Three Days Until the Public Execution

"Hmm?"

Kong looked at Yaen in surprise, his expression somewhat bewildered.

Yaen merely smiled at this and did not explain. Instead, he raised the tip of his foot and kicked Luffy straight into Kong's arms, then said,

"The last Road Poneglyph is beneath the main ship of the Red-Haired Pirates. Go."

Kong caught the unconscious Luffy, then nodded. Just as he was about to turn and leave—

"Kong..."

Just then, Yaen's voice suddenly rang out again. "You shouldn't have allowed Ying to fool around and duel Mihawk."

Kong stopped in his tracks and replied, "Father, this is Ying's own will. I had no reason to stop her from proving herself."

"No..."

Yaen shook his head, a trace of tenderness showing in his eyes as he said,

"What I mean is, neither you nor Ying needs to prove anything. No matter what happens, I'll always be proud of you both. You don't need to shoulder too much, either. I'll handle everything. Just enjoy the voyage and try to find Laugh Tale to uncover the greatest secret of this era."

After a pause, Yaen looked at Kong's stopped figure and continued,

"Don't worry, Kong. Even if you ultimately fail to uncover the secret of Laugh Tale, I can still complete the plan. Your father is very strong, after all!"

Kong nodded, then hurried away with Luffy in his arms.

After all... there wasn't much time left for Kong. He had no spare moment to slowly talk with Yaen.

After the sounds of the battle between Shanks and Luffy had disappeared for a while, some pirates realized that something was wrong. They used Observation Haki to sense the area, but instead of detecting Shanks's presence, they sensed an unfamiliar aura.

As a result, the Straw Hat Crew, the Red-Haired Pirates, and even Mihawk