312 - One Piece: Red Dragon of the Rocks Era (Patreon)

312 - The Evacuation and Joy Boy's Invitation

An opportunity. That was all Joy Boy needed. He could not move against the Amatsuki family yet; the repercussions would be too great. Imu's family, then.

Joy Boy smiled at the prospect.

An uneasy calm settled over the capital again. Caius knew what was coming. So did Toki, Michael, and Imu.

They each had work to do. Their resentment of Joy Boy had deepened, and they had begun reaching out to other nations in secret.

He had withheld the special substance they had agreed to distribute when they first obtained it. His greed had broken the bargain.

Six months later, Caius was out with Toki and Imu when a group of men blocked their path.

The man in the black suit at their head regarded Caius with respect before speaking.

"Mr. Caius, my king requests an audience at the palace."

He bowed at once. Caius's strength commanded his respect, even if it threatened the kingdom. The man had watched him closely these past months.

Caius had lived quietly, attacked no one, and seemed to have put the earlier test behind him. None of that had escaped the envoy.

"Oh?"

"Joy Boy is finally willing to meet me?"

"Has he found a weapon that can stop me? Or is he planning to send another few dozen pseudo-limit-breakers to wear me down?"

Caius's flat tone drained the color from the envoy's face. He let the man squirm, then smiled.

"Never mind. Let's go."

"Of course. This way."

Caius gave Toki and Imu a few instructions before following him.

The two women nodded and returned to their respective family homes. Toki knew her husband might be walking into a trap; Imu understood what his defeat would mean for both families and their plans.

With Caius's help, they had already moved most of their people out of the capital. Only the family heads remained at their estates.

Toki and Imu each put their evacuation plans into motion. Their families would leave the capital and settle in the refuge they had found.

From there, they could prepare to overthrow Joy Boy.

Meanwhile,

Caius arrived at the palace and met Joy Boy.

Joy Boy did look like the sun: open, radiant, almost impossible to dislike on sight.

That first impression did nothing to erase their opposing aims.

Joy Boy seated Caius as an equal. Caius appreciated the gesture.

"Let's deal with the real issue first. We can talk about everything else afterward."

"Fine. Go ahead."

"How did you get lunar technology? No one should be able to reach the moon now."

Caius studied him as he asked.

He saw no reason to waste time on pleasantries.

Joy Boy laughed. "That's what you want to know?"

"I can tell you. The technology itself isn't much use to me anymore, except that it helps me maintain control of the kingdom."

"You know the flaw. Anyone who breaks through with that machinery is left incomplete. They can never advance again."

"As for how I obtained it..."

Joy Boy explained freely, smiling now and then as he spoke.

...

"That's how I came by the incomplete technology. My own talent carried me the rest of the way. I thought I was the strongest human alive, and then you appeared. Surely you can understand why that worried me."

He smiled at Caius.

"You didn't need to worry. If I'd wanted you or your kingdom gone, I could have acted at any point these past months."

"Still, I understand why you think as you do. I've heard enough about my question. Tell me why you brought me here."

Caius disagreed with much of Joy Boy's explanation, though not all of it.

Joy Boy held his gaze for a long moment, then rose and came toward him.

"Why did you appear now? Do you know how many plans you've ruined? Poseidon is gone, and everyone dissatisfied with me suddenly sees an opening. Do you have any idea what you've cost me?"

"You think I simply want you dead. Do you know what your existence has done to me?"

The last words came out as a roar.

His voice echoed through the palace.

"Is that so?"

"Then give me everything you've got. Find out whether you can kill me. At least make it entertaining."

Caius rose and gave Joy Boy's shoulder a light pat.

For one suspended instant the air went still. Then they both laughed.

...

At sunset, Caius walked back through the capital and shook his head at its beauty.

"A lovely facade. Nothing more."

"My time here is nearly over, Joy Boy. The sun? You haven't earned that name."

He spoke under his breath.

Rather than visit the Amatsuki estate, he ate in the city and went straight to Imu's residence.

He found her and told her how the palace meeting had gone.

"You're still determined to stay here? They may come after anyone standing beside me."

"I know the risk," Imu said. "Our families have chosen their course. I won't abandon it now."

She folded her arms and met his eyes.

"All right."

"They'll come after me tonight. If you're coming, keep clear of the fighting and be ready to move when I say."

Imu agreed. Caius turned his thoughts to what came next.

Once this was over, he would return to eight hundred years later. He had little reason to remain in this era.

He knew too few people here, and the past had never felt like home.