Golden Lion's Travels (Finale)

Although Whitebeard had told everyone to keep the banquet going, the Whitebeard Pirates were no longer the center of attention on the Moby Dick's deck. Every eye was on Whitebeard and Golden Lion as they drank together with abandon.

Whitebeard couldn't tell whether it was his imagination, but the Golden Lion before him seemed different from the ambitious man he remembered.

"Glug, glug, glug..."

After downing several mouthfuls of wine, Shiki felt Whitebeard's gaze on him. He set down his cup and asked the question on his mind.

"Newgate, tell me. What's the point of this new era Roger would rather die to bring about?"

Shiki's question left the Whitebeard Pirates around them baffled. They couldn't see why he was asking it.

Whitebeard, however, heard something in Shiki's words. He looked at that still-defiant face, now missing some of the pride the great pirate Golden Lion had once worn, and said,

"How could I know? Maybe... it was for hope in the future."

"The future? Hope?"

At that answer, veins bulged on Shiki's forehead. He shot to his feet and roared,

"Why? If he'd joined forces with me, we could have changed the world! Why leave the outcome to some distant, uncertain future? Even if he refused to work with me, he could have done it himself! Do you think entrusting hope to some vague notion of fate is better than changing this world with your own hands? You've seen the people Roger's call sent out to sea. Do you honestly think they'll do a better job than we would?"

Shiki's torrent of words caught Whitebeard off guard. Then he began to think.

He even remembered the young man he had just defeated and thrown into the sea to feed the fish for challenging him.

For once, Whitebeard offered no