In the blink of an eye, two months have passed since the Whitebeard Pirates completely eliminated the "King of Three Islands," the last group of Great Pirate entrenched in the cracks.
In these two months, Whitebeard became a father again...
Although Ace was still exhausted, he was defeated by Whitebeard time and time again, and with the constant persuasion of his other sons, Ace felt a long-lost... or rather, never-before-experienced "fatherly love".
Ace's mother, Portgas D. Rouge, gave birth to him after a full 20 months of pregnancy in order to save his life. This meant that the World Government, which had been massacring pregnant women and New Life in the South Blue for a year, ultimately failed to eliminate Roger's bloodline. However, Rouge paid the price with her life.
Therefore, Ace grew up without parents, but the Bandit Dadan undoubtedly filled the "mother" position in Ace's heart; only the position of father remained vacant...
Whitebeard chose Ace not only because of Roger and the "D" designation, but also because he understood Ace's mindset.
However, these past two months have been quite difficult for little William, and he harbors a lot of resentment towards his grandfather and Ace...
After seeing how quickly Whitebeard and Ace developed a father-son relationship, Sig naturally followed suit—it's just hitting kids, right? Little William has done plenty of things that deserve a beating too!
As Ace became the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, William's childhood became more complete.
March 1, 1517.
At this point, the Moby Dick had already entered the waters near Hakunnos Island...
The reason it was so punctual was that the closer it got to its destination, the slower the Moby Dick would slow down— Whitebeard would never arrive early; he had to arrive on time to save face!
At this point, the Moby Dick was sailing alone, as the "Four Emperors" were going to negotiate in Hakunnos, not engage in a final battle.
On the Moby Dick, besides the Sailor maintaining navigation, a small number of combatants, and Whitebeard's medical team, there were only Marco, Jozu, and the newly joined Ace, the three captains.
It's clear that Whitebeard is all bark and no bite—although he talked to Sig as if he was about to go and beat Shanks up, you can tell from the fact that he was with the nurses that Whitebeard wasn't actually prepared to start a major battle at all.
Whitey Bay didn't follow along; instead, she and little William waited for the outcome on the previous island.
Sig has been feeding her mushrooms these past few days...
The ultimate power granted the Demon Mushroom the authority to "restrain Little William"!
Otherwise, Whitey Bay might lose control of that brat.
However, it must be said that the Paths of the Divine authority carried by Sig's descendants is far greater than the mushrooms he intentionally created, though most of them are still dormant.
As William grows up, sooner or later Whitey Bay will find herself unable to keep an eye on her son. But for now, there's no need to worry; William's disappearances are no longer a secret to her.
As the Moby Dick sailed toward the abandoned port of Hakunnos, Sig had already spotted the Queen Mama Chanter and the Beasts King in the distance. They were also moving slowly, one to the east and one to the west, right on either side of the Moby Dick, heading toward Hakunnos together.
Clearly, everyone thinks the same way!
"Captain Kaido changed his ship? He's really doing well..." Sig glanced around and noticed that Kaido's ship had obviously been replaced; it was probably newly built in the last few years.
After all, Kaido has been exploiting Wano Country for so many years. He's not the kind of guy who buries his gold coins and sleeps with them. Besides building Armament Legion, he must have also used some of it to build warships and upgrade his military strength!
At this time, the Beasts King, although it appeared slightly smaller in size Moby Dick, had much larger and more multi- Moby Dick cabins above the deck.
More importantly, both the deck and the cabins below deck were densely packed with cannons, far more than the Moby Dick, as if afraid others wouldn't know how powerful its firepower was.
As for Queen Mama Chanter, it seems the most harmless, as if it stepped out of a fairy tale. However... Sig estimates that if it were a one-on-one battle between the main ships using only a small number of Sailor and gunners, Queen Mama Chanter would be the strongest. After all, it is not just a ship, but also a super Homies with a soul!
However, Sig was somewhat disappointed that Big Mom hadn't brought the children, and Sig's bloodline senses didn't register—which, of course, was expected!
In the blink of an eye, the three enormous warships pressed towards the port.
The port's terrain is quite unique; there's a low-lying area below where ships can disembark, but... not far away is a steep cliff.
The reason why the terrain is like this, and even three such large flagships can enter the port directly, is because the Rocks Pirates modified it back then, creating a deep-water port.
Shanks and the Red-Hair Pirates' executives had been waiting here on the high cliff for quite some time!
Only Beckman and Sig came with the Beasts Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates. Shanks naturally wouldn't come with Big Mom, since as the "organizer," he still had to prepare for the reception.
The flagships of the three emperors were far larger than ordinary pirate ships; in comparison, the Red Voss actually seemed rather shabby...
At this moment, although Shanks was standing on high ground, the decks of the three main ships were slightly higher than the cliff, and their size was also very imposing, as if they could destroy this port!
"I am deeply grateful for the honor bestowed upon me by the three of you! Fine wine and delicacies are prepared, please, Captain!" Shanks said directly.
The three large ships then lowered their massive gangplanks one by one...
Although this distance would be easily jumped over for the Four Emperors, the three of them made a grand show of it, specially setting up a luxurious "springboard" and slowly walking down.
What concerned Sig was...
Behind Kaido, there was Yamato, who looked resentful and indignant?
Behind Big Mom, besides the pirate crew's executives, there was another person who seemed out of place—a... birdman?
Sig had seen this Human-Beast Form in the WEC Newspaper; it was undoubtedly Morgans himself!
As expected, Morgans, who appears to be neutral, actually has a much better relationship with Big Mom among the pirates...
"Little Sig, why didn't you come to deliver the letter to your Mom? It's been years, isn't this too formal?" Big Mom's tone was quite sinister.
Although Big Mom has broken free from the nun's influence, her personality is still what it is!
"I really wanted to go, but our Captain... definitely wants to go to Whole Cake Island, probably because he's got his eye on some lady!" Sig immediately shifted the blame.
Shanks:...
Such polite words were indeed necessary to say, Shanks... He refrained from refuting them.
Kaido glanced at Sig and said, "Siegfried? Heh... or Vladimir?"
"Captain Kaido, it's been a long time. Are you satisfied with your position as Yamato?" Sig, seeing that Kaido already knew, so he made no attempt to hide it.
The Whitebeard then frowned and complained, "This is outrageous! What are you all dawdling about here for? Hurry up and bring out the wine!"