Parting

"Bastard! Don't push your luck!"

"I'll really kill you!"

"Come on, one-on-one! One of us has to die!"

Shiki, Linlin, and Kaido were practically driven mad with rage. They had never seen anyone as shameless as John, someone who took advantage and still acted smug about it.

Any pirate with a sense of loyalty knew that if they were going to support a dead comrade's wife and child, it should be the person who had gained the most.

But what about that bastard John?

He actually dared to use Rocks's wife and child as an excuse to shamelessly demand another share!

"I'll stop talking. You guys carry on."

Seeing that the three bastards were truly on the verge of exploding, John shrugged and picked up a coconut to keep drinking from it.

The three of them could not be bothered with him and continued arguing over who would get the final share of gold.

Newgate picked up a coconut, split it open with a hand chop, and drank deeply with his head tilted back before turning to John.

"What are you planning to do next?"

"Follow fate."

John gazed at the blue sea and sky ahead, watching the waves sink away into the beach, his eyes calm with resignation.

Despite everything he had done, although he had changed Rocks's fate to "missing," he still could not escape the outcome of the pirate crew disbanding.

Since fate wanted it so badly, he would give it what it wanted.

"What about you?"

"I don't know." Newgate shook his head blankly.

He only wanted a home on the sea, but he had not figured out what the first step should be.

Although this era had legends such as the Golden City, Emerald City, and Laugh Tale, pirates' main goal was not to seek them out.

They merely wanted to survive. They did not have so many dreams and ambitions to fulfill.

The great pirates and nobles might look imposing every day, wallowing in wine and pleasure, but in truth, many low-ranking pirates and commoners could not even fill their stomachs.

Some people were born in barren lands. Even without oppression from the Celestial Dragons, royal families, and nobles, they were already living on the edge of death.

Going out to sea was their only way to survive.

Newgate's hometown had also suffered from war and poverty when he was young. Only after he grew up and gained the strength to do so had he changed everything there.

Now that the World Government was hunting him with a bounty on his head, returning home would only bring trouble to its residents.

He longed for home, yet he could not return home.

For the rest of his life, he could only drift upon the sea until the day he died.

"Freedom is merely an excuse to comfort yourself amid a life of suffering."

John lit a cigarette and turned his gaze toward the three bastards still arguing, falling into a daze.

Linlin had been abandoned by her parents as a child; Kaido had been betrayed by the country he served; Shanks's mother had been killed by his father...

Together with Newgate, these four future Emperors of the Sea had all grown up in hardship.

Even Shiki, judging by his clothes, was probably from Wano Country, a place where even the son of a shogun, Kozuki Oden, could rape, plunder, and abduct people without anyone daring to resist.

"Since you don't know what to do, just take things one step at a time. Things will work themselves out."

John had no grand truths to lecture Newgate about, nor did he like presumptuous preaching.

No matter how lofty an ideal was, it still had to be built upon people.

And people's worst instincts were carved into their bones and flowed through their blood.

The struggle between people would never end...

Half a day later, four pirate ships arrived one after another. The pirates had followed the guidance of the Vivre Cards to welcome back their captains.

Only Kaido, all alone, had to hitch a ride on Newgate's ship to reach the latter half of the Grand Line, the New World.

"Remember this: even though we split the treasure, you wouldn't have any of it without me. You all owe me a huge favor!"

Even at parting, John did not forget to gain a little verbal advantage.

Then, before those bastards had time to explode, he urged Pete to quickly set sail.

"Take care, bastards! If fate allows it, we'll meet again!"

Watching the Treasure flee as though escaping, rapidly shrinking into a black dot on the horizon, Linlin could not help laughing.

"John has become even more of a bastard... and even more interesting."

After all that commotion, what should have been a somewhat sorrowful farewell became cheerful instead.

"Bastards, if we meet at sea in the future, we'll be enemies. Don't expect me to go easy on you."

"Hmph, Shiki, you bastard. Next time, I'll sink you into the sea."

"MAMAMA~ Stop standing around. Hurry back to the New World and seize some territory!"

The bastards bid each other farewell with harsh words, set sail, and headed off to pursue their own ambitions.

On the deck of the Treasure

After having the crew arrange a room for Alice and her child, John found the first mate, Pete, and held out his hand.

"I think I've been poisoned. Take out my Vivre Card and see if it's changed."

A Vivre Card was made with material mixed with the owner's fingernails. It was waterproof, fireproof, and possessed other such properties, representing its owner's life force.

A Vivre Card would shrink when its owner weakened and return to normal after they recovered. If it turned completely to ashes, it meant its owner had died.

"Poisoned?!"

Pete was shocked and hurriedly took the Vivre Card from his chest pocket.

When he saw that the Vivre Card was intact and had not shrunk at all, his expression eased slightly.

"Did someone coat a weapon with poison? How despicable!"

"No, I was just a little hungry on the island and ate some mushrooms at random..."

John took the Vivre Card from Pete's palm, continuously rubbing the paper with his fingertips as though concealing his embarrassment.

An unreadable glint flashed through Pete's eyes. He naturally took the Vivre Card back, then turned and shouted to the crew:

"Quick, call the ship's doctor over to examine John."

"No need. There's nothing wrong with the Vivre Card, so that means I'm really fine."

John shook his head and walked toward the bow.

Pete followed beside him and turned his head to ask:

"What should we do about that golden ship trailing behind us? If we head back to the New World like this, we'll definitely attract a lot of trouble along the way."

"Of course we'll put it at my treasure site!" John proudly raised his brows at Pete.

At that instant, Pete's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and the blood in his body began to surge.

At last, he was going to get his hands on John's treasure site!

"But before that, we should find some random place to dump those two burdens."

"Rocks's widow and child? Wouldn't it be inappropriate to just abandon them?"

Pete looked troubled, as though doing so would weigh heavily on his conscience.

"Don't tell me you plan to raise them?" John looked at him meaningfully.

Pete took a deep breath and solemnly nodded.

"He was our captain once. Of course I have to take responsibility for his wife and child."

"Fine, they're yours. But we still need to find an island to leave them on. Otherwise, my treasure site will be exposed."

"..."

Night fell.

A faint candle flame lit the dark cabin, casting mottled shadows around it as the ship swayed.

"Captain Pete, are you really going to support Rocks's widow and child?"

"Of course not. As the overlord of the New World, Rocks must have accumulated quite a bit of wealth over the years. His wife and child surely know where he hid it."