The Sword That Was Never Drawn

The line of text on the Sky Screen hung in the air, and the deck of the Moby Dick fell silent.

[Hint: This regret concerns a sword that was never drawn, and a man who chose to believe the wrong person on the battlefield]

Marco was the first to react.

He turned to look at the man standing in the middle of the deck, a complicated expression in his eyes.

"Ace."

Ace wasn't here.

Ace was in Impel Down.

Then who did the hint refer to?

Everyone on deck quickly looked from one person to another before their gazes settled on the same man.

Jozu.

No.

Vista.

Not him either.

Their gazes finally fell on Marco, commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' first division.

But Marco wasn't looking at himself. He was looking at someone at the other end of the deck.

The man stood with his back to everyone, the Whitebeard Pirates' emblem tattooed across his broad back and the muscles in his shoulders drawn tight.

He slowly turned around.

The position of second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates was currently vacant because Ace was in Impel Down.

But Jozu, the third division commander, Vista, the fifth division commander, and Atmos, the thirteenth division commander, were all present.

The man who turned around wasn't a division commander.

He was an ordinary member of the Whitebeard Pirates named Squard.

Great Whirlpool Spider Squard.

He was one of the captains of the forty-three pirate crews under Whitebeard in the New World.

But in the original timeline of the Paramount War, he had done something.

He had driven his sword through Whitebeard's chest.

The name on the Sky Screen finished forming.

[Top ten regrets, fifth place]

[Great Whirlpool Spider Squard]

When the name appeared, the reaction on the Moby Dick's deck was quieter than ever before.

Most people didn't know what the name meant.

Squard's strength was above average among the forty-three captains under Whitebeard. He was usually a man of few words, charging at the front in battle and sitting in a corner when drinking.

A dependable but unremarkable man.

But Marco knew.

When the Sky Screen had been counting down the war criminals, it had shown numerous glimpses of the Paramount War's future. In the background of those images, a figure had briefly appeared, stabbing Whitebeard after being manipulated by Akainu's words.

The figure had worn clothes identical to the ones Squard was wearing now.

"Marco." Whitebeard's voice came from the direction of his throne.

"I know, Pops." Marco's voice was tightly controlled.

Squard stood on the deck, looking at his own name on the Sky Screen as the color slowly drained from his face.

"Me?"

"Why me?"

"A sword that was never drawn? Chose to believe the wrong person?"

He lowered his head to look at the sword at his waist, his hand coming to rest on it involuntarily.

The hilt felt the same as always, cold and rough, an old weapon he had held for over a decade.

But in that moment, it grew hot in his hand.

A question appeared on the Sky Screen.

[Question: What fatal mistake did Great Whirlpool Spider Squard make in the Paramount War of the original timeline]

[A. He fled the battlefield, abandoning his comrades in the Whitebeard Pirates]

[B. He was manipulated by Marine Admiral Akainu's words and mistakenly believed Whitebeard had made a deal with the Marines to sell out his allied captains, so he drove his sword through Whitebeard's chest]

[C. He went over to the Marines during the war and acted as their inside man]

[D. He lacked the strength to keep up and held back the Whitebeard Pirates' battle plan]

The moment option B appeared, everyone aboard the Moby Dick focused on Squard.

Squard's face went completely white.

"Drove his sword through Whitebeard's chest."

He read option B aloud, his voice sounding as though it came from someone else's mouth.

"Me?"

"I stabbed Pops?"

His hand jerked away from the hilt as though it had been burned.

"How could I ever stab Pops!"

His voice rose as he shouted to everyone on deck.

"Pops saved my life!"

"Roger killed my whole family, and Pops took me in!"

"Pops is the last person in the world I'd ever betray!"

His chest heaved violently, and his eyes had turned red.

But then he read the latter half of option B.

Manipulated by Marine Admiral Akainu's words.

Mistakenly believed Whitebeard had made a deal with the Marines to sell out his allied captains.

His voice caught in his throat.

"Akainu manipulated me?"

"Made me think Pops sold us out?"

He lowered his head and looked at his hands. They were trembling.

Whitebeard watched him from his throne, his clouded old eyes showing no anger.

"Squard."

Squard raised his head and looked at Whitebeard.

"Pops." His voice had turned hoarse.

"Come here."

Squard didn't move.

His legs were growing weak, but he didn't dare go over.

Because the Sky Screen said he would drive a sword through this man's chest in the future.

Through the chest of the man who had taken him in and protected him for over a decade.

"I said come here." Whitebeard's voice dropped a register.

Squard's legs moved.

Step by step, he crossed the deck, passing through his comrades as they watched him in silence, until he reached Whitebeard's throne.

His knees bent, and he knelt before Whitebeard.

"Pops, I didn't, I wouldn't."

"I know."

Whitebeard's voice was even.

"That's why the Sky Screen called it a regret."

"Because it was Akainu's scheme, not what you intended."

"But you did fall for it."

