To dominate the Grand Line and become the One Piece...
How difficult was that road?
It was the same for Roger.
Before he single-handedly ushered in the Great Pirate Era, countless heroes of the sea had been defeated by him.
It could be said that Roger had trampled over the corpses of countless enemies on his way to the summit of the era.
Although that had happened more than twenty years ago, once the seed of hatred took root, it could last a lifetime.
Among Whitebeard's men, there were pirates who had once lost to Roger and, as a result, lost many of their companions.
And when they learned that Ace was Roger's son...
The seed of hatred would sprout in no time.
The result was that it gave the Marines an opportunity to sow discord.
On a battlefield where everyone's nerves were stretched taut, just a few words could shake the morale of the pirates under Whitebeard.
But,
Long before the public execution, Maud had used the Revolutionary Army's power to spread rumors across the world that Ace was Roger's bloodline.
That was precisely what had given Whitebeard enough time to personally resolve the hatred.
A father's debt repaid by his son?
How ridiculous!
Should they follow their hearts and risk everything to rescue Ace, or uphold their hatred and leave the pirate crew?
As pirates, what they wanted to do should have been their own decision.
Because of the butterfly effect caused by Maud, Whitebeard had avoided a critical betrayal from one foolish son.
Without that betrayal, the Whitebeard Pirates naturally would not expose so many openings for the Marines to exploit.
And without Luffy leading the prison break, there would not be hundreds of Impel Down prisoners descending from the sky to slightly alter the situation.
Nothing