Movie King-Level Performance!

Ace... would die!

That death, which had originally been destined, was like a bolt of black lightning, instantly shattering every scrap of luck Chen Ye had been clinging to.

As someone familiar with the plot of Pirate King, he was slowly about to experience the story he knew so well.

Chen Ye wanted to change the original ending!

But what could a weakling who could not even activate the system do?

Wait for the plot to unfold, then get dragged into the meat grinder of the Summit War and die without a sound?

No!

Absolutely not!

The broom in Chen Ye's hands snapped with a crack.

He had not crossed over just to experience that helpless despair all over again.

He had come here to!

Change the original ending and prevent those unresolved regrets from happening again!

The system's energy was at zero.

It could not be summoned.

But the system was inside his head.

His Golden Finger concealed a power great enough to shake the world.

And the key to unlocking that power—the one and only super Energy Pack—was sitting in the huge chair at the bow right now.

Edward Newgate.

He could not wait any longer.

If he waited until Ace was dragged onto the Execution Platform, until everything was beyond saving, he would lose his final chance forever.

He had to immediately obtain a new identity.

An identity that would free him from being a menial worker, let him move freely around this ship, and even let him... approach Whitebeard openly!

Then!

He Suddenly Looked Up, his gaze passing through the silent crew members on deck and locking precisely onto the bow.

There, First Division Commander "Phoenix" Marco, Third Division Commander "Diamond" Jozu, Fifth Division Commander "Flower Sword" Vista... nearly all the division commanders had gathered around Whitebeard.

The atmosphere was heavy as iron.

They were discussing something.

Or rather, arguing about something.

This was the best opportunity!

And his only opportunity!

Chen Ye released the broom, letting it crash onto the deck with a clang.

The abrupt sharp sound made several nearby crew members frown at him in displeasure.

But Chen Ye no longer cared in the slightest.

He straightened the out-of-place T-shirt on his body, took a Deep Breath, then strode toward the Center of the World at the bow and charged straight ahead.

"Hey! You errand boy! What are you doing?!"

"Stop! Is that somewhere you're allowed to go?!"

The crew members shouted after him, but Chen Ye turned a deaf ear.

All he could see was that Mountain-like Figure.

Marco and the others had also noticed the boy charging toward them without a care for anything, and displeasure and vigilance appeared on their faces.

Jozu even stepped forward, his enormous body like a wall as he prepared to stop this fool who did not know his place.

Yet, just as everyone thought Chen Ye was about to charge into Pops.

His legs gave out when he was still about ten meters from Whitebeard.

Thud!

A dull sound rang out.

In an incomparably standard full-body prostration, he dropped solidly to his knees on the deck, his forehead slamming hard against the wooden planks.

The whole movement was crisp and decisive, full of ceremony.

The Movie King's performance had begun!

In an instant.

The entire place fell silent.

All the commanders froze.

The cigarette dangling from Marco's mouth fell to the ground, yet he did not even notice.

Even Vista's two distinctive long mustaches trembled slightly from their owner's astonishment.

Even Whitebeard himself had a trace of surprise flash through those eyes that looked down upon the world.

Then.

Something even more jaw-dropping than that shocking act happened.

"Wuh... Waaaah—!"

An earth-shattering wail erupted from Chen Ye's throat, shrill and miserable, filled with endless grievance and despair.

He raised his head. His previously rather handsome face was now streaked with tears and snot, completely drowned in "grief."

Tears as large as beans rolled endlessly from his eyes like pearls from a broken string.

"Pops!!"

Chen Ye used every ounce of strength in his body to release a sorrowful cry like a cuckoo crying blood.

As he wept, he crawled forward several steps on his hands and knees, his posture humble to the very dust.

"Pops! I finally... I finally got to see you!"

He cried so hard he could barely catch his breath, as though he meant to pour out a lifetime of grievances.

"My home... my family... they're all gone!"

That single sentence made the commanders, who had initially found this somewhat ridiculous, turn grim at once.

"Home?"

Whitebeard's deep voice rang out, carrying an emotion that was difficult to discern.

As though greatly encouraged, Chen Ye cried even louder and stretched out a trembling hand to point in a certain direction over the sea.

"It was pirates!

"All my family was killed by those utterly evil pirates!"

At those words, the expressions around him changed!

Marco's eyes instantly became incomparably sharp.

Jozu unconsciously clenched his diamond-covered fist, producing a crack.

The temperature across the entire Moby Dick seemed to drop several degrees.

Chen Ye keenly caught the shift in the atmosphere and secretly thought, It worked!

But his performance only became more committed, more heartrending.

"They... they said they were acting on Lord Kaido's orders, expanding their territory... My father, my mother... they were all killed protecting me! Waaaah..."

He wailed as he frantically kowtowed, and his forehead soon became red and swollen.

"Ever since I was little... ever since I was little, I grew up listening to your legends! You are the greatest man on these seas! You are the father of all orphans!"

"They all said that only the flag of the Whitebeard Pirates is a symbol of justice! That becoming your son is the greatest honor on these seas!"

"I escaped... I fled for my life... The only thought keeping me going was finding you! I only want to beg one thing of you in person!"

Every sentence, every word from Chen Ye seemed to be a scream wrung from his very life.

He twisted and refined all his fear of death, unease toward the future, and rage at fate, then poured it all into this earth-shaking performance.

At this moment, he was not acting.

He was that pitiful wretch whose family had been destroyed, who regarded Whitebeard as his final lifeline.

He was that orphan driven into a corner by fate, able only to beg for a shred of mercy in the most humble posture possible.

First Division Commander Marco stared blankly at the figure kneeling on the ground and crying like a child. He had seen countless people who wanted to join the Whitebeard Pirates—some for fame, some for power, some for protection.

But someone like this... someone who begged to come aboard in such an extreme, miserable, and... sincere manner, was a first for him.

He could not find even the slightest trace of falsehood in those grief-stricken cries.

The surrounding crew members had long since stopped treating it as entertainment.

Sympathy, pity, and an even deeper hatred for the Beasts Pirates appeared on every face.

Chen Ye cried until his heart felt torn apart, and it seemed his throat was about to go hoarse.

He raised his head high and looked hopefully at that insurmountable mountain with eyes completely blurred by tears. With the last of his strength, he made the boldest request of his life.

"Pops!"

"Please!"

"Please let me... become your son!"