a lovestruck girl.
“You foolish woman.” Whitebeard’s powerful arm wrapped around her slender waist, his voice carrying a trace of affection.
‘This Newgate is fake.’ Buckingham reminded herself again.
But his face was Newgate’s.
His voice was Newgate’s.
His personality was Newgate’s.
Even his scent was Newgate’s.
And the feeling of those muscles beneath her hands—That was Newgate too.
Buckingham slowly raised her head.
Then she found herself staring into a pair of deeply affectionate eyes.
‘Back then…
didn’t Newgate look at Shakky like this too?’ She couldn’t tell anymore.
She truly couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t.
And if she couldn’t tell— If she couldn’t resist anyway— Then…
“Weevil.” Buckingham slowly licked her crimson lips.
“Go outside and play by yourself for a while.” “Huh?
Mom?” Buckingham never took her eyes off Newgate.
“Your mother and your father have some things they need to discuss…
privately.” …