Dad, the Person You Wanted to Protect Has Already Reached the Pinnacle of These Seas!

In the New World, within the territory Totto Land Totto Land, a merchant ship flying the flag of the Atlantis Merchant Association is sailing here.

Its target is Tyrean Island, which is currently not too far ahead of the ship.

In its early years, Tyrean Island was just an ordinary island in the New World, nothing special. Its only advantage was that it was not too far from Cake Island, the capital island of Totto Land Totto Land.

However Totto Land, at that time, Totto Land was not stable and was not particularly prosperous.

Currently, Tyrean Island belongs to Totto Land Totto Land and can be considered another prosperous island in Totto Land Totto Land Cake Island, with its economic development and security environment far surpassing the other islands in Totto Land Totto Land.

Furthermore, this is the only island in the entire Totto Land region that doesn't have any oddly named desserts, foods, or other similar items.

While rapid economic development can be attributed to its proximity to Whole Cake Island, allowing it to benefit from its abundant welfare benefits, the reason this island is so special is simple: it is the 'hometown' of the legendary Bull, Bane Ortolan.

Despite being called his homeland, Ortolan has been away for almost ten years without ever visiting Tyrean Island.

He didn't know why, even though it wasn't far from G-5, and he had been to Cake Island, but Tirion had never been here.

Standing on the deck, the sea breeze brushed against Ortolan's face, causing him to squint slightly as he gazed at the island that was getting closer and closer, and appearing more and more prosperous. For a moment, he felt a sense of unfamiliarity, finding no resemblance whatsoever to the Tyrian he remembered.

"If it weren't for the fact that it's Tirion's place, I probably wouldn't have recognized it even if I were just passing by..." Ortolan said softly.

"So, it seems that your desire to find your childhood there, and my wish to see traces of your past life there, may not be possible?" Gion asked with a hint of regret.

"Perhaps..." Ortolan replied casually, not in high spirits.

Gion glanced at Ortolan and wondered if this was what they called homesickness.

Soon, the ship arrived at the port of Tirion. Unlike the previous times, when the ship approached, the islanders specially cleared a dedicated channel and berth for them.

As soon as the ship's gangway was lowered, a red carpet was laid out from the port dock to the bottom of the gangway. As soon as Ortolan stepped down the gangway, fireworks and cannons went off, and then handsome men and beautiful women who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere began to sing and dance, creating a scene of enthusiastic welcome.

This left Ortolan quite helpless. As he descended the gangplank, a fat middle-aged man appeared before him with a group of villagers, fawning over him.

For a moment, Ortolan felt that the middle-aged man looked familiar, as if he were the capable mayor from about ten years ago.

"Bane, you've finally arrived!" The middle-aged man greeted him warmly, but dared not be too presumptuous.

Hearing the voice, Ortolan finally realized that this guy was the mayor from back then. He vaguely remembered that the mayor was indeed a capable man. Occasionally, when pirates or other thugs came to invade, he would even organize the young men on the island to lead the resistance. Ortolan had also helped out in those situations.

I never imagined that in less than ten years, that once capable man would be worn down by life and become so fat and bloated.

His clothing also revealed a kind of nouveau riche wealth, clearly indicating that as the manager of the only autonomous island in the Totto Land Totto Land, his life was very lucrative.

"Long time no see, Mayor." Ortolan didn't remember his name, but still greeted him with a smile.

Even so, the town mayor was stunned for a moment, then tears welled up in his eyes as he said, moved, "You still remember me... you still remember me..."

While exchanging pleasantries with this self-satisfied fellow, Ortolan also walked out of the town. As soon as he came out of the port, he saw a huge steel statue standing in the center of the port square.

Upon closer inspection, good heavens, that statue was none other than Ortolan!

"It really is you. Even the Admiral Sengoku didn't dare to erect a statue of themselves..." Gion teased Yu with a surprised yet somewhat amused expression.

