Beneath the clock tower at the edge of the square in Loguetown, below Reverse Mountain and Reverse City.
A broad, pure-black umbrella perfectly shut out the wind and rain filling the sky.
Olvia quietly held the umbrella and stood at Ross's side, her calm gaze fixed on the farce in the rain that had already come to an end.
"In the end, he still didn't show up..."
Ross had one hand in his pocket, his gaze passing over Shanks and Luffy in the rain before landing at the edge of the square, on the entrance to an alley that was now completely empty.
He shook his head lightly, the corner of his mouth curving in an arc that might have been mockery or sorrow, and let out an almost inaudible sigh of regret.
Just ten minutes ago, a man in a dark-green cloak had been standing in that spot.
But from beginning to end, Dragon never appeared.
He had been right there.
He had watched with his own eyes as his biological son was humiliated under Ace's foot like an insect.
He had watched with his own eyes as his ally, Shanks, was stripped of all dignity by the truth.
He had watched with his own eyes as the last glory of the Roger Pirates was mercilessly crushed.
Yet he had not taken a single step forward.
He had not used his power, not even to help up his own blood-covered son, nor had he helped Shanks, the man who had taken countless attacks for him, out of his predicament.
With Dragon's intelligence and information network, he clearly knew that in Ross's script, the time was not yet ripe.
For the moment, the World Government absolutely would not truly act against him, much less erase him here.
As long as