West Blue's Epilogue: Only Cowards Deny Themselves

The casino owner, Anthony, head of the Marlon Family, knew Conrad had fallen victim to Baccarat's fruit ability and felt no surprise.

He understood the power of this secret treasure well; it was the very secret to the casino's enduring prosperity.

Yet, his composed expression while puffing on a cigar faltered the next instant, causing him to choke and widen his eyes in shock.

"May I ask if the Navy is still recruiting?"

Baccarat steadied Conrad, looked at his heroic face—now steaming with black Haki—and smiled enchantingly: "I've always wanted to be a Marine."

She had lived her entire life relying on the Lucky-Lucky Fruit, so she believed in luck; it was the foundation of her survival.

She discovered that the more she absorbed Conrad's luck, the more he struggled and the less he could leave her side, as if pulled by a magnet to her chest.

When Baccarat tried to release the luck and return it, Conrad immediately regained his footing and pulled away.

"If you want to be a Marine, then go be one." Conrad stepped back to distance himself. His current Haki was only at the "Iron-Cutting" level, equivalent to one and a half of the young Mr. 1, which was not enough to be immune to her fruit ability.

"Baccarat! You... are you leaving?" Anthony's composure crumbled, and he hurried around to stand in front of her.

Losing Issho meant losing a powerful bodyguard, which could be replaced, but Baccarat's luck was unique in the world; he could not accept losing her.

"I was always going to leave sooner or later." Baccarat placed her right hand on her hip and spread her left hand: "I am grateful for your hospitality over these six years, but I was only staying here for work. Just like gambling, it was merely a transaction."

"No! You cannot leave!" Anthony, unable to control his emotions, reached out to grab Baccarat's wrist, but his hand stopped in mid-air. He suddenly gasped for air, and before his fingers could even touch her dress, he collapsed to the floor.

The bodyguards hurriedly pulled a spray from his pocket and sprayed it into his nasal cavity three times.

Baccarat sighed helplessly. She turned her head, only to see that Conrad had already picked up a suitcase of money and left with Issho and the Marines.

She smiled, lifted her high heel, and pressed her toe against Anthony's forehead. Looking down, she said with a dangerous grin: "Uncle Anthony, let me borrow a little more luck for the road. Thank you."

The bodyguards observed their boss's infatuated gaze and were confused, as Baccarat's existence was a secret.

Assuming it was just some flirtatious game between the boss and his lover, they didn't interfere.

As Baccarat spun her skirt and walked away, the bodyguards suddenly noticed Anthony beginning to convulse as his condition flared up.

"Quick, quick! Call a doctor! Get the boss to the hospital!"

At the entrance of the Twin Snake Island casino.

The Marines heard the sound of rapid footsteps.

Aokiji, lying on the ice-sculpted roof, felt his snot bubble burst and lifted his eye mask just a crack.

When the black-haired youth walked out, carrying a black leather suitcase, followed by the purple-robed blind man and a swarm of Marines led by Drake, Aokiji took off his eye mask, sat up, and scratched his head listlessly: "Did you win the bet? Sigh~ this is going to be troublesome. I originally intended to just hand it over to the government to save the effort."

"Brothers! Time to split the loot!" Conrad opened the black suitcase, revealing a full, neatly stacked pile of one hundred million Beli.

The Marines' initial surprise and joy turned into pure delight, and by the time the money was stuffed into their hands, only happiness remained.

Amidst the cheers and laughter, Conrad was hoisted into the air by the Marines, with Drake leading the way.

But one person was not happy: Kujaku.

Because Conrad had actually come to pay her back, and the amount he gave her was the largest of anyone present.

He had even said haughtily: "Ten times, a hundred times back to you! We are square from now on!"

Even after the entire casino was sealed and they returned to the warship's deck, Kujaku hadn't recovered; she was quite unhappy.

Because her friendship with Conrad and Baby-5 had always been connected by money; with that link gone, she didn't quite know how to talk to them.

Night fell.

A knock sounded at the door.

Kujaku opened it to find Conrad standing on the threshold, handing her Baby-5's long rifle as usual.

