One Piece - I Am A Different Luffy! - Chapter 553 - Breaking Destiny.

[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV

Dawn Pirates Territory.

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...

The previous day had been all about Luffy being practically with his family, while the rest of his wives and lovers joined them.
The next day, there were a few things to do before they returned to the sea for good.

So Luffy met his father the next day, while Sinbad wanted to go with him after his mother returned from visiting his grandfather in Alabasta.
Vivi didn’t deny their son as long as he wouldn’t get in the way of Luffy with his father, knowing it was important to Luffy.
Of course Luffy wouldn’t deny his son and they went to one of the kingdom-less islands where the Revolutionary Army was using as a main base within the territory.

It didn’t take long before Luffy found himself sitting in a room meant only for him and his father, who was sitting across from him.
It was the first time they had truly met after what had happened in Egghead. Dragon remained silent.

"So, have you already met Vegapunk?" Luffy asked curiously, while Dragon shook his head.

"Not yet. He seems pretty guilty now with his affairs... I don’t see why I should bother him now, since he’ll remain in your territory, right? We’ll have plenty of chances to talk to him." Dragon said, serving himself at the tea table.

Luffy nodded, grabbing his cup and taking a sip as well.
He turned to the side, feeling Sinbad tug at his clothes while Luffy gently touched his head.

The boy smiled goofily at his father and looked curiously at Dragon, while the grandfather gave the boy a somewhat strange look.
Luffy could tell, in the gleam of his father’s eyes, there was curiosity, a sparkle of happiness...
but what Luffy also noticed and was surprised by, was a glint of self-blame.

The room went silent for a while as Luffy drank a little more of his tea and decided to break the silence.

"Do you regret it?" Luffy asked suddenly, just as Dragon looked away from his grandson and toward his son.

"That I couldn’t raise you and your sister?" Dragon asked with an indifferent look now, although he seemed cautious inside.

"Yes. Let’s be honest, you were a terrible father to us.
We needed you back then, you should have been there at least for the first few years of our lives...
I know you had all your goals and did it to protect us knowing the government wouldn’t sit still with your reputation...
but it doesn’t change the fact that we were just kids, and we might not have shown it much.
Still, we certainly needed our father." Luffy said with a bitter tone, while Dragon sighed, not wanting to blame Luffy for his criticism.

"I can’t say I was a good father, and I also can’t say I didn’t want to be with you two, to raise you as I should have,
when not even your grandfather could do it properly...
But I guess it’s too late to say ‘I’m sorry’, isn’t it?" Dragon said, placing his cup on the table and looking at Luffy with a hint of concern.

"That’s true, Luffy. Maybe we’ll always resent that, even if you’re trying to save the world.
Still, we needed you. Lucy and I will never forget that." Luffy admitted.

Every child deserved to have a father and a mother.

"You're a much better father than I ever was, Luffy. I have no doubt about that," Dragon said at last, as he turned his gaze back to the little boy with blue hair and red eyes, analyzing him in return.
Despite Dragon's rather stern face, Sinbad only looked at him with genuine curiosity.
That comment from Dragon wasn't just empty words, because even though Luffy was a notorious pirate known all over the world, he hadn't abandoned his children or hidden them. He kept them by his side, gave them affection, love as best he could, and protected them, doing everything possible to keep them safe.

He had found a way to maintain his family and pursue his goals, and he never hid that from the world — especially now that he was against the World Government.
Still, he had the love of his wives and children as something real.

"Well... thank you for your words, dear father," Luffy replied sarcastically, but didn’t insist on it. Dragon said nothing nor seemed offended by Luffy.
There was nothing else to say. Luffy didn’t hate the man in front of him, but certainly his absence in his life would always leave a mark. Even Lucy, who sometimes, in her head, was no more than an empty balloon, would easily forgive him with words, but still felt some emptiness from the absence of her father figure.

Lucy only had Luffy at the time—not that they didn’t love everyone in Foosha Village, but it definitely wasn’t the same as a blood family.
Luffy wanted to set aside the family matters for now, as he placed Sinbad, who was next to him, on his lap, holding him gently by the waist.

Dragon hadn’t yet let go of the family subject.
“By the way, will he be your heir?” Dragon still asked. This was Luffy’s oldest son.

“Maybe, but I don’t think I’ll have an heir exactly... My children can be whatever they want, but nothing will be handed to them. They’ll have to earn it.
If they want to conquer the seas, they’ll have to sail just like I did.
If they want justice, they’ll have to work for it.
But I won’t let any of them become a tyrant or someone evil...”

“I won’t have a favorite. And you know this world doesn’t work in a way where men and women are all that different,” Luffy said, though Dragon raised an eyebrow when he specified “this world.” He didn’t say anything else.
He understood the reasoning, even though women, initially, might be weaker than men in terms of raw strength, it wasn’t something you could claim was so different from one another. Depending on their lineage, or even without it, they could reach powerful strengths, even through their own efforts.

Luffy believed his daughters would be powerful and might even surpass their mothers.
At the very least, Luffy wouldn’t have to worry about their safety for a very long time. In two decades at most, they could choose their life paths.

