The Meeting

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In the temporarily-built bunker, located not far away from Elbaf's main port town and a 20- minutes-walk from the frequented tavern of the Red Hair Captain, a small pirates' gathering was underway...

The dark-haired surgeon discovered himself positioned opposite Red Hair Shanks, Benn Beckman, Lucky Roux, Limejuice, and Yasopp. The deal he had made with the redheaded- captain had led to this audience with his most-trusted crew members...

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Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Law mentally sighed... Disclosing his personal secrets to a group of people he hardly knew, not to mention, one of the most powerful pirates in present time, was testing for someone as naturally guarded as himself. Yet, he had given his word, and he would honour it...

The Red Hair captain began the conversation in his usual good-natured manner, as if this were just another casual meeting and that somehow, helped the young brunet relaxed a little...

"Let me begin with my first question, doctor," he said, leaning back comfortably..."Who are you?"

The question seemed simple, but Law knew he needed to tread carefully to divulge something meaningful enough, but not too excessive... "I am Trafalgar Law, the pirate captain and doctor of the Heart Pirate crew originating from North Blue..." he answered. After a moment's hesitation, he continued, "My most recent bounty is three-billion beli."

The crew reacted with surprise and whistles at the mention of such an exceptional bounty, even Shanks himself seemed genuinely impressed, "Wow, that's amazing, doctor!" he remarked.

Yasopp chimed in with curiosity, "But how come we never heard of you or your crew before? With such a high bounty, your name should be all over the places, right?"

Law took a thoughtful pause before replying, "I guess your captain's next question will give me an opportunity to answer that. Let's move on for now..."

Shanks let out a chuckle, "...So you already anticipated my following question, huh? I like to keep things simple, Doc. And next, of course, is... Why did you end up alone in the Forbidden Forest?"

A subtle smile curved on the younger man's lips as he sensed the similarity between Red Hair Shanks' and Strawhat Luffy's straightforward approach, 'Such simplicity...no doubt they have some connections.'

Then, he gathered himself again for the challenging response to come. "I came from the future, seven years from the current time," he revealed. "During a battle with Blackbeard...or Marshall D. Teach and his crew on the Winner Island—also previously known as Rinascita, our clashing powers had instantly sent me to this era, right there at the same place where I first witnessed your fight with the Basilisks."

"!!!!!!!"

The proclamation dangled in the air, making the crew members collectively stunned, their eyes growing wide and jaws hanging open in sheer astonishment...

The first one to break the silence was their captain, whose aura suddenly turned more intimidating as he raised his remaining hand to faintly touch his eyes. "Ah, Teach... that name alone makes these scars throb..." The sudden surge of powerful Haki emanating from the redhead instantly put Law on an alarming mode, 'What's going on here?!'

But just as quickly as it came, the intense aura disappeared, replaced by excitement as Shanks looked straight into Law's questioning eyes and broke into a broad smile, "And you fought him! What a weird coincidence! Now it all made sense, your mysterious emergence in that unlikely place!"

"Right! That explains it! So, in this timeline, you have yet to make a name for yourself! But what an achievement in just seven years, Doc!!" remarked Yasopp with enthusiasm.

"Ah~~ How great to be young again! The future generations sure made a big bang, huh?!!" joined Limejuice just as eagerly.

"You're even greater than I thought, Law! Being both a pirate captain and a doctor is so cool!!!" admired Roux, giving him big grin and thumbs-up.

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Now it was the young surgeon who marvelled at their reactions. 'Not even a slight disbelief in what they just heard...?'

Before he could fully comprehend their cheerful responses, Benn Beckman spoke up, "That's partly the impact of the Black Hole power, I guess." Law instantly turned his attention to the calm and ever-grinning man, "Do you know something about it, Benn-ya?" he gingerly asked.

"I think I came across some hypothetical theories about time-traveling phenomena before, somewhere in a pool of those books," Benn Beckman replied...

Shanks interjected with excitement, "This is even more fascinating than I first thought! This case is different from Toki's!...I heard from Roger-sama that Oden once let slip about his wife's time-travel from several hundred years ago in the past! If that was even possible, then this thing could happen with Doctor too!! There are really no bounds when it comes to Devil Fruit powers!" The redhead was talking like a kid sharing tales of adventure.

Having spent his childhood on the former Pirate King's ship, the taller captain had undoubtedly witnessed all the miracles the world had to offer. His comrades' accepting gestures also put Law at an unexpected ease, 'This isn't as complicated as I first thought. The Red Hair crew is one of the most resourceful and experienced in this era, given their combined powers, roaming all seas in the past many years...' he silently assessed.

Shortly after, the red-haired man then walked over to him while saying, "Now that you've answered both of my questions, doctor, I'll ask the last one then." He intently looked at the younger brunet as he inquired...

"What is it that you want to do now?" .

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And with just a momentary pause, the captain continued, "However, you can give me the answer to this question after you finish your research in the library, let's say...three days from now....easy, isn't it?" Shanks flashed him a winking smile, before turning around to his first mate, "Hey, Benn...I think you should help the doctor a bit, will ya?"

The older brunet tossed his cigar to the ground and used his foot to snuff it out, before he responded, "Sure, Chief... or else, three days would barely scratch the surface of searching for anything among those massive panels of books." Beckman smirked at the bewildered surgeon.

"I was the one who helped arrange and categorise all those books and papers a few years back. The Giants wouldn't have bothered to do such a delicate task anyway... so when it comes down to it, you could say I'm an ad hoc librarian of some sort..."

"Awww...that brings back some awful memories!!" interrupted Limejuice distastefully...

"We tried to help too, but I threw up just after a few hours of sorting those never-ending stacks of books!!" recalled Yasopp, as if reliving his worst nightmare...

"Ah~~I would never go anywhere near that place again! Just being there would make my head exploded!!" whined Roux, with a shiver and horror on his face...

"Alright, alright... we'll leave the right people in the right place then. Benn, take the doctor to the library now. I've already asked for his permission. And you guys... come with me, we still have another meeting to go!"

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