"It's cold, don't fight her for the blankets," Conrad instructed out of habit, then pulled a red scarf from a paper bag containing a newly purchased Western-style dress.

Baby-5 reverted to her delicate, red-dressed girl persona, let him tie the scarf for her obediently, tugged on Conrad's hand, and entered the cabin.

This time, Kujaku didn't feel sour; instead, she felt like a complete outsider. She suddenly smirked and questioned: "Did you two do something behind my back?"

"Absurd!" Conrad raised an eyebrow: "Why would I need to hide anything I do with Baby-5 from you?"

Bang!

The cabin door slammed shut.

"Inexplicable." Conrad didn't dwell on it; Kujaku was naturally mischievous, not as simple as Baby-5, and she had reached an age where a girl's thoughts were complex.

He turned to head back to his own cabin, but before he had taken two steps, he saw a tall, thin figure leaning against the railing, drinking.

"Conrad."

"Vice Admiral Aokiji."

Aokiji pulled a bottle of green-glass Pear Wine from his pocket. Cold air swirled from his palm, chilling the bottle in an instant, and he tossed it casually toward Conrad.

Conrad caught it, but walked closer and reached out to return it, saying, "Thank you, Vice Admiral, but I do not drink."

"Why?" Aokiji lowered his hazy eyes, hoping for an answer with depth and a story behind it.

For instance, the reason he had learned to drink Pear Wine back in the day was to emulate his teacher, Zephyr, and become a dashing man.

"Alcohol doesn't taste good." Conrad offered no further explanation.

Hearing this simple, direct reply, Aokiji was stunned for a moment before his body seemed to collapse, leaning entirely against the railing as he said, "A boring answer, a boring little guy, just as boring as this sea."

"I don't find it boring." Conrad said with a serious expression, "There are plenty of interesting things; there has never been a rule in this world that one must be bored if they don't do a certain thing."

As he spoke, he looked Aokiji straight in the eye, "The only people who fall into self-denial because of a single event are cowards with weak minds who are easily swayed."

Aokiji felt that Conrad was implying something, but his own confusion could not be resolved by words; it was a sense of powerlessness when facing total darkness—the more one knew, the more powerless one felt.

It is only because of ignorance that a youth can charge forward without fear.

If one knew that what stood before them was not a bump in the road, but rather that there was no road at all—only a cliff and an abyss—who would have the courage to jump?

"In this battle, you killed a total of ninety-eight people, two short of a hundred. Aside from the Mafia young master, one of them was the king of a member nation."

Aokiji sat cross-legged on the deck, tilting his head to stare at Conrad, "Do you know what this means? Are you preparing to flee and become a pirate?"

"They endangered my life and the lives of my teammates." Conrad did not shy away, his words ringing out clearly, "Before we set out, I asked if I could kill on the spot, and the Vice Admiral's answer was that I could if lives were endangered."

"So, are you saying that I am the one who ordered you to kill King Lucas?" Aokiji continued to ask, but an invisible aura mixed with cold air radiated from his body, coating the sea beneath the warship in a path of ice crystals.

"He ordered my death, so I killed him." Conrad repeated, emphasizing his point.

Aokiji stared for a long time before leaning lazily against the railing, "You didn't kill him; the Devil Sheriff Laffitte did. You were trying to rescue the king, but Laffitte used the king as a weapon to attack you in order to buy time to escape, which resulted in the king's unfortunate death."

"If anyone asks, that is what you say. Remember that. The newspapers will publish it tomorrow."

"Understood!" Conrad had always been a law-abiding person; he saw no need to stubbornly refute a reasonable order from a superior.

If he didn't want to lie, he could simply remain silent; he had always been that way. For instance, when inspectors came to the orphanage and asked if life was good.

Aokiji suddenly raised the bottle high, singing loudly toward the horizon where the sea met the sky.

"The sea is always watching, the end of this world~ The sea knows everything~ Including the end of this world!"

A sudden pause, then he sang out again, his voice raspy.

"If one day, I disappear from this world..."

The tone was weathered and low, yet it carried with a piercing quality, echoing across the vast, nocturnal sea.