Ortolan was speechless. He wondered why the islanders were doing this. It was simply for peace of mind and security. It seemed that by having this statue erected here, the Big Mom Pirates would know how much they revered Ortolan, perhaps giving them a sense of security. The statue's presence was as if Ortolan was protecting them on the island.

"It's right that the Admiral doesn't do these things, Fleet Admiral doesn't like them either, because they all have the same principle..." Ortolan said softly.

"What reasoning?" Gion asked, slightly puzzled.

"Nothing is immortal, especially in this world, on this ocean. No one can truly last forever. The moment a statue is erected is the day it will be toppled. The countdown begins..." Ortolan said with a self-deprecating laugh.

The town mayor, standing nearby, broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this, wondering what Ortolan really meant.

However, Ortolan didn't ask anyone to tear down anything. He patted the mayor on the shoulder and said, "I only came here to see my hometown. Having so many people around me makes me a little uncomfortable. You can all leave now..."

After the crowd dispersed, the mayor, seeing that Ortolan had no interest in him, wisely left. Although the residents and merchants walking around still occasionally checked the situation, it felt much less like being surrounded as before.

Ignoring the statue and such, Ortolan seemed to be in a better mood, and as they walked, he pointed out some old buildings around the area to Gion.

"That place used to be the mayor's office building, but now it looks like it's been turned into some kind of port office. My dad used to take me there to collect protection money. That mayor just now, every time he saw my dad, he was trembling with fear..." Ortolan said with a smile.

Amidst laughter and conversation, Ortolan gradually arrived at the edge of the town. To be precise, it was the edge of the town he had envisioned. In fact, apart from the direction he was heading, the surrounding area had already been developed. After all, the rapid development over the past decade had greatly increased the town's population and area, making the old small town unable to support such prosperity.

"Why does this area look undeveloped?" Gion asked curiously, following beside Ortolan.

"Because this is the direction my home is facing..." Ortolan answered with a slightly nostalgic tone.

Soon, at the end of this road, a building that looked like a farmhouse appeared. Looking at the well-maintained courtyard walls, one could tell that even though no one lived here, it was kept very tidy.

There was no padlock on the door. When Ortolan pushed the gate open, he saw a large stone table. He remembered the last time he had a memory of this place was when Katakuri brought Cracker, the biscuit man, to find him.

Not far from the stone table, near the corner of the courtyard wall, there was a blacksmith's workshop. Looking at the furnace, Ortolan couldn't help but smile, "My Warhammer, I forged it there myself. It's been ten years, and I still haven't decided on a name for it..."

As he was saying this, he turned his head and saw that Gion was already walking around the yard observing things on her own, with a faint and gentle smile on her face.

This prompted Ortolan to ask, "What are you doing? You're laughing so happily."

"As I walk here and look at this house, I can almost picture what it was like for you to live here. Every blade of grass, every little detail bears the traces of your life here. I don't know why, but looking at these things, I feel so happy that I didn't come this time," Gion said with a smile.

Hearing this, Ortolan paused for a moment, a soft feeling creeping over him, but outwardly shook his head, teasingly saying, "If you're looking for embarrassing childhood memories of me here, I'm not telling you..."

Upon entering the house, I found it had been cleaned very thoroughly. However, all the items left behind by the emperor were still in their original places, without any alterations.

On the altar directly opposite the door, there was a knife rack, but it was empty. Ortolan stared at the knife rack, momentarily lost in thought.

When his father, Bane Saronis, passed away, Ortolan felt a pang of sadness seeing all the things in the house that reminded him of his father, so he buried everything in the house that belonged to his father along with him.

Only the knife and the knife rack remain in the house.

He had always felt that he wasn't someone who clung to the past, but as he looked at the knife rack, a sudden longing for his father welled up in his heart. This kind of longing hadn't appeared in the past ten years, but this time it came very strongly.

"I've already given the knife to her for you, Dad. You've already reached the pinnacle of protecting the people, both her and me. How about it? We haven't disappointed you, have we?"

Ortolan looked at the empty knife rack and muttered to himself softly.