The Ten Greatest Regrets

The line of text on the Sky Screen hung above the entire world, its golden lettering especially bright after nightfall.

[Hint: This regret concerns a soul that could have been saved and a bond between brothers swallowed by the sea.]

Everyone's first thought was the same name.

Ace.

But the words that appeared immediately afterward on the Sky Screen proved everyone's guess wrong.

[Ten Great Regrets, number ten]

[Thatch, Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates]

Someone in the Marine plaza paused, uncertain of the name.

But on the seas of the New World, the reaction aboard the Moby Dick was entirely different.

The entire Whitebeard Pirates crew fell silent the moment they saw the name.

Marco stood at the bow. Blue phoenix flames flickered on his shoulders, then went out.

"Thatch."

He spoke the name softly.

Jozu stood beside him, the surface of his Diamond-Diamond Fruit form gleaming coldly, but there was a vulnerability on his rugged face that did not belong to a warrior.

"It's Thatch."

Whitebeard sat on his throne, his right hand releasing Murakumogiri.

He looked at the name on the Sky Screen, and something stirred in his clouded old eyes.

Thatch.

Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.

The man Teach had stabbed to death from behind.

It had already been mentioned once during the earlier overview of Teach, but that time the focus had been on Teach's crimes. Thatch had been no more than a symbol of a victim.

This time, the Sky Screen turned the spotlight entirely on Thatch.

[Question: If the Whitebeard Pirates had handled the situation correctly after Thatch found the Dark-Dark Fruit, which of the following outcomes could have been avoided?]

[A. Thatch would not have been murdered.]

[B. Teach would not have defected.]

[C. Ace would not have pursued Teach and been captured as a result.]

[D. All of the above, and the Paramount War itself would not have occurred.]

Once the chain of events behind the four options appeared, everyone understood.

Thatch's death was more than the loss of one life.

It was the finger that tipped over the first domino.

Thatch died, so Teach fled.

Teach fled, so Ace went after him.

Ace caught up to him, was defeated by Teach, and was handed over to the Marines.

The Marines got hold of Ace and used him as bait to launch the Paramount War.

Ace died in the Paramount War, Whitebeard died, and the entire world order was shattered.

And it had all begun when a man named Thatch was stabbed in the back by a crewmate one night.

Whitebeard looked at option D on the Sky Screen, his grip on Murakumogiri slowly tightening.

"Marco."

"Yes."

"Where were you the night Thatch found the Dark-Dark Fruit?"

Marco's body stiffened for a moment.

"I was in the cabin working on the navigation log. Thatch came to see me."

"He said he'd found a Devil Fruit that looked really powerful and asked if I wanted to take a look."

"I said we could look at it tomorrow. It was too late."

Marco's voice grew quieter and quieter.

"The next morning, he was dead."

Whitebeard said nothing.

The other commanders on deck said nothing either.

Everyone was turning over the same fact: if Marco had gone with Thatch to look at the fruit that night, Thatch would not have walked past Teach's cabin alone with the Dark-Dark Fruit.

If Thatch had not walked past that door alone, Teach would not have had the chance to strike.

If Teach had not struck.

None of what followed would have happened.

But there were no ifs.

The countdown on the Sky Screen reached zero.

[Correct answer: D]

The explanation began to play.

This time, the footage was completely different from what had come before.

There was no battlefield, no cannon fire, no magma or blood.

There was only the deck of the Moby Dick.

The deck beneath the moonlight.

Thatch stood by the railing, holding a black Devil Fruit, an expression of excitement and slight concern on his face.

He was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, with the short, flat haircut common among cooks, a filthy apron around his waist, and several old knife scars on his arms.

"What should I do with this thing?"

He muttered to himself, turning the fruit over and over in his hands.

"I'll give it to Pops and let him decide who gets to eat it."

"I've already got a fruit anyway. I'd die if I ate another one."

He tucked the fruit inside his clothes and turned toward the cabins.

As he passed the door to cabin number two, he saw Teach sitting inside, polishing a knife.

"Hey, Teach, still awake?"

Thatch greeted him with a smile.

Teach looked up, the same honest smile as always on his round face.

"Commander Thatch, what is it?"

"Nothing much. I found something good. I'll share it with everyone tomorrow."

Thatch patted his chest.

"I won't tell you yet. It's a surprise for tomorrow."

He walked on with a smile.

Teach watched him go, the smile on his face fading bit by bit.

The footage slowed at that point.

