Whitebeard's Illness

Two months later.

Yota strolled out onto the Moby Dick and spotted Ace, once again beaten black and blue, his head covered in lumps. Smiling, he said, "Yo, Ace, Captain Whitebeard beat you up again today!"

Ace mumbled something incomprehensible. Yota did not bother asking. Opening his huge mouth, he swallowed Ace whole, and moments later, an apparently uninjured Ace reappeared.

However, this time, the Ace Yota had healed did not eagerly run off to train and prepare to challenge Whitebeard again. Instead, his eyes carried a trace of confusion. Clearly, his resolve had begun to waver.

Over this period, Whitebeard had treated him with the utmost sincerity. Moreover, everyone else aboard the Moby Dick treated him as one of their own brothers. For someone like Ace, who was emotionally sensitive and had lacked a father's love since childhood, it would have been strange if he had not felt conflicted.

After all, Ace was not like Luffy, dreaming of becoming the One Piece. His goal was to surpass his father—though in truth, it was simply his childhood trauma driving him to prove himself. In terms of motivation and perseverance, he naturally could not compare to Luffy's unwavering determination.

He did not have a One Piece's straw hat, nor did he have one of the Four Emperors staking an arm on his future. For him, setting out to sea had merely been about freedom.

Therefore, after experiencing Whitebeard's fatherly love and the atmosphere aboard the Moby Dick, Ace had long since begun to waver. If not for a young man's pride, he would probably have joined the Whitebeard Pirates already.

Yota paid no attention to Ace, who was in the midst of a crisis of confidence. In his view, Ace and Whitebeard were fated, just like Shanks and Luffy. As long as neither of their personalities changed, it was only a matter of time before Ace joined the Whitebeard Pirates.

What frustrated him was his own situation. He had been on the Moby Dick for two months already, and the other members of the Spade Pirates had all been broken up and assigned to different squads. So why had no one asked whether he wanted to join the Whitebeard Pirates?

Even Yamato had been offered the chance to become Whitebeard's daughter. Yamato had only refused because she wanted to stand with Ace through thick and thin. So why was no one interested in him?

Inside the Moby Dick's cabin, Whitebeard prepared to drink while looking at his burned right hand. Instead of being upset, he smiled.

"Pops, was this... Ace's doing?" A hint of surprise flashed through Marco's eyes as he asked.

"Gurarararara! What do you think? That brat's got pretty good potential, doesn't he?" Whitebeard paid no mind to the injury on his hand and said with a chuckle.

A bitter smile appeared on Marco's face. He understood Whitebeard's personality and knew there was no way he could persuade him.

Besides, he did genuinely like Ace. Though Marco called him Pops at every turn, he was himself an old pirate in his forties or fifties. He could see through the nature of a youngster like Ace at a glance.

Although Ace still looked like he wanted to assassinate Whitebeard, Marco had long since noticed his wavering. He also knew perfectly well that with Ace's personality, once he joined the Whitebeard Pirates, he would never betray them.

But right now, Ace was not Marco's greatest concern.

"Pops, lately, not only the Spade Pirates, but quite a few of our Whitebeard Pirates have received treatment from Yota. Pops, do you want to..."

"Hmph!" Whitebeard set down his bowl of wine with some irritation. "I don't want to ask someone to join the Whitebeard Pirates over something like this."

Marco smiled faintly. He knew Whitebeard could not bring himself to swallow his pride. Otherwise, given his old temperament, he would likely have taken Yota in as a son long ago.

In truth, Whitebeard's illness was quite simple. It was the result of long-term use of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, which had left hidden injuries throughout his body.

The terrifying thing about the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was that it could not only inflict external wounds on others, but even their organs and bones would be scarred by the violent vibrations. Thus, ordinary defenses were almost useless against shockwaves.

And every force had an equal reaction. Whenever Whitebeard used this power, he himself inevitably suffered some effects from the vibrations as well.

When he was young, Whitebeard had been strong and robust. His healing ability could completely suppress such minor hidden injuries. But as he grew older, his self-healing abilities weakened, and he could no longer keep the injuries within his body under control.

Yota's Munch-Munch Fruit, combined with his medical skills, was the perfect remedy for this kind of physical damage. In particular, injuries to bone marrow, internal organs, or even the brain could not be healed by ordinary doctors at all. They could only be treated with a Devil Fruit like this.

Still, Whitebeard believed that taking in a son was something sacred. Once personal interests became mixed into it, he found the idea deeply displeasing.

Put simply, Whitebeard was old and stubborn. His childish old-man temperament had flared up; he wanted to save face and did not want to ask anyone for help. That was why Yota's situation with the Whitebeard Pirates had gone nowhere for so long.

But Yota was currently staying aboard the Moby Dick, and Marco was no longer in any rush. Whitebeard was not yet critically ill.

Once Ace became Whitebeard's son, could Yota really get away? There would always come a day when he would be able to treat Whitebeard.

At that moment, Yota was chatting with a Squad Commander sporting a pompadour aboard the Moby Dick.

"Commander Thatch, can you take me with you next time you head out to sea? I'm practically growing mold sitting around here."

The Moby Dick was Whitebeard's personal ship and the flagship of the entire Whitebeard Pirates. Therefore, unless something major happened, it rarely sailed through the seas.

Back when the Spade Pirates had encountered it, if not for the letter Red Hair had sent over, coupled with Ace defeating Knight of the Sea Jinbe, they would never have been able to meet the Moby Dick at all.

For ordinary challengers who did not know their place, Whitebeard's Squad Commanders would teach them a lesson. Only after defeating all those Squad Commanders would Whitebeard personally make a move.

After all that explanation, the point was simply that life aboard the Moby Dick was unbearably boring.

Ordinary crew members had it better. Since Whitebeard's ship was currently docked at an island anyway, they could go ashore and have some fun.

But Yota was still technically a prisoner. Though he looked no different from the crew, because of how important he was, Marco and Whitebeard's other most trusted sons absolutely did not dare let him leave the Whitebeard Pirates' watch.

The other Spade Pirates crew members did not have this problem. In fact, they had already been assigned to various divisions within the Whitebeard Pirates and had long since integrated into the crew.