Whitebeard lay on his deathbed.
Xia Le hurried over anxiously. His heart lurched when he saw the old man lying in bed, barely breathing, the light already gone from his eyes.
"Newgate!"
He called out softly.
"Xia Le!"
"Gurarararara!"
"To have met you and Roger in this life... I couldn't have asked for more."
Whitebeard turned his head and smiled, a little light seeming to return to his eyes.
"And my sons, who stayed beside me all the way!"
"I'm happy. I've lived a complete life!"
His words drew sobs from everyone in the small room.
Ace, Marco, Jozu, Vista, and the others were already streaming tears. They had long known this moment would come, but witnessing it themselves was still more than they could bear.
"There's just one thing I'm curious about."
"Xia Le, can you really never die?"
Whitebeard asked with a smile.
Xia Le fell silent.
Even he did not know the answer to that question.
In the end, Edward Newgate passed away with a smile.
His life had been fulfilling and thrilling. In his prime, he had claimed an era of his own, and he had witnessed the world enter the age of the Empire.
After returning home, Xia Le seemed downcast and did not speak for a long time.
Dark King Rayleigh and Edward Newgate had passed away one after the other, but he knew many more would follow.
Among them were his teachers—Garp, Sengoku, Tsuru, and Zephyr—as well as his elder brother Cobra, and even those of his own generation.
When that time came, would he be the only one left in the world?
Alone, facing an unfamiliar world, an unfamiliar age, and unfamiliar faces.
Once his friends and brothers were all gone, everyone else in the Empire would feel only awe and fear