"Pops, you said you wanted me to hold on to this for you. You didn't say it was a gift?"
Marco studied the gold coin Pops had tossed him. He had never seen a coin like it before.
"How could I give it to you~! A new friend I met today gave it to me. How could I just hand it over?"
"Okay..." Marco smiled faintly.
Pops was still as stingy as ever.
When it came to treasure that belonged to him, no one could take it away.
Whenever they went ashore, he never bought his sons a drink, let alone treated them to a meal.
He could wear the same shirt and pants for years, right up until they fell apart.
Marco could only shake his head at Pops's stinginess.
That was because Pops sent all his money back to his hometown, using it to help the people there improve their lives.
"Coins from another world?" Marco murmured to himself.
"All right, you don't need to stand around here anymore. That kid's about to start again." Whitebeard Pops spoke to Marco.
"Oh, he's coming again? Got it."
Marco raised his arms. Blue, flaming wings beat as he soared into the sky.
"My son came over and interrupted us before I knew it. He sure is a filial son, isn't he~! Gurararara~!!" Edward Newgate turned to speak to Lu Bian and Shi Tianwu on the other end of the video call.
"Whitebeard Pops, who did you say was about to start?"
"Is something the matter over there?" Lu Bian asked.
"Oh, just an interesting kid."
As they spoke, a flash of crimson flame streaked by, attacking Whitebeard from behind.
"That's him."
With an inscrutable smile on his face, Whitebeard Edward Newgate sprang up in a flash, clenched his fist, and swung it at the flames sneaking up on him.
Lu Bian and Shi Tianwu could both tell with ease that Whitebeard Pops wasn't taking it seriously. He even managed to keep an eye on the stand holding up his IV.
Whitebeard Pops punched the flames flying away. On the video screen, Lu Bian and Shi Tianwu could see that they belonged to a man engulfed in fire.
"Fire Fist!!"
Flames burning on his fist, the man charged at Whitebeard Pops again.
He threw a punch.
The fire shot out in the shape of a fist, then swelled in an instant until it was even bigger than Whitebeard Pops himself.
"Hmm."
Whitebeard Pops punched again, meeting the mighty Fire Fist head-on.
It scattered.
Whitebeard Pops's punch dispersed the blazing, scorching fist. The sparks that fell onto the deck went out one by one.
"I saw that young man's body transform back and forth between himself and the flames," Shi Tianwu said.
"That's a special ability from their world."
"There's a strange kind of fruit. Eat one and you gain all sorts of bizarre abilities. Legend has it that you gain the power of a devil, so they call them Devil Fruits," Lu Bian explained to Shi Tianwu.
"Devil Fruits are divided into three types: Logia, Paramecia, and Zoan."
"The one causing trouble for Whitebeard Pops ate a Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit."
"The Flame-Flame Fruit? It lets him turn into fire?"
"That's right."
While Lu Bian and Shi Tianwu were talking, Whitebeard Pops got a little serious and knocked Portgas D. Ace unconscious.
Marco the Phoenix appeared at just the right moment and dragged the unconscious Ace away.
"Today's entertainment is over again," Whitebeard said.
He sat down, rested his elbow on the armrest, propped his chin up with his hand, and continued his IV, his smile unchanged.
"Whitebeard Pops, what are you going to do with him?" Shi Tianwu asked.
"Him? Ace?"
"Whatever he wants."
"We'll see how long he can keep it up," Edward Newgate replied to Shi Tianwu.
"That's the eleventh time he's tried to ambush me, hehe~!"
"In my world, the consequences of failing to challenge someone stronger are severe," Shi Tianwu said.
"Oh? How severe?" Whitebeard asked.
"Most of the time, the result is death."
"Some people are left crippled."
"A very small number are brutally humiliated, their bodies even twisted and changed."
"And the most miserable ones don't even get to remain human."
"Anyone connected to the challenger might also suffer severe punishment."
Shi Tianwu didn't go into much detail. Even he didn't want to describe the wretched state those people ended up in.
"Hmm, I understand."
"But I give anyone who challenges me a chance. If they challenged the powerful figures elsewhere on the sea, though, then it would be just as you said," Whitebeard Pops said.
"I feel like any world where people exist is cruel."
"Where there are kind people, there are also wicked ones."
"Gurarara~!!"
As he spoke, Edward Newgate burst into laughter once more.
How had he ended up lecturing a young man from another world about such tiresome wisdom?
He really was getting old.
As people got on in years, they started sharing the lessons life had taught them without even realizing it.
"..."
The other party wasn't his "son," after all. Realizing that, Whitebeard Pops reined in his urge to talk.
Since the other party had no connection whatsoever to his world, Whitebeard felt he could tell him anything. But if he told his friends from another world everything, wouldn't it make them feel "pressured"?
Better not to say too much.
Edward Newgate turned his attention to exploring the Chat Group's functions.
What was this? He tapped it.
And what was this? He tapped that, too.
"What does 'share resources' mean?"
"What does 'downloading' mean?"
Whitebeard Pops watched as a progress bar appeared in the sidebar of the chat window. When it reached 100%, knowledge he could understand completely, both its meaning and its deeper significance, was imprinted in his mind.
"I downloaded something called Ultimate Boundless Qigong."
"Is it a martial art? Some kind of kung fu?"
"Whitebeard Pops, you downloaded Ultimate Boundless Qigong?"
Lu Bian perked up.
He'd been all alone studying Ultimate Boundless Qigong, and it had been so lonely!
It would be much more fun to have another student learning alongside him~!
Actually, Lu Bian could tell Shi Tianwu was a little disappointed in how quickly he learned and grasped the lessons.
But Shi Tianwu was very patient, teaching him again and again and explaining the essentials of cultivation. Lu Bian felt a little guilty. Shi Tianwu was just like those wonderful, dedicated teachers he'd had back in school.
"My IV's finished."
"I'll give this Ultimate Boundless Qigong a try."
Whitebeard Pops pulled out the needle, rose from his special seat, and began awkwardly practicing the fist techniques of Ultimate Boundless Qigong on the spacious deck of the Moby Dick.
Before you continue