Chapter 11: Richards's Past
The Calm Belts, Crowell Island!
"Rumble…" The dark, gloomy waves struck time and time again against the craggy cliff that was ten thousand meters high. Despite many years having passed with the waters of the Calm Belt Seas continuously striking against it, this crag remained exactly as it had been many years ago, standing there unmoving.
This crag was absolutely straight, like the edge of a knife. Its surface gleamed like a mirror.
"Rumble…"
On this ridge, there was a ripple in space surrounded by a misty light. A transparent door appeared in the middle of the misty light then two figures appeared within the distorted space in the centre of the door. After the misty light dispersed, the two figures were now clearly discernible. Standing in the centre was a man dressed in a white unbuttoned shirt with a blue overcoat and a young man who was slightly disoriented standing by his side.
These two people were clearly Rayden and his father Richard who had arrived at Crowell Island through the space door. Rayden stood disoriented at the same for about four minutes before his vision cleared. Noticing his father standing by him, he looked curiously around at their surroundings.
Before he could further examine his surroundings, Richard's voice sounded from his side.
"We've finally arrived at Crowell Island where your real training will begin. As long as we are here, you can no longer refer to me as your father. Refer to me as 'Teacher'!"
"Yes Teacher!" Rayden was quite surprised at Richard's change of attitude the moment they arrived here.
"Hold my hand and don't let go if you don't want to fall off this ridge" Richard instructed again in a cold voice and held Rayden's hand jumping onto the ridge and moving further into the island.
Affected by Richard's cold expression, Rayden doesn't dare ask him anything further.
As Richard was taking Rayden away from the ridge deeper into the forests of Crowell Island, Rayden suddenly felt a surge of warmth. A simple and honest feeling came from Richard's hand, and, in the next moment, a strange scene occurred.
Every time Richard's tiptoes touched the ground surface, they crossed at least 33m and after a few breathes, ridge was already far from sight.
For Rayden, this traveling speed was incredible. It could be described as something "as swift as the wind and as quick as lightning"; all he could do was to strongly grip Richard's hand, by fear of falling otherwise.
As they kept moving swiftly through the forest, with his astonishing perception, he felt very strong presences around him; stronger than anything he had ever felt. As these presences got closer to them, Richard released his strong momentum which instantly scared the away.
They passed through many places where Rayden noticed signs of recent battle. He figured that these should be sites where ferocious beast had fought recently. They passed through many such places whilst climbing a mountain peak in the same direction.
"Teacher, there are wild beasts here and maybe even ferocious beasts." Rayden reminded him with good intentions.
Richard looked like he heard him, but went even faster, directly taking him to ascend this Mountain. Even during the process of climbing the mountain, his speed never decreased. The scenery quickly passed as he was brushed by strong winds and his hair dispersed.
The Mountain was not very high, just 600 odd meters. Only after a little while did they arrive to the summit. Three log cabins appeared before Rayden's line of vision. They didn't have courtyards: it was three solitary log cabins but they looked completely old, they were clearly built long ago.
As they arrived at the log cabins, Richard stopped moving, leading Rayden to enter the biggest one in the middle. They pushed the door and entered; the log cabin had a thin timber section and emitted a kind of smell, but not an unpleasant one. On the contrary, it emitted a sweet smell. The log cabin of the center was the biggest but the inner rooms have only the simplest layout. There was only a wooden bed, a wooden desk, and two wooden chairs.
"Sit." Richard pointed to a chair and pulled out the other one to sit on.
Rayden sat down. He was quite nervous, but somewhat excited at the same time. He was eager to start his sword training.
Richard then said "I have already informed your mother that during your training here, because the amount of crystals fueling the space portal is limited, you will be returning only twice a year until you complete your training. The other times, you will be staying here to practice with me." After saying this, he looked seriously at Rayden, "I hope you won't disappoint me."
"I'll try my best, Teacher!" Rayden replied confidently.
Richard nodded satisfactorily, "From today onwards, I will instruct you all kinds of knowledge in the morning. In the afternoon and the evening, you will practice. You must remember well the knowledge I instruct you through. For each thing you forget, I will deduct one portion of food. " He obviously knew the weak point of Rayden; with only a little warning, he scared the little guy up to the point where he is now just repeatedly nodded.
"Tell me what you know about the Blue seas." Richard asked.
Because Rayden had read a lot of books since he was little, he had a lot of knowledge about the blue seas which made up this world. So he answered:
"The Blue Sea, which makes up the entire world, consists of one large continent, one long chain of islands, and four seas that make up two larger oceans. The continent is called the Red Line, the big chain of islands is called the Grand Line and the four seas are called North Blue where our Rubeck Island is located, South Blue, East Blue and West Blue. One can sail to any destination you want with a regular compass. However getting from one Blue to another is much more difficult. The reason is not only because the Red Line separates the two oceans, but also because the seas within one ocean are separated by a large sea route called the Grand Line as well as two Calm Belts. "
Richard nodded and added: "You are right, but this is merely the most basic facts. We'll be discussing a lot about the four seas, the Grand line and how to navigate these seas later. But now I want us to discuss something about the rulers of this world"
"Rulers of this world? Teacher, aren't they the Navy?" Rayden intentionally made a blunder to look more like his age.
