The top of the tower fell silent for a few seconds.
"It's different."
Shanks answered without the slightest hesitation, his voice firm and decisive. He looked toward the distant sea, his remaining hand clenched tightly into a fist.
"We're embracing the last shred of hope left in this world."
Shanks turned, his gaze piercing straight into Jace's eyes.
"Back then, the World Government and Ross chose you and gave you a false Pirate King bloodline because they wanted to weigh you against Ace. They merely wanted to watch a drama about the real and fake sons of the Pirate King. They treated everyone as toys they could manipulate however they pleased."
"Their mindset is completely different from ours. That is the fundamental difference between us!"
Shanks's voice echoed in the wind, carrying a heavy, tragic resolve.
"We have no choice but to make sacrifices for the ultimate goal of freedom for everyone in the world, to tear apart that iron cage. Koza is a sacrifice, and so are you. Even I am. Any of us could die for that goal at any moment."
"But they..." Shanks gritted his teeth. "They have the power to rule over everything. They don't need any sacrifices at all to maintain their rule, yet they still sacrifice others and trample on their dignity for their own pleasure. That is completely different."
Jace's lips moved as he listened to Shanks's emphatic answer.
Was it really... different?
In the end, Jace never voiced that question.
He simply turned his gaze back toward the desert horizon, silently watching Koza's retreating figure disappear into the yellow sand and frenzy.
No matter how they dressed it up with talk of the greater good and hope, a lie remained a lie, and a pawn was still only a pawn.
For an