Whitebeard's Visit: Both Enemy and Friend

The massive anchor of the Moby Dick crashed into the water.

The several-ton anchor dragged along a thick iron chain, producing a grating metallic screech. A column of water shot into the sky.

White waves crashed against the steel breakwater. The spray fell onto the Wapometal surface, leaving behind a large, wet patch. Seawater trickled down through the gaps in the steel.

A heavy wooden gangplank was set against the shore.

Whitebeard Newgate carried Murakumogiri as he walked down the gangplank.

The gangplank creaked under the strain. The thick planks bent downward into a dangerous arc.

There was no killing intent radiating from him.

The oppressive presence that had long surrounded the emperor of the sea, powerful enough to make seawater flow backward, had been completely restrained.

Newgate stopped at the edge of the breakwater. The sea breeze stirred his white cloak.

He lowered his head and glanced at the surface of the sea below the breakwater.

A ring of dark red blood that had yet to fully disperse floated on the deep black water. Several seagulls circled overhead. They could smell the blood, but did not dare land and peck at it.

Those were the traces left behind after Golden Lion Shiki's legs had been severed.

Newgate was silent for two seconds. The fingers gripping the blade's shaft moved slightly, but he did not ask any questions.

Several iron crates filled with discarded cannon parts were piled up on the open ground at the edge of the harbor.

Newgate strode over and sat down in a broad, imposing manner.

With a muffled bang, the thick iron lid caved inward under his massive body. The rusted gears inside crushed against one another, producing a harsh scraping noise.

Charlotte Linlin walked out through the fortress gate.

She carried two half-man-high oak wine barrels. A glob of sticky cream clung to the collar of her polka-dot dress, while the hem was covered in sand.

"Newgate! You old bastard, what brings you here?"

Linlin's booming voice shook several pirate underlings nearby into covering their ears. She threw the wine barrel in her right hand straight at Whitebeard.

The barrel traced a violent arc through the air, accompanied by a howling gust of wind.

Newgate extended his burly left hand and caught it firmly. The wine sloshed violently inside the barrel, but the wooden plug did not budge in the slightest.

"Gurarararara! Just passing by to visit an old acquaintance."

Newgate exerted force with his thumb and popped the wooden plug open. The plug flew into the sea.

He tilted his head back. Amber liquor poured into his throat like a waterfall.

Linlin plopped down on the other iron crate beside him. She smashed the lid of her barrel with one slap, then lifted it and poured the liquor into her huge mouth.

The two barrels bumped together. The dull collision echoed through the empty harbor.

The liquor streamed down their chins and soaked their collars. Neither of them bothered to wipe it away.

Rektol stood on the opposite side of the breakwater.

He wore a high-collared black trench coat, with military boots planted on the steel plating and both hands in his coat pockets.

Watching the two remnants of the old era compete in drinking, he was not thirsty and had no interest in joining such tedious pleasantries.

After drinking nearly half a barrel, Newgate rested it on his thigh.

He raised the rough back of his hand and wiped the liquor from his chin. His crescent-shaped white beard trembled twice.

His gaze passed over Linlin and landed on Rektol.

"Little Rektol," Newgate said. His voice sounded like a rusted ancient bell.

"You made quite a stir at God Valley."

Rektol moved his short legs. His leather boots tapped crisply against the Wapometal.

He stopped three meters away from Whitebeard.

"Do you resent me for taking Rocks's legacy?" Rektol's voice was flat.

Newgate shook his head.

"I don't give a damn whether that old lunatic is alive or dead. Whoever takes his things gets to keep them."

He leaned Murakumogiri against the iron crate. The hilt struck it and sent out a few sparks.

"You pissed off those old bones in Mary Geoise."

Newgate stared into Rektol's eyes.

"Two Devil Fruits. One is a Logia, and the other is a Paramecia. And you even fused them into that damned gravity."

He burped, and the strong smell of alcohol spread through the air.

"They have to sleep with one eye open now."

Rektol did not respond, waiting for him to continue.

"The World Government has already issued an order. They are gathering Seastone from all over the world."

Newgate lowered his voice.

"Naval bases in the Four Blues and fortresses in the Grand Line are all urgently replacing their equipment with weapons and nets made from Seastone."

He extended his index finger and pointed at Rektol.

"They are targeting your abilities specifically. They plan to bury you alive under a mountain of Seastone."

Seastone.

At the sound of those three words, Rektol's heart gave a violent beat.

It was not fear.

Rather, uncontrollable greed and excitement surged straight up his spine and into his mind.

He had been worried about where to find the stuff.

The steel hulls of Totto Land's fleet were indeed tough. Even cannon fire could not break through Wapometal.

But if they encountered Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit or an ability user on the level of an admiral, ordinary steel armor would still suffer.

If the areas below the warships' waterlines, or even their entire outer armor, were coated with Seastone...

Then this fleet would become the graveyard of every ability user.

They could sail straight through the Calm Belt. Even Sea Kings would not dare approach.

More importantly, there was Smoothie.

The Mecha Girl Project had just been equipped with a Plasma Cannon, but the defensive side still lacked its core material.

If high-purity Seastone could be fused into her mechanical skeleton and external armor...

Absolute hardness, combined with a trait that countered every Devil Fruit.

Powered by electrical energy, the Mecha Girl could wear down any admiral to death in close combat.

"Ordinary Seastone won't do."

Rektol pulled over an iron chair and sat down.

He casually picked up a pure copper wine cup from the wooden table beside him.

"The junk stones in the World Government's hands contain too many impurities. Processing them produces nothing but waste, and fusing them into steel plates will reduce the metal's inherent toughness."

Rektol toyed with the copper cup in his hand, his fingertips rubbing over the patterns around its rim.

He needed high-purity raw ore.

Newgate grabbed the wine barrel and took another long gulp.

The liquor ran down his neck and into the old scars on his chest. He lowered the barrel and exhaled a breath of alcohol.

His thick fingers tapped twice against his knee.

"The Seastone with the highest purity in the world isn't in the World Government's hands at all," Newgate remarked casually.

Rektol turned his head, his gaze locking onto Whitebeard's face.

"Where?"

Newgate wiped the droplets from his white beard with the back of his hand.

"Deep in the New World. An island that has closed itself off from the world."

He glanced at the black steel warship docked in the harbor.

"Wano."

"The samurai there have foul tempers. But the stonecutters there can hammer the highest-purity Seastone into nails no bigger than a palm. Most of the Seastone ore in the world comes from there."

The sea breeze outside the main hall suddenly stopped.

The air became unnaturally quiet. Only the soft rustle of waves striking the breakwater remained.

Rektol lowered his head.

The movement of his hand stopped.

His knuckles instantly turned deathly white from the tremendous force he exerted.

"Crack."

A sharp sound of twisted metal rang out.

The thick pure copper wine cup was crushed into an unrecognizable lump of scrap metal in his single hand.

The jagged edge of the brass tore through the skin of his palm. No blood flowed out.

He casually tossed the lump of metal onto the steel plating at his feet.

It landed with a clear clang.

The lump rolled twice before stopping in front of Newgate's boots.

Rektol raised his head. His short pink hair carried a hint of coldness beneath the dim light.

"Then Wano is mine."