Chapter 51: The Direction of the Future

At night, Chu Yang was exercising alone on the deck. A moment later, a figure emerged from the cabin and approached him.

"Why won't you accept Big Brother Tiger's invitation?" Jinbe looked at Chu Yang with confusion. He had originally thought that after experiencing so many battles, they would have long since become comrades.

Chu Yang stopped his movements, sat down slowly, and explained, "If it were the Tiger from before, who intended to travel the world, I would join him without hesitation. But now, all his energy is focused on the liberation of slaves. That is his ideal, not mine."

Jinbe fell into silence. It was exactly as Chu Yang said; everyone's ideals are different. Is it right to use one's own ideals to hijack the freedom of others, no matter how great or righteous those ideals may be?

After a long period of contemplation, Jinbe let out a long sigh toward the sky, his face filled with regret. In his eyes, Chu Yang was a junior with limitless potential; it was truly a pity for someone like him to leave the Sun Pirates!

Filled with regret, Jinbe sat down heavily on the deck and asked, "Then is your ideal the same as Big Brother Tiger's—to travel the world?"

Chu Yang smiled and said, "Something like that. I want to wander around and see things, fight against some strong opponents to temper myself, and also witness the scenery of different parts of the world. Since I've finally made it to this world, I can't let the Navy chase me around like a dog forever, can I?"

Jinbe reminded him, "Given your previous performance, I'm afraid you've already attracted the Navy's attention. Even after you leave the ship, you will likely be wanted."

Chu Yang replied firmly, "Let them issue a bounty. At least I can freely decide where I want to go."

Jinbe remarked with emotion, "You truly seem like a real pirate now."

"I already am..." Chu Yang felt a sense of sentimentality as well. He then patted Jinbe on the shoulder and smiled, "Don't be so discouraged. It's not like I'm leaving immediately; I'll be staying for a while longer."

For once, a faint smile appeared on Jinbe's face.

Looking at the moon hanging high above the horizon, Chu Yang began to reflect on the words he had spoken to him in the Soul Palace regarding magic.

In the world of pirates, many people are proficient in Haki, but those who possess Conqueror's Haki are as rare as phoenix feathers. Currently, only about a dozen people are known to possess it. Aside from the yet-to-mature Boa Hancock, the late Pirate King Roger, and Kozuki Oden, almost all others are legendary great pirates.

The Navy also has experts who understand Conqueror's Haki, but for Chu Yang—who had been a slave to the Celestial Dragons and had boarded a pirate ship—joining the Navy was impossible.

Therefore, if Chu Yang wanted to further strengthen his Haki, he had to find a way through the pirate side.

There were only a few candidates he could target.

First were the Four Emperors.

In the current timeline, Kaido had been operating in Wano Country for nearly twelve years. The underground black market weapon trade was in full swing, and even the World Government was involved; his power was immense.

"Big Mom" Charlotte Linlin had completely occupied one side of the sea with Whole Cake Island. As her children grew in number, the number of pirate crews under her banner surged, and her Totto Land was beginning to take shape.

It was in this very year that the calls for both of them to become "Emperors of the Sea" were growing louder.

Ultimately, they formed a pincer formation with the world's strongest man, Whitebeard.

Meanwhile, although Red-Haired Shanks was famous, his influence was not even close to the other three.

It would take another six years for the structure of the Four Emperors to fully form.

After much deliberation, Chu Yang chose to abandon the idea of learning Conqueror's Haki from Kaido or Big Mom.

Setting aside the fact that their locations were very far away in the latter half of the Grand Line, their styles of operation were simply incompatible with Chu Yang's.

Both were somewhat neurotic, and neuroticism was the thing Chu Yang disliked most.

The Whitebeard Pirates would have been a good destination, but one would have to call people "Father." The mere thought of calling Whitebeard "Pops" made Chu Yang shudder.

Although Chu Yang admired Whitebeard, he refused the idea of "adopting" a father.

Among the Four Emperors, Shanks currently had the weakest strength, making him the easiest to join.

However, the problem was that Chu Yang could not confirm Shanks' current level of Conqueror's Haki, considering there were still a full six years before he became one of the Four Emperors.

The remaining candidate, Silvers Rayleigh, was easy to approach as he was in the Sabaody Archipelago.

But as a pirate who had been in seclusion for many years, the probability of Rayleigh being willing to come out of hiding to teach Chu Yang was not very high.

"Protagonist halos" were not something everyone possessed.

Other options, like Doflamingo or the pillar of the Happo Navy, Caribou, were the worst of the worst strategies.

After weighing all the options, Shanks remained the most reliable.

Thinking of this, Chu Yang was suddenly struck by a realization: this year was not only the year of Kaido and Big Mom's rise, but also the year Shanks would meet Luffy in Foosha Village!

The Gum-Gum Fruit!

Its true name after awakening is the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan Model: Nika!

Shanks had taken the Gum-Gum Fruit from Portgas D. Ace's hands, originally intending to give it to the orphan of the Pirate King, Roger, but it was accidentally eaten by Luffy!

If someone suggested that Shanks knew nothing about the secret of the Gum-Gum Fruit, Chu Yang wouldn't quite believe it.

It wouldn't be strange for a pirate of his caliber to seize a Devil Fruit from the World Government.

What was strange was that he happened to bring this fruit to Foosha Village, where Ace was.

Clearly, Shanks hoped Ace would become the child of destiny, but fate chose Luffy instead, and Shanks himself saw the shadow of his captain, Roger, in Luffy.

Thus, he respected fate's choice and placed all his bets on Luffy.

Now, as long as Chu Yang was willing to pay the price and bear Shanks' wrath, he could turn the wheel of fate and steer it in an unknown direction.

The protagonist didn't have to be Luffy; it could be anyone, including Chu Yang himself.

Was Chu Yang willing?

Of course not!

The success rate was too low, and the price to be paid would be unimaginable!

Was it really that easy to pull such stunts right under Shanks' nose?

Setting aside how strong Shanks' Observation Haki was—even Yasopp, Usopp's father, possessed top-tier Observation Haki—Chu Yang would likely be headshot before he could even get close to the Gum-Gum Fruit.

Luffy was able to let the accident happen only because he was young and people were not wary of him. Chu Yang was clearly not the type of person that the entire Red-Haired crew would lower their guard for, even if he managed to join them successfully.

The only result Chu Yang could influence...

Was likely only preventing Luffy from eating the Gum-Gum Fruit.

But what would be the point of that?

The next day, Chu Yang found Tiger and expressed his desire to go to the East Blue.

Tiger was very surprised. He had anticipated that Chu Yang might disembark at any point in the Grand Line, but he had never imagined Chu Yang would head to the East Blue.

However, despite his surprise, Tiger respected Chu Yang's decision and decided to escort him back with the Sun Pirates.

From their current location, the fastest route to the East Blue was to force their way through the Calm Belt.