The dust cleared.
A massive hole had been blasted clean through the towering Red Line.
Even Whitebeard looked shocked at the sight.
From such a distance, and without a long recovery after the attack.
If it had hit a person...
No, what this man meant was...
Whitebeard had originally come only to capture Teach.
And while he was at it, he wanted to see what this suddenly rising crew, the Buggy Pirates, was all about.
So he had thought little of letting the two men board his ship.
But now, things were different.
The strength this man had displayed... far exceeded Whitebeard's earlier estimates.
And this wasn't even everything he had at his disposal.
"I know what you're planning to do."
"But I still won't abandon my family..."
Whitebeard rejected Uchiha Kazama's proposal.
"Then make sure you protect Ace for now."
"What you're pursuing doesn't conflict with our goals."
"Of course, if you want to lend a hand when the time comes, we won't turn you away."
"Three months."
Uchiha Kazama raised his hand and held up three fingers.
"Guhahaha..."
"Looks like you're completely confident."
"What will the world become after this...? I'm starting to look forward to it."
Whitebeard spoke with a hearty laugh.
"Naturally, it'll be the world you've been hoping for."
"Of course, these changes won't have much impact on ordinary people."
With that, Uchiha Kazama left with Buggy.
Once the two had gone,
Whitebeard turned his gaze to Ace.
Ace looked as though he had suddenly lost his way.
Feeling Whitebeard's gaze on him, Ace opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing.
"Pops, are we still going to stay here and wait for Teach?!"
"Now that we've all come here, that guy probably won't show up, right?"
Marco broke the silence.
"No."
"Ace,