“That’s quite an interesting thought, son.” Dragon nodded.

“Daddy, is he Grandpa?” Sinbad, still looking curiously at Dragon, finally asked.

"Yes, he's my father. Anyway, we need to outline some plans I left with Vegapunk. I want to create a communication line unlike any that came before..."

"One the World Government can’t track, where we can stay in touch. I’m sure Vegapunk can help with that with Enel’s assistance, using some technology that finds unknown radio frequencies in the air... The user of the Goro Goro no Mi can very well detect radio signals." Luffy said, as Dragon nodded.

"There’s something I wanted to ask, Luffy... What exactly happened in Egghead?"
Suddenly, Dragon had a more serious look than ever.
"I heard you took a Tenryuubito into your crew. That seems suspicious, when she herself could be possessed by something even more powerful than the Gorosei..." he said in an even darker tone.

Luffy was surprised Dragon had gotten that information.

"Don’t worry about the member I chose to bring into the crew, that’s already taken care of.
But I will talk about what happened in Egghead, yes.

The one who possessed Elizabeth—also known as one of the most powerful of the Seven Holy Knights, Saint Venus—was the one who sits on the Empty Throne, as I’ve already mentioned...
Sabo saw her in Mary Geoise...
She seems to have a power that allows her to enter the minds of government members... just like she did in Egghead.
She marked Elizabeth’s soul and planned to kill her after leaving her body.
We managed to cleanse her soul thanks to Kuma and Vegapunk..." Luffy said, pausing.

"..."
Dragon said nothing and seemed deep in thought.

"She was more powerful than anything I’ve ever faced before.
I still wonder how Sabo survived his encounter with her in Mary Geoise.
After all, I only fought a limited shell..."
Luffy knew that with the power she possessed, she clearly could have stopped Sabo with ease.

He was very lucky to escape her grasp.

"Do you think we can defeat the government?" his father asked, while Luffy raised an eyebrow at the shadow.

Luffy was silent for a moment, before smiling.
"Don’t be ridiculous," he replied sarcastically. "Of course we’re going to win this war. I don’t understand... we’re not ready yet...
But that will change soon."

"You want to find the One Piece first, right?" Dragon asked.

"Yes.
First, I need to know exactly what’s on the final island.
The World Government overestimated Roger.
They should’ve seen that in the broadcast Vegapunk made, but it’s already too late.
They regretted it even back when Roger managed to create the Great Pirate Era." Luffy said with a mischievous smile.

"What they had no idea of back then, frustrated by the chaos Roger was stirring,
was that the Pirate King was saying, behind his words...
what exactly Roger meant with his final words were even deeper truths about this world." Luffy added.

"You mean that the One Piece is the key to defeating the World Government?" Dragon asked.

"No. There's not exactly a guide to destroy the World Government. That will have to be done through revolution and a great war.
There's no other way.
That’s why we’re preparing armies for it, and we've already weakened the World Government enough at this point, especially since we managed to keep the Mother Flame from falling into their hands..." Luffy said with a serious tone.

"But there is some direction about what may be happening with the world right now in Laugh Tale.
Vegapunk already foresees that the world will be destroyed.
We need to stop its destruction while there’s still time.
He said that there, there were many answers, and no one wanted the end of the world."

Luffy didn’t say it, but according to Vegapunk... the sea keeps rising, and Luffy suspects it has to do with Wano...

‘If Pluton is beneath the island, hidden by its stone walls, it's responsible for the continuous rise of the sea...’
Luffy could be wrong, but everything points to that.

After all, Pluton from the Void Century was said to be the weapon that floods the world.
It's no coincidence that Wano keeps generating water endlessly through its waterfalls,
and it doesn't seem to be seawater being pulled in,
after all, he had Caesar Clown analyze both types of water — the sea water from the region and the water coming from Wano — and they are different...

Either way...
the World Government will be dealt with differently, obviously through war.

Luffy started to laugh, then looked at his father and his son on his lap, who seemed a bit confused.

Roger planned this whole mess very well...
He reached Laugh Tale and couldn’t do anything to stop what’s coming.

The World Government had no idea what’s on the final island...
After all, no one gave a damn about letting Roger speak before his death.

‘All my treasure is there... Find it!’
Roger’s words echoed in Luffy’s mind, but it wasn’t really his treasure—
it was the spark to make people try to discover what was there.

‘Our sovereign is about to be born...’ said one Sea King.
‘Yes... and the other will be born in the most distant sea,’ another replied.

Luffy knew that information from his past life, but they were likely referring to Lucy—
after all, Luffy wasn’t exactly someone destined for greatness, and that’s what he liked.
He wasn’t bound by fate to be someone great;
he built his own path without all that nepotism.

Roger believed the next person to reach the One Piece would be the ruler,
but this ruler, who is Lucy,
would have her brother leading them all.

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Raccoon Here:

I don't want Luffy to be someone destined to have a great role, I prefer the idea that he made his own destiny...