Whitebeard lay on the sand, covered in blood and breathing lightly. He looked utterly battered, yet a faint smile still rested on his face.
Calling it a trade—using the island's residents in exchange for his sons' lives—was, for Tsugikuni Yoriichi, no less than a threat.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi had never been someone who could be coerced by pirates.
"Understand me?"
Yoriichi mulled over the meaning behind Whitebeard's words and murmured softly.
"If you truly understood me, you wouldn't try to threaten me this way."
"You should know that I neither make deals with pirates nor allow pirates to coerce me."
Yoriichi did not rush to attack. Whitebeard had already lost his ability to fight, and he did not mind exchanging a few more words with this legend of the seas.
Of course, the main reason Yoriichi was willing to waste words on Whitebeard was that Whitebeard truly had him in his grasp.
Although he had his concerns, when facing Whitebeard, Yoriichi still chose different words when they reached his lips.
Being able to keep Whitebeard behind was already enough for Tsugikuni Yoriichi to achieve his strategic objective.
Once this news spread, the Whole Cake Island under his command would be firmly established in the New World. The New Marines, who had risen by stepping on the name of the Whitebeard Pirates, would become the strongest force in the New World.
No one would dare provoke the New Marines again.
More importantly, even if Tsugikuni Yoriichi did not personally remain in Whole Cake Island afterward, pirates across these seas would never dare casually trespass into territory controlled by the New Marines.
Now that the objective of "deterrence" had been achieved, Whitebeard's life or death held limited value to the New Marines.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi truly could not bring himself to disregard the safety