Anime Lottery System

"We need to have a feast! That's the only proper way to celebrate a great fight like that! It almost reminds me of those days I used to clash with Roger!" Whitebeard replied with a hearty laugh.

"But pops…" Marco started to say.

"Don't worry about it Marco. I doubt that guy came to fight me on any kind of orders. He probably just wanted to test himself and have a fun fight." Whitebeard said as he interrupted him.

"If that was his idea of fun then he must really be crazy." Marco said as he looked at my unconscious body. Apparently I still had a smile on my face while I was unconscious.

"Ha! I almost want him to join the crew. He reminds me a bit of Oden. He's fierce in battle but still carefree otherwise." Whitebeard said.

"You can't be serious pops. I know you've added some re oddballs to the crew before but this takes the cake."

"Haha! That might be true. Though I don't think he'd be interested in joining anyway. He seems to be on his own path." Whitebeard said before coughing up blood.

"Pops! I guess that last move really did a number on you." Marco said concerned.

"His last move did do a lot of damage, but the thing that gave me the most trouble was that strange shark skin blade. It's almost like it was draining my energy with every strike."

"Well you just rest pops, you really shouldn't be fighting like that in your condition anyway."

The Whitebeard pirates ended up preparing a feast to celebrate our fight, of course it had to wait until I recovered from my wounds. Charlemagne didn't attend because apparently after my fight he wanted to challenge Whitebeard too. He turned him down, but apparently Vista, the strongest swordsman on Whitebeard's crew, accepted a dual with him. I was told that Char pushed him to the brink of defeat before getting cut down. So, about the time I was waking up Char was out of commission recovering himself.

At the feast I was seated next to Whitebeard, I felt kind of awkward sitting next to him. Challenging him to a dual was one thing but I wasn't really sure what to say. It really put in perspective that I was in One Piece with some of my favorite characters. I almost forget that sometimes after all the years that I've been here now.

"So where did you get those strange swords?" Whitebeard asked me, breaking the silence.

"Nowhere special, I just found em." I replied.

"Those don't seem like things you would just find lying around, but if you say so. Anyway what's a guy like you doing as a Warlord?"

"That's not a complicated story either, like I said I only came out to sea to have a fun adventure. If being a Warlord means I can avoid having constant pointless fights with the Navy then it was a good choice I figured."

"Heh! Fair enough I suppose. At least you're not just a lapdog for the World Government. Still you're strangely strong for a man who doesn't have any strong goals or desires. What makes you so strong?"

"I just want to have fun and be free to do whatever I want. In these seas, only the strong have the power to do what they want. That's basically it." I said while shrugging my shoulders.

"Heh! I suppose that's true. One last question. Would you consider joining my crew?"

It was an interesting question. Out of all the pirate crews in One Piece if you asked me which crew I'd want to join; Whitebeard's would definitely be near the top of the list, maybe even at the top spot. If you told me before that I'd be asked to join Whitebeard's crew I'd accept in a heartbeat.

"Thanks, but I'm not really interested. I've got my own thing going on." I said. Even though I still think I'd be really cool to join his crew, I want to follow my own path.

"Ha! I had assumed as much! Still thought I'd ask." Whitebeard said while drinking down a large case of booze.

"Let me ask you a question, I actually know someone from your crew and I haven't seen him around. Do you have a crew mate named Marshall D. Teech? I was hoping to have another cherry pie eating contest with him." I said knowing this question might ruin the mood, but it was less awkward than my real question: Has Blackbeard killed Thatch yet?

There was an uncomfortable silence that spread throughout the entire crew. "Um, have I said something I shouldn't have?" I said feigning ignorance, I think their reaction more or less answered my real question already.

"Teech is no longer with us. He betrayed pops! He-" one of Whitebeard's crew started to say.

"That's enough! It's not something we should discuss with outsiders." Whitebeard said.

"Oh, right sorry pops."

"I see. I pretty much get the picture. I'm sorry I brought it up." I said trying to change the subject.

"It's fine, it's not your fault. But this does make me think that you could do me a favor." Whitebeard said.

"Oh? What's that?" I asked.

"One of my sons has set out to find Teech, if you don't mind I'd like for you to go and check up on him. I'd send one of them to do it, but I'd embarrass him to know that we were checking in on him. So it'd be easier if you did it." Whitebeard said.

"That's not a problem. You could have taken out my whole crew when I passed out, but you didn't so I owe you one. Plus we do owe you for treating us to this food. Although I'd have no way of where he is." I said.

"The guy I'm talking about is named Ace. I don't have his exact location, but I do have his Vivre card I can give you a piece of it. Just call in after so we can know how he's doing." Whitebeard said as he handed me a piece of the card.

"Well, I see that you're more of a doting parent than I expected." I said as I took the card piece from him.

After spending some time eating and partying with the Whitebeard pirates we eventually set out in search of Ace.

"Captain are you sure we should be running errands for Whitebeard? Wouldn't the Navy get mad at us if they find out?" Sig asked.

"Yeah, but they'd also get mad if they found out about a bunch of the stuff that we've been doing." I replied. "I don't really worry about that kind of stuff, I just do whatever I want."

"Still I can't believe we actually got to hang out with the Whitebeard pirates! That was so cool! They're like some of the most famous pirates in the world!" Sig said enthusiastically.

"You must mean infamous. I'm still in shock of how much of a monster our own captain is. I knew he was a freak already but this takes it even further." Rei said.

"Nobody asked you, Tramp." I said.

"Yeah that hussy actually has a point. It's pretty incredible that you actually managed to pull off a draw against a legend like Whitebeard." Jack said cutting through Rei an my bickering.

"Eh, I don't know. Calling it a draw is a bit too flattering. It's more like it was a draw because he let it be a draw. If anything I basically lost. If he went all out from the start I wouldn't have stood a chance." I said dismissively.

"I think you're being too modest as usual Gai. Even if you count that as a loss, it's undeniable that you went toe to toe with him. Plus you managed to wound him pretty bad. It's still impressive no matter how you look at it." Yuma said.

"I don't know about all that." I said scratching my head embarrassed. "Still he has a point. This fight was a good indication of how strong I've become. I still can't beat one of the Four Emperors yet, but this might put me at roughly the same level as one of the Three Admirals. Basically I should be able to at least hold my own with some of the strongest characters in this world." I thought to myself.

We were now on our way to find Ace and we finally ended up tracking him down. The place we tracked him down to just so happened to be the desert island of Alabasta.