Simultaneous Time Travel: What Villain? I'm the Protagonist!

Robin fastened the last button on his black jacket, his fingertips brushing against the texture of the coarse cloth. He took a half step back, stood still, and looked at him.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty, damp scent, swept in from the sea, lifting a stray strand of hair that never quite settled on her forehead and swaying it in front of her eyes.

"Where to next?" she asked.

Sheng Ren glanced down at his clothes, then shook them. The coarse cloth billowed in the sea breeze, then fell back down, clinging to his body. The stitches were neat, and it fit him perfectly.

"Find a Devil Fruit," he said.

Robin frowned slightly: "You just ate one, your body hasn't settled down yet."

"There's no time to waste." Sheng Ren grabbed a pair of pants from the side, bent down and put them on, the cuffs brushing against the fine sand on the beach. "The World Government right now wants nothing more than to grind me to dust."

Robin paused, her lips pressed into a thin line, and remained silent. Of course she understood. If the World Government couldn't touch him, they would definitely target his weaknesses.

"I won't..." She wanted to say that she would never be a burden, but she swallowed the words back.

Sheng Ren tightened his belt, straightened up, placed his hands at his sides, and said in a calm tone: "With my current strength, they can't touch me."

He paused, his gaze falling on Robin's face, the sea breeze making her tousled hair even more disheveled. "But if they can't touch me, they'll definitely find another way."

Robin lowered her eyelashes and didn't reply.

"Like you," Sheng Ren said.

Robin was silent for three seconds, then suddenly looked up, her eyes shining brightly: "I will never be a burden to you!"

"What are you thinking about?" Sheng Ren smiled, raised his hand, and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his palm brushing against the top of her head. "We have the incinerator, what are we afraid of?"

Robin looked at him, her eyelashes fluttering slightly, and suddenly understood: "You mean... a Devil Fruit?"

Sheng Ren turned around, took two steps towards the sea, and stepped barefoot onto the cool, damp sand. The waves receded, carrying fine sand away from his feet. He gazed at the churning dark blue sea in the distance, his voice carried by the sea breeze: "Water Seven, Door-Door Fruit."

Robin paused, then suddenly smiled, his eyes crinkling like the surface of a sea ruffled by the wind: "So, you risked everything to venture into Water 7 for this?"

Sheng Ren shook his head.

"That fruit was eaten by Bruno of CP9 a long time ago." He turned to look at her, tapping his temple with his fingertip. "I went there mainly to find the blueprints for Hades. Now, they're all here."

Robin was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Shall we take the fruit and head to Water Seven now?"

Sheng Ren did not answer.

He suddenly turned his head and looked at the sea to his left, his gaze fixed.

Robin followed his gaze and saw only layers upon layers of waves crashing against the dark brown reefs. In the distance, a few seagulls were flying close to the crests of the waves, but there was nothing else.

"What's wrong?" She placed her hand on her waist, her fingertips clenched.

"Someone's coming." Sheng Ren's voice was calm, his gaze never leaving the sea.

"Who?"

"Marco."

Robin paused, taken aback: "The Whitebeard Pirates'...first division commander?"

"Um."

Robin looked at his profile; the sea breeze clung his short-sleeved shirt to his back, revealing his muscular physique. "Want to get out of the way?"

Sheng Ren did not answer.

He took his hands out of his pockets, letting them hang at his sides, his fingertips relaxed. "He came to see me."

Robin waited a few seconds.

"Do you want to go?"

Sheng Ren shook his head.

"I'm not going."

Robin didn't ask why.

Sheng Ren stared at the sea for a few more seconds.

"He probably wants me to treat Whitebeard," he said. "Whitebeard has accumulated enough injuries over the years to be deadly."

Robin looked at him.

"Can you cure it?"

Sheng Ren nodded.

"It can be cured."

Robin waited a few seconds, but nothing came of it.

"That……"

"But why should I get treatment?"

Robin shut up.

Sheng Ren turned his gaze away from the sea and looked at her.

"Go wait in the cabin."

Robin didn't move.

"He won't make a move," Sheng Ren said. "A fight won't break out."

Robin glanced at him, then turned and walked toward the sloop.

After taking a few steps, she stopped and turned back.

"What if?"

Sheng Ren didn't turn around.

"There's no 'what if'."

Robin is gone.

Sheng Ren stood alone on the beach, still gazing at the sea. Waves crashed against the rocks, and the sea breeze grew stronger, making his short jacket flutter loudly.

Three minutes later, a small black dot appeared where the sea met the sky.

The black dot grew larger and clearer at an alarming rate—it was a person, speeding through the air on moonwalk, their legs wrapped in pale blue flames, like the outstretched wings of a phoenix, tearing through the wind and the boundary between the sea and the sky.