Whitebeard looked down at the man kneeling before him and reached out, placing his enormous hand on Squard's head.

"You didn't fall for it because you were stupid. You were too afraid."

"You were afraid of being abandoned."

"Your whole family died at Roger's hands. The thing you fear most in this life is being abandoned by someone you trust."

"Akainu seized on that."

Squard's shoulders shook violently.

Whitebeard kept his hand on his head.

"Now you know."

"Akainu will tell you on the battlefield that I made a deal with the Marines, trading the captains under me for Ace's safety."

"That's a lie."

"I would never trade one of my sons for another."

"Never."

Squard pressed his forehead to the deck, lying at Whitebeard's feet as a ragged, broken sound came from him.

It was the sound of crying.

The way an old pirate who had fought and killed in the New World for decades cried. It was neither pleasant nor dignified, but it was so real that everyone around him looked away.

The countdown to answer on the Sky Screen had long since reached zero.

No one cared who had answered first. The whole world was watching the scene aboard the Moby Dick.

[Correct answer: B]

The explanation began to play, but this time it was different from the ones before.

The Sky Screen didn't show Squard stabbing Whitebeard.

It showed what happened afterward.

A sword was lodged in Whitebeard's chest, blood pouring from the wound. Squard stood before him, still gripping the hilt, his face full of tears and disbelief.

Then Whitebeard reached out and pulled Squard into his arms.

"Foolish son."

Those were the words Whitebeard spoke in the image.

A sword was lodged in his chest, and the blood wouldn't stop flowing.

But he was smiling.

The Sky Screen froze on the image for three seconds, then the system's verdict appeared.

[Regret assessment: Squard's regret was not the betrayal itself, but his failure to believe the person he trusted most at the most crucial moment. He was ruled by fear and held captive by the trauma of his past. Akainu merely pressed a switch that had existed for decades]

[In the original timeline, this stab became one of Whitebeard's most fatal wounds, directly weakening his condition in the battles that followed]

[But in this rewritten timeline, this sword will never be drawn]

When the final line appeared, Squard's body trembled again where he lay on the deck.

Whitebeard's hand was still on his head, pressing a little harder than before.

"Stand up, Squard."

"Pops."

"I said stand up."

Squard pushed himself up from the deck. His knees wobbled, but he stood.

His hand reached for the sword at his waist.

Everyone watched him.

He unfastened the sword, sheath and all, from his belt and held it out to Whitebeard in both hands.

"Pops, I don't want this sword anymore."

Whitebeard looked at the sword in his hands for two seconds.

Then he reached out and pushed it back.

"Keep it."

"But, Pops—"

"I said keep it." Whitebeard's voice brooked no argument.

"This sword isn't meant to stab me."

"It's meant to protect your brothers."

"In the coming Paramount War, take this sword and cut Akainu with it."

"That's where it belongs."

Squard stood before Whitebeard, gripping the sword. His lips trembled several times before he managed to force out a word.

"Yes."

The reward appeared on the Sky Screen.

[Reward: Since the heart of this regret lies in the collapse of trust, the system grants Squard the passive ability Heart-Shattering Eye. In future battles, any attempt to manipulate or provoke Squard through words will automatically fail, and he will be able to distinguish all lies and truths directed at him]

Squard stared in surprise when the reward appeared.

Marco walked over and patted him on the shoulder without a word.

Jozu came over from the other side and rested his massive diamond arm on Squard's other shoulder, saying nothing either.

Vista raised his glass.

Everyone on deck raised their glasses.

Squard looked at them for a long time.

Then he hung the sword back at his waist, took the glass Marco offered him, and had a drink.

The liquor burned his throat, but the pain was completely different from what he had felt moments ago.

Lin Qi watched the scene in the tavern, his hands folded behind his head. He leaned back in his chair and let out a breath.

"The point of Squard's segment wasn't what he did, but what Whitebeard did for him."

"A father gets stabbed by his son, then pulls him into his arms and calls him his foolish son."

"That kind of scene would be a top-tier iconic moment in any story."

He glanced at the global emotion data. Both the moved and fired-up scores were soaring.

"All right, fifth place is done."

"Now for the top four."

He swiped across the system panel, looking at the name in fourth place.

His finger hovered over the confirmation button, and he hesitated for two seconds.

"This person's regret is different from all the ones before it."

"The previous regrets were caused by others, by external forces that couldn't be resisted."

"This person chose his own regret."

"He had the power to change everything, but he chose not to."

"That kind of regret, born of giving up on yourself, is the most suffocating of all."

He pressed confirm.

The words on the Sky Screen faded, and a new preview began to take shape.

[Top ten regrets, fourth place, about to be revealed]

[Hint: This regret concerns the color of a flag and a man who chose a third path between justice and family]

In a corridor at Marine Headquarters, a massive figure stopped in his tracks.

Garp looked up at the Sky Screen outside the window, an expression appearing on his deeply wrinkled face that made everyone around him afraid to approach.