"Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho! Bring Binks' brew to your side, let the sea breeze take you free, sail the waves with pride…"
The legendary song of the Pirate King echoed across the quiet sea at night. Rimuru sat in a chair, calmly sipping his drink, listening to a bunch of rowdy men sing painfully off-key.
Whitebeard's voice was by far the loudest—and most off-tune. It sounded like a bomb going off from a thousand miles away. Rimuru internally sighed. I give up. Or should I say, I've reached Nirvana?
Yet, despite the musical massacre, Rimuru felt an odd peace. The chaotic singing reminded him of his dad—who used to do the same thing at home, singing off-key and insisting Rimuru say it sounded good. And his mom… how long until he could go back home? Can I even return at all?
"Rimuru, are you okay? Why are you crying?" Marco noticed the tears sliding down Rimuru's cheeks and approached with concern.
"It's nothing!" Rimuru wiped his face and smiled gently at Marco.
"My Lord," Ranga sensed Rimuru's sadness and leaned over, giving his master's cheek a gentle lick.
"Quit licking me!" Rimuru laughed, scolding playfully while ruffling the fur on Ranga's neck. Yeah… definitely better now. Nothing beats fluffy therapy!
"Hey, Rimuru… you still got any of that stuff left?" Marco asked cautiously, sensing Rimuru was in a better mood.
"What stuff?" Rimuru tilted his head in confusion. (＠_＠?) Be more specific, man!
"That blue blob thing you used to save Pops," Marco explained helpfully. As he spoke, the rest of the crew—who had been singing—went quiet, now gazing at Rimuru with "tender affection." Even Whitebeard looked genuinely intrigued.
That "blue blob" Rimuru had used not only healed Whitebeard's injuries instantly, but also restored his stamina and even cured his hidden internal wounds. To a pirate, it was basically a miracle drug. Imagine two pirates fighting to exhaustion, and then one pulls that out and boom—full recovery! The other guy would just keel over from frustration.
"I do!" Rimuru suddenly felt goosebumps. Being stared down by a bunch of battle-hardened pirates was unsettling. He'd only been a regular high school student once—rarely ever giving public speeches. Even now as a Demon Lord, he hadn't really made any big declarations. And yet… all these eyes…
Still, Rimuru quickly shifted gears, flashing the kind of sly grin only a true capitalist would wear. "I have some, sure. But what'll you trade for it? And don't even try offering me gold—I'm not interested."
"Would Devil Fruits do?" Whitebeard asked, already planning how to stockpile the miracle gel. With this stuff, he could save countless sons!
"Deal!" Rimuru replied without hesitation. "One Devil Fruit equals ten potions. No haggling!" ╭(╯ε╰)╮
The Whitebeard Pirates looked at each other in stunned silence. That's… ridiculously cheap! Each potion averaged just a few tens of thousands of berries. And judging by Rimuru's face, they thought he was gonna charge a fortune! They'd never seen a more unambitious merchant in their lives.
Still, Whitebeard's latent swindler instincts kicked in, and he haggled Rimuru into a better deal. They traded ten Devil Fruits on the spot—eight Zoan-types at one fruit per ten potions, and two Paramecia-types at one fruit per twenty potions. Everyone was curious where Rimuru pulled the potions from, but no one asked. After all, everyone had their secrets.
From then on, every single Whitebeard Pirate carried at least ten healing potions at all times. It practically made them immortal. They became the nightmare of the Grand Line—earning titles like "The Most Cheated Death Pirate Crew" and "The Pirates You Least Want to Fight."
Time passed, and Rimuru fully blended in with the Whitebeard Pirates. Over the next month, he beat up at least a dozen crew members—for trying to flirt with him! That made him rage to the heavens. Fueled by healing potions, Rimuru unleashed divine fury. I thought of you as brothers, and you wanted to climb me?! DIE!
Later, during a banquet that Whitebeard hosted under the excuse of "this Sea King got heatstroke," Rimuru transformed into his original slime form in front of everyone—hoping they'd finally give up their nonsense. Most of them looked absolutely heartbroken after that, and it took a brutal group beating to finally cool Rimuru down.
Ranga, meanwhile, developed a strong distaste for Marco after being underestimated and gave him daily "are you dumb?" stares. Eventually, Marco challenged him to a duel—and got thoroughly taught a lesson in humility.
Ranga was no joke. He was powerful in all areas—strength, speed, durability—and could control Black Lightning. His magic power was on par with awakened Demon Lords from the original story. Only beings like Whitebeard could hold their ground against him.
And so, time flew by. Rimuru had spent an entire month aboard the Moby Dick with the crew, and finally—they reached Logue Town.
"Pops! We've arrived at Logue Town!" shouted one of the pirates steering the ship.
"Logue Town, huh?" Rimuru's eyes sparkled. "Gol D. Roger… it's finally time to meet you."