The three steps Thatch took past Teach's door were stretched out on the Sky Screen in slow motion to a suffocating degree.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

As he took the third step, there was the faintest sound of metal being drawn from its sheath behind him.

Thatch turned around.

Teach was already standing behind him, the tip of his knife less than a foot from Thatch's back.

"Teach?"

A smile still lingered on Thatch's face. He was completely off guard.

Because that was his brother.

A brother who had lived on the same ship as him for more than twenty years.

"What's wrong?"

The moonlight and Thatch's face were reflected in Teach's eyes.

Then he struck.

The image on the Sky Screen went black the moment the blade pierced him.

There was no bloody scene.

No scream.

Only a line of text appearing on the black screen.

[That night, Thatch, Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, was murdered by a crewmate, and the Dark-Dark Fruit was stolen.]

[No one had the chance to say goodbye to him.]

On the deck of the Moby Dick, every member of the Whitebeard Pirates silently watched the black screen on the Sky Screen.

Some bit hard on their lips.

Some lowered their heads, their shoulders trembling slightly.

Vista covered his face with his hand.

Marco stood at the bow, phoenix flames flaring and dying out several times at the tips of his hair. His lips were pressed into a line, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"I should've gone with him that night."

His voice was strained.

Jozu walked over and rested a massive diamond arm on his shoulder without a word.

There was no need for words.

The image on the Sky Screen lit up again.

This time, it showed scenes from Thatch's life.

He cooked for the whole ship in the kitchen, stirring the food as he scolded Ace for sneaking bites.

He drank with his crewmates on deck, laughing louder than anyone.

At Whitebeard's birthday party, he brought out a huge cake with "Happy birthday, Pops" written crookedly across it.

Whitebeard looked at the cake and laughed so hard he choked on his drink.

The clips were short, each lasting only a few seconds, but every one of them was vivid and warm, part of an ordinary man's daily life.

Then the footage finally froze on one scene.

Thatch stood on deck with the setting sun shining on him. He turned toward the camera, grinned, and gave a thumbs-up.

The image stayed there.

The system's verdict appeared on the Sky Screen.

[Regret assessment: Thatch's death was the starting point of the entire tragedy. He himself did nothing wrong; he merely possessed the wrong thing at the wrong time and trusted someone he should not have trusted.]

[Reward: As Thatch has already died in the current timeline, the system cannot grant him a reward.]

[Alternative reward: A group buff, "Companion's Shield," will be granted to all members of the Whitebeard Pirates. During the future Paramount War, the Whitebeard Pirates' ability to fight in coordination will rise by one level. When a crew member blocks a lethal attack for a companion, the damage will be reduced by thirty percent.]

The reward finally broke the mournful atmosphere aboard the Moby Dick.

Marco looked at the line on the Sky Screen, his clenched fist relaxing a little.

"Companion's Shield."

He repeated the name.

"Thirty percent damage reduction when blocking a lethal attack for a companion."

He turned to glance at his brothers on deck, then looked at Whitebeard.

Whitebeard looked at the frozen image of Thatch giving a thumbs-up on the Sky Screen. He said nothing, merely raising his cup.

"To Thatch."

His voice was like distant thunder, deep and vast.

Everyone on deck raised their cups at once.

"To Thatch!"

Liquor spilled onto the deck and flowed along the wood grain into the sea.

Lin Qi watched the scene in the tavern, his nose prickling.

"The game really went too far with this."

He blew his nose hard, then turned his attention back to the screen.

"All right, all right, number ten's done. Who should be number nine?"

He looked at the list recommended by the system, his finger sliding across the screen.

"The Ten Great Regrets, ranked from smallest to greatest."

"Thatch was the starting point, so number nine should be the next link in the chain."

His gaze stopped on a name, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly upward.

"You're the one."

He pressed confirm.

As Thatch's scene lingered, the words on the Sky Screen began to rearrange themselves.

[Ten Great Regrets, number nine, will soon be revealed.]

[Hint: This regret concerns the daughter of a Marine Vice Admiral and a pursuit that should never have happened.]

The eyes of the world were drawn to the Sky Screen once more.

In a quiet office at Marine Headquarters, the pen in the hand of a pink-haired girl sorting documents fell onto the desk.

Her name was Higurashi Nina.

Her father was a Marine Vice Admiral who had fallen in the Paramount War.

But in this timeline that had already been rewritten, no one knew what would happen next.

The golden letters on the Sky Screen were forming the name of the ninth regret, stroke by stroke.