Yake tucked Reiju's bangs, which covered her right eye, behind her ear.
Reiju's left eyebrow curled to the left, while her right eyebrow curled to the right, making them look fairly symmetrical.
"Reiju, are your and Sanji's eyebrows both like this?" Yake asked curiously. Judge did not have curled eyebrows; it seemed only his children did. Could they have inherited them from Sanji's mother?
"Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Reiju stroked Yake's hand.
"Tell me."
"Sanji's eyebrows are different from those of us who were modified. Both of Sanji's eyebrows curl to the right." Reiju tried hard to remember. She had not seen Sanji in a long time either.
"Strange. What about the three brothers I killed?" Yake frowned, as though he had noticed a blind spot.
"Their eyebrows all curled to the left. Yake, did you discover something?" Reiju asked nervously. Yake would not ask meaningless questions for no reason.
Indeed, Yake had uncovered some hidden truths.
Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji were Judge's most perfect creations. They possessed exoskeletal skin and lacked fragile emotions. They were merely powerful weapons that obeyed Judge alone. They did not deserve to be called human at all, so Yake felt no guilt whatsoever about killing them. Reiju had always despised those scum as well.
"Did your mother have curled eyebrows, Reiju?" Yake wanted to verify his speculation.
"Mother... Mother had normal eyebrows." Reiju's only cherished memory of Germa was her mother, Sora. She had been a beautiful, gentle, kind woman, and Reiju had inherited almost all of her appearance from her mother. It was also this great mother who, in order to prevent Sanji from becoming an emotionless person, took medication that suppressed lineage modification, allowing Sanji to become a person of flesh and blood.
Sanji was the most failed creation, while the three brothers were the most perfect creations, and their eyebrow directions were exactly opposite. Sanji had emotions, and his body had not been modified into an exoskeleton, so both his eyebrows curled to the right. Reiju's body alone had been modified, while her emotions had not been erased. Thus, only her left eyebrow curled left, while her right eyebrow curled right like Sanji's.
Could Yake understand it this way: Judge's Lineage Factor modification showed itself through the direction of the eyebrows?
Modifying the body made the left eyebrow curl left.
Erasing emotions made the right eyebrow curl left.
The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became. Was this foreshadowing planted by that old thief Oda?
Yake tried hard to recall Sanji's various performances and had no choice but to conclude that Sanji's modification had actually succeeded long ago; its effects had merely manifested slowly. Especially after Judge gave Sanji Battle Suit No. 3, the changes became increasingly obvious.
Sanji was the Vinsmoke Family's third son. Including Reiju, Sanji was the fourth to be modified. With two perfect modifications already under his belt, Judge had placed great hopes on Sanji as his third perfect creation—one without fragile emotions and with a shield-like exoskeleton. It had merely been suppressed by the medicine Sora took.
"Yake, what exactly did you discover...?" Reiju grew nervous when she saw Yake's expression constantly changing.
"No, it's nothing. I'm just rather interested in your family's eyebrows. Hahaha, Reiju, go get busy!" Yake kissed Reiju on the cheek and had her leave first. Once he saw Sanji, he could have Judge confirm it. Telling Reiju now would be too hasty.
Reiju always felt that Yake was hiding something from her, but she could not argue with him. Within a few breaths, she had left his sight.
"It seems Reiju is the most perfect one," Yake sighed. She possessed both the most precious emotions and a powerful physique.
Once Sanji's modification fully awakened, it was very likely that he would lose the most precious thing of all... human emotions.
Grand Line, aboard the Moby Dick.
"Let me go! That guy was my subordinate. If we ignore this, how can the murdered Thatch rest in peace?!" Ace shouted emotionally, trying to break free from the crewmen holding him back.
Whitebeard, hooked up to an IV drip, sighed. "Ace, forget it. Just this once. I have a bad feeling about this."
Whitebeard had been a pirate for most of his life. What schemes had he not seen? Yet this time, he truly felt uneasy. A man like Teach, who could endure in silence for over twenty years, could not possibly be so simple.
"That bastard killed a companion and fled!!! After receiving your care for decades, he made you lose face... Most importantly, he damaged your reputation, Pops. How can I stand by and do nothing? I'm going to settle the score with him!" Ace ignored Whitebeard's attempts to stop him, turned and left. He took his luggage and departed the Moby Dick, determined to bring Teach back for Pops to deal with.
For the first twenty years of his life, Ace had lived beneath Roger's name, lost and constantly chasing after it. But after meeting Whitebeard, he experienced familial affection. He admired Whitebeard and believed Whitebeard was the greatest pirate. He carved Whitebeard's mark onto his back and bore it with pride. He was willing to put aside his ambitions just to make Whitebeard the One Piece.
His respect for Whitebeard ran so deep that he could not tolerate even the slightest damage to the flag and name Whitebeard had protected his entire life! Insulting him was fine, but insulting Whitebeard was not. That was Ace's reverse scale!
Even if the crew tried to stop him, even if Whitebeard warned him of his bad feeling, Ace still insisted on protecting Whitebeard's reputation.
Whitebeard remained silent and let Ace leave. This was a foolish son's heartfelt devotion to his father—how could he blame him for it?!
"Marshall D. Teach, you are definitely not the person Roger has been waiting for."
East Blue, waters near Loguetown
The Going Merry sailed across the sea. A green-haired swordsman slept against the railing with his hands behind his head, while seagulls soared freely through the sky.
Zoro suddenly woke up and looked into the distance through bleary eyes. "Hey, there seems to be an island ahead!"
"Really? What kind of island is that?" Luffy held down his Straw Hat as he sat on the railing and looked toward the distant island.
Nami sighed irritably. "Didn't I tell you last time?"
Sanji and Usopp walked to the bow as well. Looking at the distant town, Usopp crossed his hands over his head. "That's the island where Loguetown is located!"
Sanji put a cigarette in his mouth. "It's a pretty big town, right?"
"I heard so."
"There should be a market there selling fresh ingredients, right?"
"I'm going to the weapon shop! As a three-sword-style swordsman, always having only one sword... is really disgraceful!"
"Hey, hey, I'm going to the equipment shop!"
Luffy wore a rare serious expression, his voice low. "Gol D. Roger was born on that island, and he was executed there too~"
"The town where the One Piece died. Also known as the town of beginnings and endings."
The Straw Hat Pirates, reporting in!