The two laughed for a while, then continued walking.
"But Rocks, what exactly did you send Ron to do? He actually managed to bring back a pretty good Devil Fruit for that kid Kaido," Whitebeard asked curiously.
Rocks did not answer right away.
When he heard Kaido say, "Ron gave it to me," most of his worries had actually faded. Whatever had happened, at least it meant Ron had returned from the Holy Land Mary Geoise alive.
"I didn't send him to do anything."
Whitebeard kept walking, but turned his head to glance at Rocks. He did not press him, as though waiting for him to continue on his own.
"That kid Ron wanted to go to the Holy Land Mary Geoise himself. I just helped him find an excuse," Rocks said slowly.
"What? He went to the Holy Land Mary Geoise? What for?" Whitebeard stopped abruptly.
If he had known beforehand that Ron was going to the Holy Land Mary Geoise, he would definitely have stopped him.
That place was no tourist attraction. It was the World Government's stronghold. One wrong move, and dying in there would be nothing unusual.
"He didn't tell me," Rocks said calmly.
"You idiot, Rocks! Don't you know what kind of place that is?! You just let him do whatever he wanted?! If anything happened to him, you wouldn't hear the end of it from me!" Whitebeard's voice rose sharply.
"But nothing happened, did it? He even brought back a Devil Fruit for that idiot Kaido," Rocks said with a shrug.
"What if something had?"
"Hey, Newgate." Rocks's voice suddenly grew grave. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed. Ron is already far more terrifyingly powerful than we imagined."
Whitebeard hesitated for a moment before saying slowly, "I don't think so."
"Of course you don't.