291 Dragon’s Invitation

"All beginnings must start with the encounter in the Devil's Triangle.

The soul returned from the underworld, gaining eternal life but losing everything, day after day, year after year, aimlessly riding the once-manned ships, singing the old songs, drifting in the mist.

...

"It's quite an interesting adventure story. If it were published, it might be a bestseller."

Inazuma gently swirled the red wine glass in her hand, adjusting her posture, resting her chin on her hand as she watched Brook narrating the story.

Ever since Brook learned about the story of Joyboy in the official history, he had begun thinking of finding a way to document the story of Nicholas and them, leaving it for future generations to read.

After all, through many things, Brook also knew that what Nicholas wanted to accomplish was no less significant than what Joyboy had done in the past. Although Joyboy failed, he was confident that Nicholas would succeed. Still, it was always good to be prepared for the worst.

The arrival of Inazuma and the others provided him with good listeners.

After overcoming the initial awkwardness, Brook, as if self-taught, began to flow with ideas, his pen moving like a rushing river, transforming the scenes in his mind into paragraphs on paper.

"Yo-ho-ho, this is all thanks to your suggestion, Inazuma."

Brook buried himself in writing, translating the scenes in his mind into written words, following Inazuma's advice to use a simple and straightforward first-person narrative method, from Brook's perspective, to turn their experiences into written passages.

"If you really want to thank me, why not give us a little discount during the weapon trade? After all, the Revolutionary Army's finances have always been tight."

Inazuma joked.

"No problem."

Brook, busy writing with a quill pen, readily agreed.

Hearing Brook's words, Inazuma smiled, saying that coming to Hakumai had rarely relaxed her or him.

Perhaps the current state of Hakumai was the driving force behind their struggles.

After a while.

Brook stopped writing and closed the thick notebook.

"What's wrong?" Inazuma asked curiously, seeing Brook's action.

Brook smiled and said, "The story is long, there's no need to write it all at once, especially since our story isn't over yet."

"I see, that makes sense."

Inazuma nodded in understanding, then jokingly said, "Brook, will I appear in your adventure story in the future?"

"Of course, and also about you asking me for a discount during the weapon trade."

Brook said softly, "Because when we met, we became indispensable parts of each other's destinies."

"Haha, good. But make sure to portray me perfectly in the story."

Inazuma lightly shook her wine glass, casually remarking to Brook.

Clearly, when one might appear in a book, everyone would want to be the best version of themselves.

Brook shook his head slightly, saying, "I want to record the real Inazuma. Would you mind?"

"Of course not."

Inazuma shook her head, seriously saying, "Since the day I joined the Revolutionary Army, I have foreseen my future. Either I'm lucky enough to see the world Dragon spoke of, or I'm unlucky enough to be captured by the World Government in some operation. If I can appear in a book as a character, it's just another form of continuing to exist for me."

"Yo-ho-ho... don't worry, Inazuma, you'll see."

....

"Dragon, what do you think? Seeing Hakumai's appearance, what feelings do you have?"

Nicholas sat in his chair, watching Dragon suddenly appear in the room, smiling and asking.

When Dragon appeared with the Revolutionary Army, it really startled Nicholas. After all, the Revolutionary Army's base was in the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line. Suddenly appearing in Wano made Nicholas think their influence had expanded to the New World.

"It's very touching. I never thought there could be a world without oppression."

Dragon said with emotion. It could be said that to Dragon, Hakumai's appearance was their ideal haven. Although there were still some flaws, compared to the beautiful life it brought, these flaws could almost be ignored.

"Want a drink?"

Nicholas raised the bottle of wine to Dragon.

"Sure."

Dragon agreed readily. Normally, he didn't have the chance to drink alcohol within the Revolutionary Army.

The two sat down and drank the wine, chatting aimlessly.

Halfway through the bottle, Dragon solemnly thanked Nicholas and expressed that the Revolutionary Army's development was inseparable from Nicholas's initial advice. If Nicholas were willing to join the Revolutionary Army, the doors would always be open to him.

Without Nicholas's advice, even if the Revolutionary Army could follow the right path, there would have been many wrong paths along the way. It could be said that the smooth development of the Revolutionary Army owed much to Nicholas.

To Dragon's formal and solemn thanks, Nicholas shook his head helplessly.

To be honest, when he urged Dragon to join the Revolutionary Army, he was a bit selfish. If it weren't for the Revolutionary Army diverting the attention of the World Government, his pressure would have been much greater.

Nicholas also confessed this to Dragon, but it seemed that Dragon didn't listen.

"Well, if you really want to thank me, why not tell me how many people you've recruited in the Navy?"

Nicholas tapped the bottle, changing the subject to inquire about Dragon's arrangements in the Navy.

"Hmm?"

Dragon looked at Nicholas seriously, saying, "Although I've always wanted to develop some people in the Navy into our organization's comrades, we can't reveal any information about our comrades to outsiders. But if you join the Revolutionary Army, it's okay to tell you."

"Forget it."

Nicholas shook his head, picked up his glass, and finished the wine in one gulp.

Seeing Nicholas giving up so easily, Dragon felt a bit uneasy.

In Dragon's opinion, if Nicholas had asked a few more questions, he might have revealed something. After all, Nicholas was quite significant to the Revolutionary Army, especially when Nicholas occupied Hakumai and Udon in Wano, holding a large number of weapons and resources, he became a target for the Revolutionary Army to win over.

"Well, what about you, Revolutionary Army, why suddenly purchase so many weapons? A hundred thousand weapons can almost arm a large kingdom's army, right?"

Nicholas looked at Dragon curiously, asking about the sudden large-scale weapon procurement by the Revolutionary Army.

He only spread the news through Bedeck in the underground black market, but Dragon came knocking on the door and swallowed up so many weapons and some Sea-Prism Stone materials.

"The comrades from various branches of the Four Seas and the Grand Line combined still need more weapons."

Dragon also sighed, it could be said that after a long period of revolutionary work, he also realized that to shatter the existing order in this world and establish a new one, it was necessary to control force. Otherwise, everything would be empty talk.