Richard was also quite shocked to see that his son had made such a blunder. He had expected him to know since his son had always displayed an 'I know it all demeanor' as he knew almost everything before he was told. Upon realizing his son's blunder, he wasn't angry but rather relieved. After all he was just a five year old child. If he knew everything, wouldn't that make him a monster?
But he still displayed his cold face and replied: "Navy? That's just a façade by the real rulers of this world. They are the World Government."
"World Government?" Rayden asked.
"The World Government is a political organization comprised of the majority of the world at large, ruled by the Gorosei (Five Elder Stars). It was established 800 years ago. The Marines serve as their primary military organization, headed by the Fleet Admiral, while the Cipher Pol operate behind the scenes, either through sabotage, reconnaissance, spying, espionage and/or assassination; their most powerful enemies are largely pirates and revolutionaries.
The World Government is largely a corrupt entity, particularly through the pitiless application of absolute justice, the brutal suppression of researching the Void Century and the depravity of the aristocratic World Nobles who are actually protected fiercely by the Five Star Elders. And they are the cause of the downfall of our family."
"Downfall of our family?" Rayden asked curiously as he knew his father was about to explain their family situation to him.
"Yes, downfall of our family" Richard looked seriously at Rayden "Have you wondered why you were given your mothers surname instead of mine."
Rayden shook his head. When he got older, his father chose to hide his surname from him and used his mother's name for him but they didn't know that as soon as he was born, he understood them and knew his father's name. But Rayden pretended to be ignorant as it wasn't normal for a child who had been born to be able to understand words even in this strange world.
"Well, it's because of the persecution of the world government. If our real names were known to outsiders, we would be dead before we knew it."
"My real name is Gol D. Richard!"
"Gol D. Richard?" Rayden pretend to be more confused and asked as if he had come to a realization "Isn't the surname of the former strongest man o the world, Gol D. Roger, owner of One Piece and pace setter of the Great Pirate Era? How are we related to him?"
"Roger was my elder brother!" Richard answered him with a solemn face.
"Brother?" Rayden was genuinely shocked this time. Even though he had previously guessed that they were somehow related to Roger, he didn't think he was so closely related; Gol D. Roger was his uncle! This was simply astonishing news.
He now could faintly guess the situation now. From the reaction of the world government when they discovered that Portgas D. Ace was Rogers's son, he could faintly guess how their attitude would be towards his other family.
"You are a smart boy so I know you've already gotten a gist of our current situation now. Because the World Government was afraid Roger would reveal something about the secrete he found at Raftel, they persecuted his entire family, killing both our parents and our younger sister" Richard displayed intense hatred when he spoke at this time.
Rayden could understand his father's hatred towards the world government. In his previous life his parents were also killed and he remembered how he hated his parents' business partners and still hates them now. One of the main reasons why he still wants to return to his previous world is to have his revenge.
"But father, why haven't you made any attempt to revenge. With your strength, I believe, if you join the Revolutionary Army, with their help, you could have your revenge!"
"Revolutionary Army?" Richard shook his head when he heard this. "Rayden, do not underestimate the world government. Your uncle was once the strongest man in this world. Together with his crew he could absolutely defeat the Navy. But even with all the persecution, his only choice was to light the spark to the Great Pirate Era to give the world a chance to fight against the World Government. This goes to show the frightening strength they had in store.
I once had the chance to personally fight against one of the top executives of the CP0 which is the highest espionage agency of the World Government but I lost completely and even got seriously injured. If I didn't use the space portal to escape, I would have died!"
"What?" Rayden was shocked. So strong?
Even though he couldn't detect his father's strength, He knew his father had to have a Navy Admiral level fighting strength. Even with such strength, he was so easily defeated. Then how much strength did the world government have in store.
"So until you have enough strength to personally match up against a Yonko, do not rise up against them" Richard exhorted seriously
"Yes, father!" Rayden replied.
Richard nodded his head. He believed his son could easily surpass him and his older brother because his son's current talent was indeed frightening. With his top level observation Haki, he could already sense the vigorous strength in his son's body. A five year old with such strength. That was simply amazing. With such talent by the time he turned twenty, he would have long surpassed him.
"Rayden, you must keep firmly in mind, that the World Government is the enemy we have the most intense and deep-seated hatred towards."
Richard's voice was full of power and even the only five years-old Rayden was incredibly influenced by his words and his blood seethed with excitement.
"The World Government is the enemy we have the most intense and deep-seated hatred towards." Rayden's firm tone copied the way Richard said this sentence.
Richard nodded, "We will concentrate all of our efforts to destroy, to recapture our family glory, and to protect our loved ones. Ask to yourself: one day, if we can't block the World Government's progress anymore, what will happen to Carlo Village? Your friends, your mother, your sister, what sort of catastrophe will they face?"
As the clever Rayden did so, he shivered uncontrollably, and his look became ferocious. Looking at him, Richard's eyes revealed a satisfied expression; he could naturally see that this little child had already kept everything he told to him firmly in his mind.
"From now onwards I will focus on teaching you general knowledge in the mornings. In the afternoon, we will focus on physique training. We will conduct your sword training in the evenings."
