The Bond Between Father and Son

Battlefield in the Center of the Deserted Island

Scorched Earth and ashes, the flames still raging.

Whitebeard Edward Newgate, wielding the Murakumogiri, faced Roy from a distance. A strong killing intent brewed between the two, yet neither dared to bring down the blade.

He murmured to himself, Roy's harsh words echoing in his mind:

"Teach stole his brother's fruit?! What on earth is going on...?"

At that moment, his brows furrowed tightly, and his eyes showed shock, confusion, and even a hint of barely perceptible panic.

Roy ignored his thoughts and made a grabbing motion in the air with his Right Hand—

"Whoosh!!"

A sudden spatial tremor resounded.

A charred figure was suddenly pulled out; it was none other than Blackbeard Teach, who was still alive despite being severely injured!

He was held in mid-air like a dead dog, his robes tattered, his skin charred, his body convulsing, yet he still instinctively murmured:

"Dark... Dark-Dark Fruit... it's mine... it's mine..."

Whitebeard's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and his eyes blazed with fury!

"Roy!! Give Teach back to me!!"

He took a sudden step forward, the Murakumogiri in his hand trembling, the aura of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit faintly visible.

However, Roy remained unmoved, a cold sneer appearing in his eyes, "Newgate... you're really getting worse with age."

He lowered his head slightly, glanced at the charred and crazed man in his hand, and spoke slowly and deliberately:

"You even dared to adopt Rocks's offspring as your son... You really have a lot of nerve."

"Boom--!"

These words struck like a thunderbolt, exploding in the minds of everyone present!

Whitebeard's pupils suddenly contracted, Murakumogiri almost slipped from his fingers.

"What... what are you saying...?" His voice was low and hoarse, filled with disbelief.

Teach, who was being held in mid-air, seemed to instantly snap back to reality. The maniacal smile on his face froze, his eyes widened, and he stammered, "You... how could you... know?!"

Roy's eyes remained expressionless as he coldly sneered, "What, surprised?"

He carried Teach as if he were a trophy, his gaze sweeping over Whitebeard's shocked face.

Teach struggled frantically, her eyes filled with terror. "Let... let me go!!"

Whitebeard's eyes were filled with a mixture of rage and confusion, leaving him speechless for a moment.

Pirate -style flashback - more than twenty years ago

The scene slowly appeared in Whitebeard's mind.

In a small town, young Teach knelt before him, soaking wet and his clothes torn, but his eyes were resolute. "Please..."

"I have nowhere else to go..."

He stared at the boy for a long time.

That blurry face, in his eyes, almost perfectly matched the outline of a certain lost soul in his memory.

That indescribable sense of familiarity--

"It's like... someone's shadow, kneeling vividly before me."

He knew perfectly well that the boy clinging to his leg couldn't be an ordinary person.

But in the end--

"May I have your name?"

"Teach."

"Okay, let's get on the boat."

Let's return to the present.

Whitebeard's fingers Murakumogiri stiffly, his face ashen and iron-faced, his entire being as silent as a giant tree bent by the weight of time.

He looked at the son who had always called him "Pops," and realized that he was indeed Rocks's biological son.

At this moment, his belief wavered for the first time in the long years.

Roy watched all this coldly, scoffed, and his voice, though indifferent, struck like a hammer:

"You should know better than anyone what kind of person Rocks is, so I'll ask again—"

"Newgate,"

What are you thinking?

The sea breeze howled, ashes scattered in the air, a deathly silence and oppressive stillness.

Whitebeard Newgate held the Murakumogiri in his hand, his broad figure standing like a mountain, silent.

His cloudy eyes slowly swept between Roy and Teach.

"The bloodline of Rocks..."

He murmured softly, as if recalling something, or perhaps questioning himself.

Teach, who was being held tightly in Roy's hand, was covered in severe injuries, his skin torn and bleeding. Sensing Whitebeard's hesitation, he was terrified! He struggled violently as if he had been electrocuted!

"No... no... if I really fall into Roy's hands... I'll definitely die!!"

Terrified, he struggled violently, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Pops—! Help me!!"

The word "Pops" struck Whitebeard's heart like a blunt hammer, causing him to tremble slightly.

After a few seconds of silence, he finally took a slow breath, his brows furrowed, and Murakumogiri heavily into the ground!

"Boom!!"

The earth cracked, and a shockwave whipped up a ring of Scorched Earth!

"Roy..."

His voice, deep as the ocean floor, rang out, aged yet resolute:

"... I don't care whose child he is."

"As long as he's on my ship--"

"That's my son Whitebeard!!"

The aura exploded suddenly, as if the sky had collapsed and the earth had split open.

Roy stared coldly at Whitebeard, his tone laced with icy sarcasm:

"... Yeah?"

His gaze swept across the room, pointing to Ace, the blood-soaked boy clutching a black wooden box.

Even if he would do it for a single fruit—

"Kill your other sons on the ship..."

"You... also turn a blind eye?"

"Boom--!"

The words struck Whitebeard like a thunderbolt!

For the first time, his expression wavered!

"Impossible!!"

With a roar, the Whitebeard Murakumogiri, sending sand and dust flying hundreds of meters away.

But just as that roar was uttered—

Whitebeard's gaze unconsciously swept towards Teach.

For a moment, his breath caught in his throat.

Those eyes.

Teach's eyes weren't on "him," nor on his "lifeline," but fixed intently on—

The black box in the arms of the boy in the distance!

The madness, greed, and bloodlust in his eyes were completely undisguised.

It was a kind of... innate greed that was on the verge of collapsing even humanity.

Whitebeard froze on the spot.

His gaze slowly shifted from the box to Teach's face.

At that moment, a grotesque, incongruous grin appeared on that charred face. "That's mine..."

That was my... destiny...

Whitebeard's fingers trembled slightly, and his lips moved, but he seemed to have lost all the strength to speak.

What he saw was no longer the boy kneeling on the ground, clinging to his legs and begging, "Let me on the boat."

Instead, he is a monster willing to trample on all kinship and devour all Trust.

Whitebeard's hand trembled slightly.

"Teach... would you really... do something like this?"

Roy's voice trailed off, like a death knell. "You always knew."

"But you're unwilling to admit it."

"Because you already noticed--"

He slowly raised Teach in his hand:

"This person is not your son at all."

Roy spoke calmly, his gaze sharp as a knife, lifting Teach high as if holding up a corrupt and rotten truth.

The air fell into a deathly stillness.

Whitebeard stood amidst the Scorched Earth, his fingers trembling slightly. Murakumogiri to the ground, his expression losing its former majesty, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

"I..."

He muttered to himself, his chest heaving, his expression shifting between Trust and doubt.