Marco landed on the rocks twenty meters away.

He stood there, looking down at Sheng Ren. His pineapple-shaped hair was swaying in the wind, and the blue flames around him slowly subsided, leaving only a faint halo around his body.

Sheng Ren also looked at him.

The sea breeze is blowing.

Marco spoke first.

"Shengren".

Sheng Ren did not answer.

Marco jumped off the rocks and landed on the beach. He took a step forward, then stopped.

"Are you healed?"

Sheng Ren did not answer.

Marco looked at him for three seconds.

"His injuries have healed, and his strength seems to have increased as well."

Sheng Ren still didn't answer.

Marco suddenly laughed.

"You're a man of few words."

Sheng Ren smiled as well.

"You talk too much."

Marco took another step forward.

With that step, Sheng Ren made his move.

It wasn't a strike—it was the release of Conqueror's Haki.

For a moment, Marco stopped in his tracks.

It felt like a wall was being pushed over Sheng Ren, making his chest feel tight and the sand beneath his feet sink half an inch.

He looked at Sheng Ren.

Sheng Ren stood there, his hands hanging at his sides, his face expressionless.

The Conqueror's Haki was still being pushed outwards.

Marco gritted his teeth, and the blue flames on his body flared up, burning even brighter. He withstood the pressure and took another step forward.

step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

He stopped when he took the third step.

It's not that I don't want to take that step, it's that I can't.

Sheng Ren looked at him.

Three seconds later, the Conqueror's Haki dissipated.

Marco stood there, his chest heaving, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead.

He looked at Sheng Ren.

"You..." He paused, "your strength is far greater than what was written in the intelligence."

Sheng Ren didn't respond.

Marco waited a few seconds, then suddenly asked:

"You don't want to come to my place?"

Sheng Ren shook his head.

"In no mood."

Marco nodded without asking why.

He stood there, silent for a few seconds.

"Can you heal my father's wound?" he asked.

Sheng Ren looked at him.

"It can be cured."

Marco's eyes lit up.

"That--"

"I can treat you," Sheng Ren interrupted him, "but you'll have to exchange something for it."

Marco was taken aback.

"What is it?"

Sheng Ren stared into his eyes.

"A Devil Fruit with spatial abilities."

Marco remained silent for three seconds.

"Pocket Fruit?"

"Any one will do," Sheng Ren said. "Any one that can open doors, teleport, or store things—as long as it's a space-related one."

Marco looked at him without saying a word.

A sea breeze blew by, making his pineapple-shaped head sway slightly.

"Are you serious?" he asked, his tone filled with disbelief. After all, healing his father's old injuries in exchange for a space-type fruit seemed like a perfect deal for the group.

Sheng Ren nodded: "Seriously."

Marco was silent for a few seconds, then sighed: "This thing is hard to find."

"I know," Sheng Ren said.

Marco stared into his eyes for a long time, long enough for the sea breeze to blow back and forth several times.

"What if I find it?" he finally asked.

"Found it, I'll board the Moby Dick," Sheng Ren said without hesitation. "I'll clean out all the old wounds that Whitebeard has accumulated over a lifetime, leaving not a single one."

Marco didn't say anything.

He stood still, staring intently into Sheng Ren's eyes.

After a long silence, Marco finally nodded:

"I will pass that message on to Dad."

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the reef. After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped without looking back.

"Are you really not coming with me?" he asked. "It would be good for you to see your father."

Sheng Ren did not answer.

Marco added, his voice carried by the sea breeze: "What if someone else finds you first?"

Sheng Ren watched his retreating figure and said in a calm tone, "Then let's see whose sincerity is greater."

Marco was silent for two seconds.

Then he leaped onto the reef, his legs once again igniting with blue phoenix flames. He flapped his wings and soared into the sky, flying towards the horizon.

Sheng Ren stood there, watching the blue dot grow smaller and smaller, farther and farther away, until it finally disappeared completely where the sea met the sky, leaving no trace.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty, fishy smell, blew in, making his black short jacket flutter loudly.

He turned around and walked toward the sloop.

After walking only a few steps, Robin peeked out from behind the rocks beside them.

"Gone?" she asked.

"I'm leaving," Sheng Ren said.

Robin walked over and stood beside him, the sea breeze blowing her hair against her cheeks.

"A space-type fruit," she looked into his eyes, "are you serious?"

Sheng Ren nodded: "Seriously."

Robin frowned slightly: "You know how hard it is to find this thing. In all these years on the sea, you can count the number of space-type Devil Fruits that have ever appeared on one hand."

Sheng Ren did not answer.

He raised his head and looked up at the sky.

The cotton-like cloud in the sky was still there, slowly drifting eastward, pushed by the sea breeze.

"It will happen," he said.